2024

Oct

I’ve just sent the second Unbox Your Words – Give Yourself Permission to Play!! post to subscribers over at Substack – this one has a writing exercise with hints of magical realism! Not a writing course, Unbox Your Words is a monthly shot of writing provocation, inspiration & stimulation designed both to encourage brand new pieces and help you find different & exciting ways to approach your works-in-progress. Sign up for my free Highly Irregular newsletter and you can get a peek at the latest post for paid subscribers here .

Sept

Announcing my new Writing Adventure, kicking off on Substack on Sept 10th: Unbox Your Words – Permission to Play!! Not a writing course, Unbox Your Words is a monthly shot of writing provocation, inspiration & stimulation designed both to encourage brand new pieces and help you find different & exciting ways to approach your works-in-progress, whether they are shaped like flash fiction, poetry, short stories, novels, non-fiction or hybrids! How will it work? Well, every month, you’ll get two emails in your Inbox: on the 10th of each month, I’ll send you a short writing provocation/prompt/exercise to tempt you to break writing habits and dance in new ways with your words. Then later in the month I’ll slip you another email with something to read that I think you might like, something you might never have come across yourself! There will also be occasional exclusive Zoom workshops for Unbox Your Words subscribers and discounts on other events I am involved in and any new books I have published (more on that soon) – as well as the opportunity to share and discuss in the comments on Substack what’s working for you, how you’ve run with the provocations & prompts, how you’re giving yourself permission to play!
To join the adventure for the special monthly price of £3.50, (less than a fancy cup of coffee or your beverage of choice!), sign up on Substack here https://taniahershman.substack.com – or upgrade your free subscription if you’re already a subscriber to my free Highly Irregular newsletter. If £3.50 a month is a struggle, message

Aug

I am delighted to announce that the Arvon masterclass Sean Lusk and I ran raised enough funds to be able to offer one COMPLETELY FREE place for someone from an underrepresented community on the 5-day residential magical-realism themed fiction & hybrid writing course we are co-tutoring with the wonderful guest Alinah Azadeh at Totleigh Barton in Devon from Oct 7-11th! To apply, email me directly at taniah@gmail.com by August 21st briefly explaining how you are eligible and why you’d like to come on this particular course, what it would mean for your writing. We are deliberately not being more specific about what “underrepresented” might mean, we will leave that to each applicant to explain. We will give preference to those who haven’t yet received any arts funding or other opportunities in creative writing. Details about the course here >>

July

Delighted with this wonderful review of ‘Go On’, my experimental hybrid novel, by D A L over on Amazon: “This book was the first thing I’ve read in a v long time that made me fall in love with reading again. I carried it about with me, diving in for small bites, pausing, reflecting, going back for more. It is art. Not trying to shape itself to please anyone but the author. An honour therefore to read. A live, angry (the town of angry women, oh, I want to go there) questioning, deeply honest, beautiful, hopeful, thoughtful, brave book. The dead, from the graveyard! I’m still hearing them! I will read this again very soon. Gratitude to the author.” You can find out more about the book here >>

I’m honoured to be one of the judges of this year’s Royal Society of Literature V S Pritchett Short Story Prize alongside Tash Aw and Fiona Mozley. Send us your short stories, 2k-4k! Deadline 13 Sept, details and entry form here.

Can’t wait to teach two magical Zoom workshops in one week – on July 23rd, ‘Marvellous and Impossible Things’ together with the marvellous Sean Lusk for Arvon, and on July 28th, creating magic through collisions for Retreat West! I’d love to have you there to create magical and marvelous word shapes with us! If you can’t make the workshops on the day, you’ll receive a link to watch the recordings afterwards. Book here for the Arvon masterclass on July 23rd https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/masterclass-marvellous-and-impossible-things/ and here for the Retreat West workshop on July 28th https://www.tickettailor.com/events/retreatwest/1177665.

Feb

Last few places available for my 5-week Zoom hybrid writing course, Let’s Get Hybrid, for the London Lit Lab, starting Monday Feb 19th! Do join us to explore ways to let go of labels and unbox your writing in a small and more intimate Zoom group. Details and booking here:  https://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/course/lets-get-hybrid-live-on-zoom/

Jan

I am delighted to announce that the Arvon masterclass I ran on Friday raised enough funds to be able to offer one COMPLETELY FREE place for someone from an underrepresented community and/or on low income on the 5-day residential Arvon Poetry & Short Stories course I am co-tutoring with the wonderful Rachel Bower and midweek guest Hafsah Aneela Bashir in Hebden Bridge from March 4-8th! To apply, email me directly at taniah@gmail.com by Jan 30th briefly explaining how you are eligible (no financial details necessary) and why you’d like to come on this particular course, what it would mean for your writing. I’m deliberately not being more specific about what “underrepresented community” might mean, I will leave that to each applicant to explain. Please do apply if you’re eligible – and spread the word to anyone you think might be interested in this opportunity! Regular bookings still open too, more about the course here: https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/residential-writing-week-poetry-short-story/ More workshops etc.. on my Events page.

 

2023

Oct

There are few things more joyous than helping a great friend launch their first book! Come join us at Blackwell’s in Manchester on Monday Oct 30th where I will be in conversation with the brilliant Abi Hynes about her short story collection, Monstrous Longing – get your ticket here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/monstrous-longing-abi-hynes-in-conversation-with-tania-hershman-tickets-695868279757

Sep

ONLINE Wed Sep 20 : I’m so excited to be hosting a How I Write online Arvon event with the amazing NZ flash writer and poet Frankie McMillan, whose work I ADORE. Come join us on Wed Sept 20th, 7.15pm UK time – she’s a complete inspiration, it’s going to be fun! Tickets are pay-what-you-can, grab one here: https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/how-i-write-frankie-mcmillan-2/

And on Thurs Oct 5th, join us on Zoom the celebrate the launch of the Wonky Animals Poetry Pamphlet, celebrating the winners of our Wonky Animals poetry competition and raising funds for Manor Farm! Details and tickets by donation here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/twenty-one-poems-about-wonky-animals-online-launch-tickets-719394527397

July

July 27th I’m delighted to be supporting NJ Hynes at the online launch of her wonderful new pamphlet, Tracking Light, Stacking Time, published by Live Canon. Tickets are free, book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/online-launch-nj-hynes-tracking-light-stacking-time-tickets-678985252167

Thank you to Elizabeth Kemball for a wonderful, thoughtful review of Still Life With Octopus in the latest issue of Poetry Wales: “”Tania Hershman’s second collection of poetry is a wry, observant, and intelligent exploration of the boundaries between humanity and nature. The collection itself feels almost like a natural history museum of both people and animals; where mundane human acts, from bus rides to sewing, or dancing to piano playing are crafted into poetry, and artfully contrasted with the exotic creatures of the octopus and the Australian Splendid Tree Frog. This juxtaposition poses humans as animals on display, and the subjects of the poems become spectacles in their own right.”

