RARE SWAN PRESS MASTHEAD
Renée Sigel Publisher. Editor. Book Designer. Book MotherHen
Renée Sigel is a poet, editor, essayist, odd-time author and independent publisher, with a long and varied background in the arts, media, journalism and magazine publishing.
Rare Swan Press launched in 2015, with the publication of “20/20”, a poetry collaboration, at the invitation of Mario Susko. During the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown she was invited to edit Going Back to Wyoming by John Ennis and to publish the special charity editions of the online project 100 Words of Solitude. Both books were published in 2021. Her eclectic career began with an editing commission, fresh out of University and was followed by her becoming a bi-monthly art columnist and critic for the largest South African daily newspaper.
Her poetry was first published while she was still an undergraduate, by the English Academy of South Africa, in 1996. Her debut collection, Sexions. Selections from Life & Love was commissioned by Sam Smith and published in 2004. Literati Magazine was conceived in 1999 and it was launched online in August 2004. Launched at both the London Book Fair and the International Book Expo in New York in 2005, it featured a host of prominent international literary names within its first four issues. After the withdrawal of its Art Director, due to illness, Literati Magazine was shelved for almost a decade, until 2014/15 when it was relaunched initially on Medium before its own website was relaunched in 2017.
An advocate for young women, she was a panelist on Private Sector sessions at the first UNODC Conference on Human Trafficking at the UN Headquarters in Vienna in 2009. Later that year she led a small, private delegation at meetings at The House of Lords, presenting an educational initiative for survivors of human trafficking. She was also nominated as a TED Fellow in 2009 for her writing on international terrorism. An unusual career during which, she has collaborated with internationally renowned institutions, as well as established names in music, theatre and film, enables her to bring a breadth and depth of experience to every project.
Personal Website Incertae Sedes
Ibrahim Babátúndé Ibrahim Fiction Editor
He not only contributes his works to literary journals, he has also been published in several print anthologies, such as The Knot Wound Anthology published by Bell Press, Twenty-20, Stories & Lessons From The Pandemic Year, Curated Edited by Tope Akintayo Published by The Witsprouts Project. He is a Pushcart Prize and three time Best of the Net nominee and been longlisted in numerous competitions, i.e, The Commonwealth Writers Short Story Prize. His collection DEAR DESCENDANT(S) is a 2021 finalist in the Moon City Short Fiction Award, hosted by Moon City Press, Sundial Magazine nominated his “Of Works and Workshops of the Devil ” for the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing
Ibrahim started reading at an early age, influenced by his grandmother’s storytelling of African folklore. He picked his first James Hadley Chase novel at the age of eight, and for the love of stories, was already done with both the Quran, and the Bible, by the time he was ten years old. After graduating in Computer Science, he served in a number of managerial positions in the Nigerian entertainment industry for over a decade. In March 2019, he left everything behind to become a writer.
He is also active in promoting youthful enterprise in Africa through his support of The African Free Trade Area, providing opportunities for young African talent to grow and enable their valuable contribution to an international future. He also served as the Africa Talent Liaison at the Journal of African Youth Literature, and he volunteered at Ayamba LitCast. He is a frequent participant on independent publishing reading panels and literary festivals, such as the SMOL Fair in March 2022
His fiction can be found in Typehouse Lit Magazine, JMWW Journal, Agbowo. Collectors of New African Literary & Visual Art, Literati Magazine, Cobolt Review, Door is a Jar Magazine, Ebedi Review, Agbowó Magazine, Sub-Saharan Magazine, Journal of African Youth Literature, Black Muslim Reads Anthology, Analogies & Allegories Literary Magazine, and 100 Words of Solitude print anthology. He was shortlisted for Goge Africa’s #GogeAfrica20 Writing Contest, and Ibua Journal’s “Pack Light” Series. Having served on a judging panel for a children’s writing competition, he will be editing the forthcoming anthology.
He sees himself as a seeker and a truth-sayer, nurtured and inspired, as a writer, by the world around him and the unique experiences life brings. His work can be said to explore the human experience, from an African perspective. An avid lover of language, his once favourite book was the Dictionary. Originally from Ilorin, Nigeria, Ibrahim and his young family are now resident in the United Kingdom.
Social Media
Twitter @HEEMtheWriter
Marcelle Newbold Behind the Scenes with …. ” Interview Series
Marcelle’s writing explores place and inheritance. Pushcart Prize nominated, and winner of the Poetry in the Arcades competition in 2020, her poems have been published in online and print magazines including Ink Sweat & Tears, Iamb poet, and The Ekphrastic Review, and in recent anthologies by Black Bough Poetry, Icefloe Press, and Indigo Dreams. She is managing editor of Nightingale & Sparrow literary press, and lives in Cardiff, Wales where she trained as an architect.
Linktree: marcellenewbold
Professor Celeste Finimore Reader
Celeste M. Finnimore is an Adjunct Professor in Literature and Creative Writing, having taught at the Western Oklahoma State College. She is an active advocate for ” women’s choice’ in Mississipi.
As part of the production of “This Is My Normal”, she performed a personal piece about Bipolar Disorder, in 2016. She participated in two separate performances of Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues” in 2011 and 2017. She was also a featured performer in the Columbus Story Slam in 2017. In 2019, she was a featured p oet at the Tenessee Williams Tribute, held in Columbus.
In 2021, she was a featured speaker at the ‘Evolving Women’ Women’s History Month Expo at Attus. She is also a dedicated Airforce “Key Spouse” in the 52nd TRS.Her work has been published in De Soto Magazine, Feminist Space Camp Magazine and Feral Journal, amongst others.
She is also mother to two young children.
Twitter @CelestePoetProf
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