As part of The People’s Forest (curated for the Waltham Forest London Borough of Culture 2019 programme by friends of the river Kirsteen McNish and Luke Turner), The Willowherb Review is seeking submissions from writers of colour based around the seasons and in celebration of Epping Forest.

Epping Forest – London’s urban woodland – touches every corner of the Borough of Waltham Forest, from Leyton in the south to Chingford in the north. Since the forest was preserved ‘forever’ by an act of parliament in 1878, it has played an integral role as an escape from the city in the life of London’s diverse communities. Yet this hasn’t always been a simple quest for respite and relaxation. The People’s Forest explores this relationship, interrogating the deep bond we have with forests and woodland not just as places of recreation, but as part of the passions, fears, neuroses and myriad identities that make us human. The year-long People’s Forest programme uses the seasons as a framework to invite poets, writers, musicians, artists and residents to celebrate the complex meanings that we place upon our woodlands.

The London Borough of Culture programme is a year-long celebration of culture, in its inaugural year. Waltham Forest’s 2019 themes are ‘Radicals’, ‘Makers’, and ‘Fellowship’, which will be explored over a range of projects and events emphasising the borough’s diversity.

The Willowherb publishes writers who identify as BAME, people of colour, and/or Indigenous.

The deadline for submissions is 15 March. More information about the submissions criteria is available here.