June

I’m honoured to be the judge for this year’s Mslexia flash fiction contest – send me your gems of 300 words or shorter! Details here: https://mslexia.co.uk/competitions/flash-fiction/womens-fiction-competition-flash-fiction/

Apr

Delighted to be running a tour & writing workshop together with the fabulous tour guide Emma Fox at Manchester’s glorious Southern Cemetery as part of the Chorlton Arts Festival on Sun May 28th! Booking here, no writing experience necessary – limited number of free places available.

Feb

ONLINE Wed Feb 15th: Please join me and a line-up of the book’s authors at the online launch party for the FUEL anthology of prize-winning flash fictions raising funds to fight fuel poverty. where they will be reading their prize-winning flash stories and taking part in a Q&A on everything you always wanted to ask about writing competitions! The launch is hosted by Writers HQ, and tickets are pay-what-you-can, all proceeds donated to Fuel Poverty Charities. Book here.

Mab Jones reviews Still Life With Octopus for Buzz magazine: “Many of the poems take abstract concepts as their subject – time; thought; goodness; wrongness – showcasing the poet’s interest in the metaphysical and the philosophical. Still, there’s a tonguing wit, here and there, a playful cheekiness, which flashes out in some pieces – “I am Catherine the Great / and I seize this jetty, this / is my section of the lake”. Whilst there’s depth of enquiry, there’s also fun, thanks to a sparkling bright mind at the helm, and that is what makes this collection such a joy to read.” Read the full review here.

Jan

Listen to me read some poems from Still Life With Octopus for the Next Best Book Club blog. And over on Instagram the wonderful writer Claire Fuller (whose own octopus novel is out shortly) says of Still Life With Octopus: “I don’t read a lot of poetry and I review it even more infrequently, but I loved Still Life With Octopus… 51 short poems including Still Life with Octopus from I to VII. Witty and poignant they’re the kind of poems you can read just one of and get a daily satisfaction of images, ideas and thoughts. Just wonderful and deserves to be much better known and read.”

2022

Dec

Dec 25: I’m interviewed over at the Standard Issue podcast: “SIM Ep 805 Chops 237 Tania Hershman isn’t doing it by halves: We’re so often told that our “other half” is out there somewhere, but author Tania Hershman thinks she’s a full person by herself. A concept that is absolutely in Hannah’s wheelhouse. They chat about the joys of being alone, even at this time of year, the “baffling” world of women who don’t marry, and Tania’s new book, Go On.” You can listen here: https://shows.acast.com/standardissuespodcast/episodes/sim-ep-805-chops-237-tania-hershman-isnt-doing-it-by-halves

Ellora Sutton reviews Still Life With Octopus in the Winter 2022 issue of The Poetry Review: “These are poems that enable curiosity. I found myself asking: how is a poem like an octopus?” Thank you for such a generous review, Ellora.

As Twitter’s collapse seems imminent, if you’d like to stay up to date with what I’m up to – my writing, workshops, events etc… – sign up for my irregular newsletter here on Substack You can also follow my new public Instagram account, Tania Hershman Writes, and find me tentatively on Post.News https://post.news/taniahershman and Mastodon https://mastodon.art/@taniahershman.

Thank you to Martin Reiser for a lovely first review in print in The Alchemy Spoon of my new poetry collection, Still Life With Octopus: “The playfulness of the poet’s language is refreshing and immediate…” Read the full review in the new issue here.

I’m over the moon to have been awarded an Arts Council England Developing Your Creative Practice grant for “Examining Ourselves as Other”—a hybrid pamphlet colliding non-human Star Trek characters & the latest neuroscience from podcasts from the Huberman Lab—to boldly go where this writer has never gone before!The project begins in March 2023, stay tuned for updates.

Delighted that Will Mackie included Still Life With Octopus on New Writing North’s list of New & Recent Poetry from the North! “Other warmly recommended recent collections include Tara Bergin’s Savage Tales (Carcanet), Still Life With Octopus by Tania Hershman (Nine Arches) and Pippa Little’s Time Begins to Hurt (Arc).”

I’m running a FREE 5-Day Hybrid Writing Challenge through Arvon in January 2023 – 5 days of detailed writing prompts to guide you through writing a hybrid piece. A great way to kickstart your new year of writing – sign up here!

Thanks to Becky Want and BBC Radio Manchester for having me on to chat about my novel, Go On, being writer-in-res at Manchester’s Southern Cemetery & being described as “baffling” in the Radio Times for being a happily single woman! You can hear us here from 2hr 46m.

Nov

Go On launch, Nov 17 2022

Here I am reading and talking about my hybrid novel, Go On, in conversation with the excellent Andrew McMillan!

An exclusive extract from my debut novel, Go On, has just been published in Mercurius magazine, you can read it here. And author Emma Norry calls the novel “Delightful, inventive, entertaining, intriguing, powerful, tender. Kind. It’s allowing me to consider and question my creativity needs too.” Find out more about the book here, and there’s still time to sign up for my online book launch on Zoom at 7.30pm UK Time on Nov 17th, tickets available here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/discussion-reading-and-qa-go-on-by-tania-hershman-tickets-430860815297

 

Oct

My debut novel, Go On, a hybrid “fictional-memoir-in-collage”, is now available to pre-order! Details here,  and please do join me for the online book launch on Zoom at 7.30pm UK Time on Nov 17th, tickets available here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/discussion-reading-and-qa-go-on-by-tania-hershman-tickets-430860815297

Sept

So happy to finally be able to share this news! When Arvon invited me to be their third Writer-in-Residence, I had little cry, because I’m not sure I’d be a writer if it wasn’t for Arvon…Find out more about the programme I’ve had such fun coming up with here: https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/tania-hershman-writer-in-residence/

August

My first Star-Trek-inspired piece of writing – a flash story called Taking Our Tails – was published in Banshee Lit’s print edition a few months ago, and they’ve just made it available to read online. The editors call it “hilarious and subversive” – read it here! https://www.bansheelit.com/read/taking-our-tails-by-tania-hershman

If you missed Nine Arches Press’ online Triple Launch on August 17th – in which I launched ‘Still Life With Octopus’ alongside Ramona Herdman launching ‘Glut’ and Jessica Mookerjee launching ‘Notes From A Shipwreck’ – here it is on Youtube, it was a lovely evening!

