It is with the heaviest of hearts that Cowboy Jamboree has learned of the passing of Sheldon Lee Compton last night. We know how many of you knew him and loved his work. He was a talent like no other. We're heartbroken for Sheldon and his kin. He was a giant. He will be missed.
Join us for a very special picnic on X. Thank you @nathanpettigrew.bsky.social for including Raw Lit to the feast 🥰
x.com/MythicPicnic...
We’re delighted to welcome Katrina Moinet to the team Katrina Moinet grew up bilingually on Ynys Môn, studied modern languages, lived in Europe and travelled widely before returning to north Wales to raise a family. Katrina’s poetry and fiction explore language, identity, memory, and gendered experience. Their debut pamphlet Portrait of a Young Girl Falling shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year. The Art of Silence won Hedgehog’s pamphlet prize. A micro-collection Lessons in Language Learning released in 2026 and State of the Nations is out with Atomic Bohemian.
RAW LIT NEWS!
We are thrilled to welcome Katrina Moinet as our Poetry Editor.
Find out more on our masthead: rawlit.weebly.com/masthead.html
Katrina's site: katrinamoinet.com/contact/
Our next submission call will be on the 1st of June. Guidelines: rawlit.weebly.com/submissions....
I haven't written much this year and submitted even less. So I'm delighted to have a new piece coming up in the April Masthead Volume 2 edition of Mythic Picnic on X.
"As if by magic, a clasp flies open and out concertinas an array of foldable houses. I smell leather. And absence."
Read this sparkling gem of a story.
I thought you might. Happy birthday Gif Queen 😘
What an honour this was and what a delight to see the conclusion of the contest on my birthday 🎂
To conclude @theprideroars.bsky.social's inaugural Flash Competition, we'd like to share our Judges' Report.
Thank you again to all who submitted and to our amazing judges:
Megan Hanlon @sugarpigblog.bsky.social
Fiona McKay @fionamckay.bsky.social
T. L. Tomljanovic @tomljanovic.bsky.social
WHAT A STORY!!!! If you read nothing else today, read this 👌It had me smiling, laughing, crying all at the same time. Huge congrats, Zoe Davis @meanerharker.bsky.social
Such great writing. The standard of all the stories shared has been so good, and this is a deserved winner.
I am absolutely delighted to have won. Thank you so much to @theprideroars.bsky.social for this opportunity and for allowing so many incredible voices to be heard. I am stunned as the stories I have read over the past few days have all been so strong. Well done to all! Keep writing x
@theprideroars.bsky.social
And the winner is 'Something About My Father Who I Never Really Knew' by Zoë Davis @meanerharker.bsky.social
Congratulations & welcome to the Pride.
We're so grateful to @saloneurope.bsky.social for gifting our winner with a one-year membership.♥️
theprideroars.blogspot.com/2026/03/flas...
Two great stories. I'm not surprised it was too difficult to chose between them! Take a read.
@theprideroars.bsky.social
In joint second place: 'Aiden Carthy Walks on Water' by Karen Arnold & 'Liberty Lullaby' by Anne Dorrian.
Congratulations to both.
We're grateful to @saloneurope.bsky.social for gifting each writer with a 1-month membership🥰
theprideroars.blogspot.com/2026/03/flas...
"What if you don’t mention the dust-quiet room painted perfect egg-yellow, nothing but a mobile of flying storks I found in a thrift store"
Wonderful use of anaphora in this HC piece from @therelphian.bsky.social in the @theprideroars.bsky.social
theprideroars.blogspot.com/2026/03/flas...
"and it was hoarse as if she’d been crying, and flat and toneless, as if she’d given up on herself"
Brilliant writing from @noranadj.bsky.social; the way this builds and build and builds
theprideroars.blogspot.com/2026/03/flas...
Yay, I did it! To be published is great but to be 'Highly Commended' against such tough competition brings me great writing joy! Thanks to the whole team behind 'The Pride Roars' - (PS I'm a Leo) 🦁 Congrats to JP relph, Jenny Kingsley Emem and all the winners! @theprideroars.bsky.social
Wow, so blown away by this fantastic news. Congrats also to Jenny and @noranadj.bsky.social 🌟🌟
Thank you to everyone at The Prize Roars for this 💜
We are delighted to announce our Highly Commended stories
Congratulations to Jenny Kingsley Emem, JP Relph @therelphian.bsky.social & Nora Nadjarian @noranadj.bsky.social
Thank you @saloneurope.bsky.social for gifting the writers with a 1-month membership🥰
theprideroars.blogspot.com/2026/03/flas...
Decisions have been made. The Pride Roars @theprideroars.bsky.social will be announcing the winners and Highly commended soon. Thank you again to all who submitted, the quality of the work was incredible.
theprideroars.blogspot.com/2026/03/flas...
Did I mention it's amazing and appetising?
New flash up on X in an amazing collection by Mythic Picnic, curated by the amazing @tomljanovic.bsky.social
x.com/MythicPicnic...
Let's talk about X. You've probably sworn never to return to the dark side, but there is a rebellion brewing by the name of Mythic Picnic and we're bringing hope back to the galaxy one glorious story at a time. If you dare, check out Feast or Famine, a collection of micros.
x.com/MythicPicnic...
TUESDAY TASTERS Money, money, money. What kind of heartless society would allow the owner to sell Samuel’s home? Because life came with a contract, and he’d signed it—he could live rent-free as long as he maintained the place. He had. He had maintained his place while the walls, ceilings, shutters, and doors collapsed and disintegrated. An ABBA Song Turned Sour Delphine Gauthier-Georgakopoulos Text is on a black background with a stack of cash behind the text. Underbelly Press logo is in the top right corner.
An ABBA Song Turned Sour by Delphine Gauthier-Georgakopoulos @delgeo14.bsky.social
It's a sharp, layered piece with strong characterisation, spiralling thoughts, and money, money, money at its core. Sympathies shift as things aren't quite what they initially seem.
Read it now in Issue 6
