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In this convesation, Arifa Akbar speaks with Mervyn Morris, the outgoing Poet Laureate of Jamaica. They talk about his works, in particular the use of his 'Englishes'.

Rowyda Amin is the author of two pamphlets, We Go Wandering At Night And Are Consumed By Fire (Sidekick Books, 2017), and Desert Sunflowers (flipped eye, 2014).

Day in Cycle: 1 … Chance of Love: Medium … When I touch my girl’s face I could swear the bones beneath the skin aren’t the ones I gave her. ‘Lemme take your bag,’ she says, dragging it and me through the chaos of the place.

Sally St Clair's stories have been published in Stand and Panurge. Her poems have been published in various anthologies including Beautiful Dragons, and The Raving Beauties Hallelujah for 50ft Women (Bloodaxe). She has had a prize winning poem in the Arvon International Poetry Competition.

Camilla (a journalist) and Ablah (a cosmetic doctor specialising in facial rejuvenation) are having an interview chat in a spare room at Ablah’s clinic. Ablah: I’d estimate you’re thirty-three years old, from the depth of the fountain of lines between your eyebrows.

I keep trying to lose my body … I imagine the plates of food left uneaten, placed back on the counter … as soon as the kitchen had been emptied. She asked, ‘do you want to die?’ … I knew the right answer was ‘no’ … but my mouth was too dry.

Aria Aber was the joint-winner of the Wasafiri New Writing Prize for Poetry 2014. Her winning poem was 'First Generation Immigrant Child'. She lives in London. -- What are you reading right now? Muriel Rukeyser’s The Life of Poetry. Where do you write? Everywhere.

I doubt the incongruity was lost on him. The Langham in Portland Place and the BP Theatre in the British Museum are perhaps not the best places for a renowned commentator on the injustices of colonialism and its legacies in Africa to speak his mind.

Louis James was Walcott’s guest on his visit to Trinidad in 1973, discussing issues of Caribbean poetry, and watching the Little Carib Theatre group rehearse one of Walcott’s plays.

Jo Stones has lived in South London for thirty-four years, having been born and bred in Sheffield then New Zealand. She returned to study as an adult, graduated with a degree in film and works as an archivist for Film and TV.

Aurvi Sharma has been awarded the Gulf Coast Non-fiction Prize, the Prairie Schooner Essay Prize, the Wasafiri New Writing Prize in Life Writing, the AWP Emerging Writer Scholarship, and a Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner Award.

Twilight had come and passed over his shoulders and bent head, like a crow. *** … Ali stood on the promontory watching his house burn down, a terrestrial crown of flame within the dark blue heavens.

Anita Pati won the Wasafiri New Writing Prize (poetry) in 2013, has been a Jerwood/Arvon mentee and was one of 2015’s Aldeburgh Eight winners. Her poetry has been published in magazines and anthologies including Poetry London, The Rialto, Best British Poetry, Magma and The North.

On Memory and the Archives of Caribbean History … A Conversation with Lawrence Scott … Lawrence Scott is the acclaimed author of four novels—Witchbroom (1992), Aelred’s Sin (1998), Night Calypso (2004), and Light Falling on Bamboo (2012).

Mia Couto rarely comes to London. He is here for the Rolex Mentor & Protégé Arts Initiative.

Simon Van der Velde was born and educated in Newcastle upon Tyne where he trained and practiced as a lawyer, before leaving the legal profession to concentrate full time on his writing.  He now lives in Newcastle with his wife and two tyrannical children.

Ollie was just about to jump when he heard footsteps walking towards him across the stone bridge. Standing frozen on the wall, he never considered anyone approaching at this time of night. Ollie never moved and kept his eyes on the fast flowing water below while he waited for the person to pass.

Gita Ralleigh completed her MA in creative writing at Birkbeck in 2015 and has had short stories published by Wasafiri, Bellevue Literary Review, Fox Spirit, the Word Factory and Freight (February 2017).

Ismail Kadare’s novel opens with the backdrop of a bustling city square in Constantinople, in the heart of the Ottoman Empire. There is an ancient stone wall in the square, into which a cavity has been carved, and in this cavity, on a dish of honey and salt, sits a human head.

Cliff Chen is a Trinidadian-born writer. He has published several short stories and was winner of the Wasafiri New Writing Prize for Life Writing (2013) and also shortlisted for fiction category that same year.

Read this short story by Ali May, in which a young couple in Tehran, Nima and Rita, are planning their immigration to Canada when they are faced with a sudden medical crisis.   

Jaki McCarrick is an award-winning writer of plays, poetry and fiction.

Kaitz Israeli (Israeli Summer) -was the name of the movie marathon playing on yes.vod that summer The trailer played     constant nostalgic music droning over images of young, dark haired actresses.

Irenosen Okojie is a writer and Arts Project Manager. Her debut novel Butterfly Fish won a Betty Trask award. Her work has been featured in The Observer, The Guardian, the BBC and the Huffington Post amongst other publications. Her short stories have been published internationally.