The wonderful poet Clare Shaw says of “Still Life With Octopus”: Oh my God, what a collection. She dances all the huge questions and makes it effortless. How can a book ask the big questions and still make you happy?” I can’t imagine a better response!

July

My book has its very first review, by FC Malby: “Each poem shifts the way an octopus changes its colour, reflecting its mood, yet there is a thread that connects many of the poems – the nature and shape of the heart, all that is hidden, the confines of space and the way that some things need to be released, or remain hidden.” Read the full review here.

Delighted that my first reading from my new poetry collection will be at Live Canon’s fab lunchtime Zoom reading this Fri July 15th, 1pm UK time! Grab your free ticket here, my octopus & I look forward to seeing you! And please join me online on Aug 17 7.30pm UK time for my official book launch, as part of a Nine Arches Triple Book Launch together with wonderful poets Ramona Herdman and Jess Mukherjee – details and tickets here!

My second poetry collection, Still Life With Octopus, is now available, published by Nine Arches Press in July. Available from all good bookshops – ask your local book store to get a copy! Or online, you can get it direct from Nine Arches Press, or from Bookshop.org or Hive, both of whom donate a percentage to local book shops, or the Book Depository (free worldwide shipping). More details about the book here>>

May

Two brand new flash stories of mine have just been published in Flash Boulevard.

Just revealed : the cover for my new poetry collection, “Still Life With Octopus”, isn’t she gorgeous! The book will be published in July by Nine Arches Press, if you’d like more details or to pre-order, click here: https://www.ninearchespress.com/publications/poetry-collections/still-life-with-octopus

April

One of the title poems from my forthcoming poetry collection, Still Life With Octopus (I), is published in the latest issue of the Impossible Archetype poetry journal.

March

One of the title poems from my forthcoming poetry collection, Still Life With Octopus (I), will be published in Impossible Archetype poetry journal at the end of March. And two other poems from the collection – Tied and And In The Arrangement of Salt – have been published in print in the latest issue of Butcher’s Dog and the Verve Poetry Competition anthology respectively.

Jan

An electronic version of my PhD in creative writing inspired by particle physics, ‘Particle fictions: an experimental approach to creative writing and reading informed by particle physics’  – which incorporates an early version of my hybrid book, ‘and what if we were all allowed to disappear’ – can now be downloaded from Bath Spa University here: http://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/10693/

 

 

Older News

2021

Dec

I’m delighted to announce that I have not one but two books being published in 2022: my second poetry collection, “Still Life With Octopus”, will be published in July by Nine Arches Press, who says: “an exquisitely-tuned second collection, following from her debut Terms & Conditions, and exploring boundaries of animal and human worlds and the intimate nature of time, existence and joy.”

My poem “Tied”, from this collection, and inspired by the research I do for On This Day She, will be published in the Autumn 2021 issue of Butcher’s Dog print magazine, due out in Jan 2022.

I am so happy that my debut novel—”Go On”, a hybrid “fictional-memoir-in-collage”—has found an amazing home; it will be published by Broken Sleep Books in the UK in Nov 2022!

Nov

I had a wonderful time running an Arvon  Zoom flash fiction masterclass to raise funds for 2 FREE places on the flash & short story course I’m tutoring with David Gaffney in January at Lumb Bank. The free places are for those from marginalised communities and/or on low income; to apply, email me by Dec 17 tania@taniahershman.com telling me in 250 words or less why you’d like it and why this flash & short story course in particular would be valuable for you. No need to disclose financial information. Course info here https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/flash-fiction-short-story/

 

On Nov 23 I am running a special Zoom masterclass in flash fiction for Arvon to raise funds to be able to offer TWO free places on the Flash & Short Fiction course I am co-tutoring at Arvon’s Lumb Bank centre in Jan. Booking for the masterclass open now! https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/arvon-at-home-masterclass-flash-fiction-2/ (Info about the January course here: https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/flash-fiction-short-story/)

My poem, And In The Arrangement of Salt, has been commended in the Verve Poetry Competition, and I’m looking forward to reading it along with the winners and other commended poets at the Verve Poetry Festival on Sunday Feb 20th 2022 in Birmingham. Info about the festival here: https://vervepoetryfestival.com/2022-line-up/

June

June 23: I’m delighted to be the first writer featured on the new Inventive podcast pairing up engineers and writers – launched today on #InternationalWomenInEngineeringDay! It was an honour – and quite a challenge – to be commissioned to write a short story inspired by the extraordinary Shrouk El-Attar. You can listen here: http://hub.salford.ac.uk/inventivepodcast/

May

I made a video for Spot On Lancs of me reading my flash story, Get Gone. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NxqH2P59Lk

March

Wed Mar 3rd 6.30pm UK time I’ll be reading a brand new short story inspired by ethical artificial intelligence at a Just AI salon alongside the fantastic Adam Marek. Join us! Free but ticketed: https://www.adalovelaceinstitute.org/event/almost-future-ai-2/

February

Friday Feb 26th 1pm-2pm UK time I’ll be reading a little poetry as part of Live Canon’s Lunchtime Reading Series alongside Lawrence Illsley and Theophilus Kwek. Book your free ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lc-lunchtime-reading-series-number-5-tickets-142208325931

PUBLISHED TODAY! On This Day She: Putting Women Back into History One Day at a Time is published by John Blake Books. Co-written by me, Jo Bell and Ailsa Holland as a spin-off from our hugely successful OnThisDayShe Twitter account, it features 366 stories of women throughout history. If you missed our first online event for the book, organised by the British Library in association with Warwickshire Libraries, you can watch it again here >> and order the book from your favourite independent bookshop, find out more details here!

January

I’m going to run my 5 Day Short Story Challenge again, kicking off on Monday Jan 18th! Details here and sign up payment links.

Reflex Fiction has nominated my flash story, Get Gone, which won 2nd prize in their Spring contest, for a Pushcart Prize! You can read the story here >>

2020

December

My gold sparkly particle-physics-inspired hybrid book, ‘and what if we were all allowed to disappear’, published in March by Guillemot Press, made the Poetry School’s ‘s Poetry Books of the Year longlist, in excellent company! You can read their picks here: https://poetryschool.com/theblog/poetry-books-2020/ and I have a few copies of the book, which is a limited edition, if you’d like to buy one direct from me, find out more here.

November

I’m going to be running my 2-hour Zoom Kickstart Your Writing workshop on the first Monday of every month from January, 7pm UK time. The workshop will be a mix of reading and discussing pieces I bring to share with the group and at least 3 writing exercises to get you writing, from poems to stories, non-fic & hybrids! It will cost £20 per workshop, you can sign up for as few or as many as you like, with a discount for 3 or more – and there will be free places available for those who need them. Everyone welcome from anywhere in the world, beginners and more experienced writers who need a bit of a firmly gentle shove! Email tania@taniahershman.com to sign up.

You can watch the flash fiction event I did for Milton Keynes Lit Fest here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IxtAYcnmOg&feature=emb_logo

On This Day She: Putting Women Back into History One Day at a Time will be published by John Blake Books in February 2021. Co-written by me, Jo Bell and Ailsa Holland as a spin-off from our hugely successful OnThisDay She Twitter account, it features 366 stories of women throughout history. Pre-order now from your favourite independent bookshop, find out more details here!

As well as buying signed copies direct from me here, you can now buy a selection of my books through my own shop on the new UK Bookshop.org website – as well as browse an ever-growing list of books that inspire my own writing, from octopuses to short stories, poetry and hybrids!

If you missed me reading at Rosie Garland’s launch of her wonderful new collection, What Girls Do in the Dark, you can watch the event here>>>

October

In celebration of Libraries Week, the Royal Literary Fund has included my 9-minute audio love letter to two of Manchester’s libraries in its latest podcast – you can listen here! And booking is now open for a brand new, 4-week online course I will be running for the London Lit Lab – Science-Flavoured Writing! No scientific knowledge needed, just bring pen, paper and curiosity. Subsidized places are available. All the details are here.

There are now only a few copies remaining of my limited edition hybrid book, ‘and what if we were all allowed to disappear’. If you’d like to buy a signed copy from me before it disappears, PayPal links are here.

September

… and booking has just opened for an 8-week online Hybrid Writing course I will be teaching for the London Lit Lab from mid-January, open to anyone, anywhere in the world. More details here, there are subsidized places available: https://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/?page_id=1158

Booking is now open for the free online event I am doing with David Gaffney on Nov 25th, 7.30pm UK time, reading and chatting about flash fiction – come join us! Details here, tickets free but booking necessary >>

Eley Williams has recommended my hybrid book, ‘and what if we were all allowed to disappear’, calling it “short but very beautiful”,  as part of an interview and discussion about Eley’s new novel, The Liar’s Dictionary, words, language and uncategorizable books on the most recent Literary Friction podcast. You can listen here: https://player.fm/series/literary-friction/literary-friction-the-joy-of-words-with-eley-williams

August

I’m delighted to be giving another Arvon-At-Home online masterclass – this time in Hybrid Writing! Break out of your box and join us wherever you are, Sep 22, 7-9pm UK time – free places available, please ask. Details here: https://arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/arvon-at-home-masterclass-hybrid-writing/…

July

I have a new poem, Field Studies, in the latest issue of The Manchester Review, available online here.

I’m taking part in the wonderfully-titled online event, ‘Aztec Rainbows and the Large Hadron Collider’, on Sunday 26th July at 7pm, together with the excellent Jen Hadfield, at the Charles Causley Festival, under the auspices of Guillemot Press, to chat about and read from my hybrid book as well as new work. Tickets are free but booking is required. More details here >>

June

My flash story, ‘Get Gone’, has won 2nd prize in Reflex Fiction’s Spring 2020 Flash Fiction competition! Read the story here>>

It’s been an audio-themed week for me – hear me read a brand new poem inspired by the poet John Clare and our mutual fascination for insects on the Thunder Mutters podcast!

I’m going to be a guest on the octopus-themed edition of Radio 3’s The Verb on Friday June 19th (and available on iPlayer after that) to read some of my octopus poems and discuss my octopus obsession!

The 8-week online flash fiction writing course I am teaching through the excellent London Lit Lab is now SOLD OUT – but there’s still time to apply for the one free place and the half-price place. More details here! And I am going to repeat this course later in the year, so stay tuned, we will announce new dates soon.

May

I will be giving a live cross-genre online reading and Q&A on Wed June 3rd, 7.15pm UK time, more details here: https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/arvon-at-home-live-guest-reading-12/

I’m running a 2-hour online flash fiction masterclass for the Arvon foundation on May 28th, 11am – 1pm. It’s open to all, no experience necessary, details here >>

I am delighted that I’m going to be teaching an 8-week online flash fiction writing course through the excellent London Lit Lab – it’s open to both new and experienced writers, anywhere in the world. The course will start on July 23rd. Places are limited, and there are two subsidized places available. More details here – come flash with us!

From May 11-15th I’m going to re-run the 5 Day Short Story Challenge that I ran through the Arvon Foundation in early April – see here for more details and how to sign up, no writing experience necessary!

April

I have three new flash stories in the Spring 2020 issue of Under the Radar magazine, you can get hold of a copy here.

I just discovered BBC Radio 4 Extra are re-broadcasting my science-inspired short story, There Is No-One In The Lab Tonight But Mice, read by me, next Thurs night, April 16th! Click here for details >>

I have a piece today on Marina Benjamin’s excellent new blog, ‘Zooming In’, about what I’m reading & noticing now that I’m staying so much closer to home.

March

I’ve created a five-day short story challenge for Arvon – sign up (for free) and you’ll get a prompt every day for five days from March 30th to inspire you to write a short story! Details here.

Happy publication day to ‘and what if we were all allowed to disappear’, my hybrid prose/poetry book with a gold cover, from Guillemot Press! Inspired by particle physics, it asks: ‘What does it mean to be in pieces? What might it mean to be whole?’ Find out more and buy a copy of the limited edition here: https://guillemotpress.co.uk/poetry/tania-hershman

I was astonished to discover today that the wonderful Irish writer Cathy Sweeney is reading and discussing two of my short stories on the Stinging Fly podcast. What an honour. And she has a great conversation with the Stinging Fly’s editor about genre boundaries, as well as reading one of her own fabulous stories. You can listen here.

February

My particle-physics-inspired hybrid book is being published by the amazing Guillemot Press on March 4th! It’s a limited edition, with a gold cover. For more information about the book and to pre-order, click here.

January

Happy new year! BBC Radio 4 repeated my radio programmed, Who Will Call Me Beloved, this morning, Jan 1st – it’s available online here, if you’d like to listen!

2019

December

I have new 2 poems in the accident-themed issue of the fabulous The Pickled Body, read it here https://issuu.com/thepickledbody

My pamphlet, “How High Did She Fly”, joint winner of Live Canon’s 2019 poetry pamphlet competition, has just been published – to read some of the poems, and buy a signed copy, click here.

November

The arts documentary I made with producer Faith Lawrence about being writer-in-residence in a cemetery will air on Mon Nov 11th at 4pm on Radio 4 – and will be available online after that! It will also be broadcast on Heart and Soul on the World Service on Nov 15th, for those of you outside the UK. Antonia Quirke  wrote a lovely preview of the programme in the New Statesman: “What does a writer-in-residence at a cemetery actually do? Precisely as you’d imagine: wanders the graves noting evocative things chiselled in stone…We hear rooks, and passing voices. Hershman – modest, utterly unpompous, merely keeping us company – captures entirely the feel of passing time in this place.”

October

The Irish flash fiction magazine has included the very odd flash story of mine that they published earlier this year, As Teeth Are Must To Fit, as one of their nominations for the Pushcart Prizes, which is very nice indeed!

My poem ‘Catherine the Great Reassesses Her Expansionist Policies’ – inspired by my research for On This Day She – was shortlisted for the Live Canon single poem competition and is published in the competition anthology.

september

I have a brand new flash story, ‘Understanding the Bloom Cycle of Roses’, published in Smokelong Quarterly today. It’s not about roses, as you’ll see from the accompanying author interview!

My poem ‘Catherine the Great Reassesses Her Expansionist Policies’ – inspired by my research for On This Day She – is longlisted for the Live Canon single poem competition, and will be published in the competition anthology. Winners announced in October!

july

I am delighted to be one of the four winners of Live Canon’s first poetry pamphlet competition, and my pamphlet, “How High Did She Fly” will be published by them later on this year.

My flash story, Understanding the Bloom Cycle of Roses, has been accepted for publication in Smokelong Quarterly in September.

A wonderful review by Alan McCormick of my short story collection, Some Of Us Glow More Than Others, has just been published on Everybody’s Reviewing: “Tania Hershman casts mysterious and magical spells in her latest collection of short stories and flash fiction. She somehow manages to be forensic yet lyrical, playful yet profound, disturbing yet compassionate. Her scope is daring, unique and revelatory, investigative and sharp; continuously, entertainingly experimenting with ideas and with words; searching for meanings in stories about religion, science and love (nearly always love); the alchemy of life examined in startling ways, robots and octopi, the human spirit tested but winning through. It’s a beautiful book.” You can read the full review here and find out more about the book here.

june

In a bumper week of publications, my creative non-fiction piece, Rewatching Grey’s Anatomy, has just been published on The Real Story.

I have a brand new science-inspired piece of flash fiction, How You Are, published today, June 3rd, in Synaesthesia magazine, where I am their writer-in-residence this year, alongside a Q&A about how this story came to me.

may

Splendid, an audio poem inspired by tree frogs, commissioned by First Draft Manchester, May 2019, has just been published on their website. And I have a brand new flash story in the brand new Irish flash fiction zine, Splonk. Congrats to the editors on this fabulous new magazine!

april

You can watch a video of my 6-minute collaboration with Christodoulos Makris at the European Poetry Festival on April 13th.

My first flash fiction triptych – three interlinked tiny fictions – is published in the New Flash Fiction Review.  And my first piece of narrative non-fiction has been published, an essay about bringing myself to everything I watch on TV, in Syndicated Magazine.

march

Several new poems have been accepted for the next issues of the Rialto and the Golden Handcuffs Review.

january

My flash story, ‘Groceries‘, won Writers HQ’s LGBTQ flash fiction competition!

2018

november

Booking has just opened for the Arvon course in Hybrid Writing I am co-tutoring with the amazing Maria Fusco at Lumb Bank in Yorkshire in Oct 2019. There are bursaries are available – more details here >>

So – I’ve made my very first audiobook! Produced by the excellent SoundByte Recording, you can listen to me reading stories from my first collection, The White Road & Other Stories (Salt Modern Fiction, 2008). Available from Audible and Amazon –   click here to hear me reading a sample story, my flash story, Plaits.

You can now read my flash story, So Many People, which won Synaesthesia magazine’s 2018 Flash Fiction Contest, and a short interview with me.

october

My flash story, So Many People, has won the 2018 Synaesthesia Flash Fiction Competition – and as part of the prize, I will be Synaesthesia magazine’s 2019 writer-in-residence.

You can hear me talking about how I think writing changes the writer over at the Royal Literary Fund website.

september

My poem, ‘Play’, has been commended in the Waltham Forest Poetry Competition – you can read it here >>

Sep 8: Today’s the 10th birthday of my first book, The White Road & Other Stories, published in 2008 by the fab Salt Publishing! To celebrate, I’ve made an audiobook with the wonderful Soundbite Recording, which will be out later this month. Here’s a teaser:  soundcloud.com/taniahershman/

august

I’m very happy to have found a home for an odd little hybrid piece inspired by the wonderfully strange 1970s science film “Powers of Ten” at the Blue Fifth Review.

july

SOLD OUT! In September I will be teaching the Poetry School’s first online course in short short fiction, aimed at poets, fiction writers & those who are new to writing. Details here: poetryschool.com/courses/short-…

june

I have an article in the new issue of Mslexia magazine on boasting for beginners – are women worse at it? Should we do it better? My short story, ‘And What If All Your Blood Ran Cold’ has been selected for Best British Short Stories 2018, to be published by Salt. There are two new interviews with me this week – an audio piece over at the Royal Literary Fund’s website in which I talk about my reading habits, and  the New Flash Fiction Review asked me some questions about my flash story, My Mother Was An Upright Piano, which is being reprinted in an anthology, NEW MICRO — EXCEPTIONALLY SHORT FICTION (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018).

may

My short story collection, Some Of Us Glow More Than Others, is a year old today! In celebration,  my publisher, Unthank Books, asked me to share some thoughts on writing short stories on their blog:”What is a short story? As a writer, I’d rather ask: What can I make the short story do for me?” You can read the full blog post here, your thoughts on my thoughts very welcome!

march

I’m one of the judges for the 2018 Poetry and Psychoanalysis competition for poems on any theme – find out more details here. I recorded a piece for the RLF’s VOX series on Why I Write – listen to it here.

Over at Rogue Strands, Matthew Stewart reviews ‘Terms and Conditions’: “Tania Hershman’s first full collection is characterised by the deft way she works through her relationship with life, always implicating and involving the reader in that process. By acknowledging that life is packed with tensions and opposites, by accepting and embracing their juxtaposition and coexistence, she’s able to renegotiate her own terms and conditions.”

feb

Booking is now open for the Flash Fiction course I am co-tutoring with the wonderful Nuala O’Connor in Nov 2018 – come flash with us! More information here >>  And I’m crowd-funding to fund 4 half-places – for BAME writers, writers on low income, writers from marginalised communities: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/funding-places-on-arvon-flash-fiction-course

november

Peter Raynard reviews ‘Terms and Conditions’ on the Poetry School blog, calling it “a tightly conceived, perfectly formed set of poignant poems that question modern day (virtual) reality”. Read the full review here >>

Jonathan Gibbs invited me to contribute to his fantastic project in which a short story fan picks their own “personal anthology” of 12 short stories. I really enjoyed putting my personal anthology together – read it here.

I am now offering short story critiquing & mentoring – visit the page for more details!

september

London Grip has reviewed my poetry collection, calling it a “a tour de force of uncertainty, explored.” Read the full review here. And two new poems have been shortlisted for the 2017 Bridport Prize.

You can now buy two or more of my books direct from me. See the Books page for more.My excellent publisher, Jane Commane of Nine Arches Press, asked me to write a blog post about one of the poems in my collection, and the poem that came to mind was ‘After Seeing Monet’s Waterlilies And Then Hearing the News’. Read the post here.

For his Carpool Poetry series, publisher and poet Clive Birnie drove us around Bristol while we chatted about books etc…Watch the video here.

I have a feature in the new issue of Mslexia on the state of the short story in the UK & Ireland – a very positive piece!

Bookmunch has reviewed my poetry collection, Terms and Conditions, calling it “a veritable feast” – read the full review here.

august

Bidisha has written a lovely article, ‘Where the poems begin‘, about my writing, my new books and my London July book launch for the Times Literary Supplement: “Whether in prose or free verse, Hershman’s writing combines a clear style and witty observations with sinister, often symbolic plot developments. She is a master of the very short story, presenting swift action and an eerie undertow with lightness and emotional precision; the work feels roomy, never compressed.” You can read the full article here.

And in Litro, Christina Saunders says of my new short story collection: “Hershman’s genius lays with her ability to prize open the ordinary: moles, flavours, video-games, gasometers, flipping our vision until objects stare right back, transformed, gorgeous, broken, and wanting.”

A review of my new poetry collection in Mslexia (not available online) says: “Tania Hershman’s debut poetry collection is a natural linguistic and stylistic progression from her scientific journalism and short fiction writing. There is so much to appreciate and discuss here (with each and every poem). It is elegantly, economically and carefully written; nothing is superfluous and the strong imagery, lyricism, syntax, and metaphorical language work deep within the poems, unpacking meaning and sound with ease.”

july

Terms and Conditions, my debut poetry collection, is now available from Nine Arches Press! Find out more here >>

Baby, the opening poem from my collection, has just been published in the new issue of Southword.

I have a new article up on Writers & Artists, about where I got – and get – permission to move from short story writing to poetry. And I am grateful to Rupert Dastur for a wonderful review on The Short Story of Some Of Us Glow More Than Others: “a mind-bendingly good collection … careful prose shining down on the world of science, of strange happenings and lonely souls who step into the darkness”. Read the review here.

june

I’ve just recorded the June edition of TaniaReads: Listen to me read 4 poems from my forthcoming collection here.

Our Book Reviews calls Some Of Us Glow More Than Others “a really excellent collection of short stories that you are sure to enjoy and if you’re unsure about the genre then this is an excellent place to start.” Read the full review here. And I recently wrote an odd hybrid article about the collection for Necessary Fiction’s ‘Research Notes’.

My poetry collection, Terms and Conditions, is now available for pre-order from Nine Arches Press, publication date July 14th. And I’m having two book launches in July – come and celebrate with me!:

July 27th – Book Launch & Cross Genre Celebration, together with Jo Bell and Kate Feld, at Waterstones Deansgate, Manchester. More details here.
July 31st – Book Launch & Cross Genre Celebration, together with Jacqueline Saphra, Melissa Harrison and Zoe Gilbert, at Waterstones Gower Street, London. More details here.

Delighted to have won 3rd prize in the Institute of Psychoanalysis’ Poetry & Psychoanalysis poetry competition with ‘Baby’, which will be the opening poem in my collection, Terms and Conditions! And I have a poem in the new issue of Spontaneity, my own small anthem for the single woman, No I Do Not Tango.

may

Head over to Sarah_James’s In the Booklight for an interview with me – and a giveaway of my new collection! Bookmunch calls Glow “an extremely readable book by one of the best in the business” – read the full review here.

My new short story collection, Some Of Us Glow More Than Others, is officially published! Find out more here, including links to some of the stories and where to buy it >>>

My first review! Over on SkyLightRain, Judy Darley writes: ” Each of the tales examines, in its own way, what it means to be human, and the potential kindnesses and cruelties lying in wait both around and within us. While many lead us into laboratories, other sneak us into more unexpected places of moral and quizzical reflection, sometimes under cover of darkness…Birds, sea creatures, mice and cells with uncommon sentience hum in quiet corners, and a faint glimmer of loneliness laces the shadows.” Read the full review here.

april

Listen to my latest TaniaReads here >>>  And more audio: I was one of the guests on the wonderful Radio 3 programme about language and literature, The Verb, You can listen again here – til May 20th!  Two new poems (from my forthcoming collection) are published in B O D Y. My new venture, Amfibius, an online hub for all the spaces where sciences and the arts meet, is now live! Do take a look – http://www.amfibius.org/

march

Delighted to have two poems longlisted for the UK’s National Poetry Competition – congratulations to the winners! The March edition of TaniaReads is here! Sit back & let me read you a poem & a short story… eepurl.com/cDuzo9. Poems from my forthcoming collection have been accepted for publication in Spontaneity, B O D Y Literature and The Rialto magazine, coming soon!

february

The Feb edition of TaniaReads is here! Sit back & let me read you a poem & a short story… eepurl.com/cDuzo9.  Two poems from my forthcoming collection have been accepted for publication in The Rialto magazine’s next issue, to be published in March.

january

I just sent out the first of my monthly ‘Tania Reads’ audio recordings of me reading poems and stories from my two collections, coming out later this year. Here’s this month’s, do sign up here to get it straight to your Inbox!

I have two new poems, Advice for the Traveller, published on US Presidential Inauguration Day, Jan 20th, on New Boots, and What is New, written on Jan 1st, up on Visual Verse.

december

Sign up here if you’d like me to send you a new monthly audio poem or short story (or both) from my new collections, & I’ll start reading to you in January!

Booking is now open for the Arvon ‘Starting to Write’ course I am co-tutoring in Aug 2017 with my friend and fabulous poet Jo Bell. More details here! And Claire Trevien has given my poetry pamphlet a lovely mention in Sabotage Reviews’ End of 2016 Critics’ Choice, saying “Tania Hershman’s Nothing Here is Wild, Everything is Open (Southword Editions) … upends you in the best way”

november

A poem from my chapbook, And What We Know About Time, has been published on the excellent And Other Poems.

october

My poetry chapbook, Nothing Here Is Wild, Everything Is Open, has been beautifully reviewed by Rosalind Hudis in the Wales Arts Review, who says: “There is a strata in these poems of deep ‘care-taking’ – even if it leads to questioning rather than action….She is, above all, a  story-teller. Strong detail keeps the reader in the world of tangible sensation, spiced up by the occasional startling image.” Read the full review here>>

august

My brand new short story, There Is No-One In The Lab But Mice, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday Aug 28th at 7.45pm, and is now available on Listen Again for a month after that. An article I wrote about one of my favourite books of science-inspired fiction, Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman, is now published in Issue 51 of the gorgeous Slightly Foxed print magazine.

There are two new reviews of my poetry chapbook: at Under the Radar magazine (print) DA Prince says “What struck me is the unity and warmth of this collection… varied in form and viewpoint, they add up to a coherent whole”; and at Sabotage Reviews Angela Topping says: “Many of the poems take this kind of surrealist slant, which often leads to surprising and quirky approaches which keep the reader entertained. On the whole this is an interesting first foray into poetry, and I hope Hershman continues to write in both genres.”

july

My poem, Getting Away With It, has been longlisted for The London Magazine poetry competition. A poem from my chapbook, This Too is Prayer, is published on Ink, Sweat and Tears.

june

A new flash story, Fire & Granite,  has just been published in the Wales Arts Review, and a poem on Anthony Wilson’s Lifesavings poems blog. I’m also delighted to have a new poem, Kiss The First, in the ‘How To Make Love In Dangerous Times’ issue of The Pickled Body (p27). And you can listen to me read a new poem, How To Be Here, commissioned by the Bristol Festival of Nature.

may

My poetry chapbook, Nothing Here Is Wild, Everything Is Open, was runner-up in the 2016 Saboteur Award Best Poetry Pamphlet category! Find out more about the book here >>

april

I am thrilled to announce that the fabulous Nine Arches Press will publish my debut poetry collection in July 2017! Stay tuned for updates…

My chapbook is reviewed in the April/May 2016 issue of Southword journal by Thomas McCarthy, who was one of the four judges of the Fool For Poetry contest in which my chapbook won 2nd prize, who says: “There is a calm centre to her work, a meditative and mediating core, from which the poem expands outward. Parallel with this persistent sense of escape, or evisceration, is that other, harder, technical, formal ambition in the work: Hershman is not afraid to try it on, to stretch the line, to demand a visual awareness in her readers.” You can read the full review here.

march

Delighted to have a new short story, Octopus’s Garden, published in the excellent online journal, Catapult! And my poetry chapbook has received its first reviews – over at BookMunch, Lucille Turner calls it “quantum poetry… Add a touch of Existentialism and a dash of Postmodernist uncertainty and you have the essence of this collection. It has to be unsettling.” And  The Cork Evening Echo said: “Nothing Here Is Wild, Everything Is Open is a collection suffused with touches of humour, nostalgia and melancholy.”

Thrilled that one of my poems has been longlisted for the Plough Poetry Prize, judged by Carol Ann Duffy. And I have just uploaded a new recording of me reading one of the poems from my chapbook, Jigsawed and have added two new videos to the Watch page, of me performing in Manchester and Leeds.

feb 2016

My poetry chapbook, Nothing Here Is Wild, Everything Is Open, is published and available! Find out more here >>

jan 2016

My poetry chapbook is going to be launched at the Cork International Poetry Festival on Feb 12th, and I’ve been invited to do all sorts of wonderful events this year –  more great invites keep rolling in – do invite me to come read somewhere in the UK, I love doing it! Here is the list so far

december

The 5-day residential flash fiction course I am co-tutoring with Dave Swann at Arvon’s The Hurst in August 2016 is now open for booking – come flash with us (bursaries available)!

october

I am delighted to be shortlisted for the Live Canon poetry competition – ALL the shortlisted poems will be performed by the ensemble at the prize-giving event, as well as being published in the 2015 anthology. More here >>>

I have a new poem – with a ridiculously long title! – published in B O D Y: After The Man Who Finds A 100-Year-Old Bottle Made By Her Great-Grandfather’s Company, With His Name Still On It, Won’t Sell It To Her.

What a thrill that the Einstein-inspired short story anthology I co-edited, I Am Because You Are – featuring many wonderful authors from around the world and such a great variety of writing – is now available from Freight Books. Find out more here! If you are in or near London, do come to our first event discussing the anthology at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, on Oct 15th.

september

Delighted to have three poems published on the excellent And Other Poems, which is a treasure trove of wonderful and varied poetry! And my poem, Vandalism, has been commended in the 2015 PenFro poetry competition.

august

I have two poems published in Poems for A Liminal Age, a wonderful new anthology raising money for Medecin Sans Frontiers, do check it out and purchase!

july

I am delighted to have won 2nd prize in Munster Lit’s Fool for Poetry chapbook competition and my debut poetry chapbook will be published in February 2016! More details here… A new poem, Relativity, inspired by the political situation here in the UK, is published on New Boots and Pantisocracies. And a brand new flash story, The Most New Sport, is published in New Flash FIction Review Summer 2015 Issue.

june

3 poems have been accepted for And Other Poems in September, and I’ve been invited to read at the London launch on July 21st of Ambit magazine’s 221st issue, in which I have a (long) short story – details here! Some very exciting poetry news coming soon…

2 new poems have just been accepted by Under the Radar magazine for their Summer 2015 issue, and my poetry pamphlet was shortlisted for the Cinnamon Press poetry pamphlet competition – congratulations to the winners! I’ve also been invited to do an event on short stories at the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham’s ReadFest, on Sept 15th, more details soon.

may

Poems have been accepted for B O D Y and the The Stinging Fly‘s Winter 2015 issue, guest edited by one of my favourite poets, Billy Ramsell! Another poem was longlisted for the Rialto Nature Poetry competition, judged by Simon Armitage, and a flash fiction of mine will be published on FlashFiction.net.

The eBook of Writing Short Stories: A Writers And Artists Companion (Bloomsbury), co-authored by me and Courttia Newland, is now available!

april

The eBook of Writing Short Stories: A Writers And Artists Companion (Bloomsbury), co-authored by me and Courttia Newland, will be available shortly –  for Kindle here from April 23 and in EPUB format from April 14! I have two new poems in the April 2015 issue of Shearsman magazine, and my Ruskin Poetry Prize third-prize-winning poem will be published in the next issue of POEM magazine.

march

A poem of mine was commended in the Enfield Poets 2014 Poetry Competition.

february

I’m delighted that my poem, Dreams of a Tea Seller, is shortlisted for the 2014 Poetry Teignmouth poetry competition. Full shortlist here – results announced on March 22!

Hold The Baby is published in Ink, Sweat and Tears

Thrilled to be reading a specially-commissioned, brand new flash story on BBC Radio 3’s The Verb tonight, Feb 6th – it will be available to listen to again and as a podcast after the broadcast!

january

Delighted to have won 3rd prize in the Ruskin Poetry Prize, judged by David Harsent! Read my poem, Lessons in Flanders Agriculture, and the winning poems here >> or listen to me read my poem on SoundCloud.

Am more than thrilled to unveil that I have two poems highly commended in the 2014 Charles Causley poetry competition, which you can read, along with the winners, here (PDF) or listen to me read them on SoundCloud. I have had two poems accepted by Shearsman magazine, and two accepted for publication in the Poems For A Liminal Age anthology, which raises money for Medecin Sans Fronters.

I will be one of the two guest readers at Loose Muse on Jan 14th at the Poetry Cafe, Betterton Street, London – do come along!

december

Delighted that I have had a short story accepted for publication in the excellent Ambit magazine, coming out next summer, a poem accepted by Ink, Sweat and Tears (published sooner!) and two poems commended in a poetry competition whose details I am not at liberty to divulge yet!

My short story, About Time, was broadcast on Radio 4 on Dec 5, and is now available to listen to online until Jan 4th.

Writing Short Stories: A Writers & Artists Companion (Bloomsbury, Dec 2014) which I am  co-writer and editor of, together with Courttia Newland, is now available! I also have a new SoundCloud page where you can listen to me reading some of my stories and poems.

november

I’m delighted to unveil www.LeavingTheLine.com, the electronic version of the fruits of my collaboration with WW1 military historian Jeremy Banning for the Festival of Ideas and Bristol2014. You can read my blog post for a bit about the collaboration… Also, I was interviewed by the excellent Jen Harvey, new online flash fiction editor at Litro magazine, about my flash story, Think of Icebergs.

october

I’m thrilled that my poem, Pulled, was commended in the Ealing Autumn Festival Poetry Competition. The judge, George Szirtes, called it “a gorgeous poem about desire under the stars, the poem itself like a kiss”. You can read the poem here.

september
I’m over at Something Rhymed talking about my friendship (writerly and otherwise!) with my pal Vanessa Gebbie… find out what the mouse has to do with it! And my short story, The Party, is online at Room Magazine and also included in its newly released Geek Girls issue.

My poem, Portrait Of Couple With Dog, is one of the featured works up on this month’s Visual Verse. Go and submit your own! I have had a poem accepted for Poems in Which’s new issue – coming soon!

august
My short story, War Games, is published in the summer issue of the Wales Arts Review. Two very short poems were published on Nutshells and Nuggests and two poems have been longlisted for Canterbury Poet of the Year 2014 and will be published in the prize-winners anthology. My poetry pamphlet was shortlisted for the Cinnamon Press Poetry Pamphlet competition.

july
I have had two poems longlisted and one shortlisted for the Wirral Festival of Firsts Poetry Competition and my pamphlet was longlisted for the Flarestack Poetry Pamphlet competition. My short short story, The Perfect Egg, which was published in Nature Futures in Jan 2011, will be included in Nature’s second e-anthology, available later this summer.

 

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