Black Pear Press

In support of our friends at Worcestershire LitFest and Fringe, we are delighted to announce the launch of their annual writing competitions:

• The Flash Fiction Short Story Competition is accepting entries NOW, with a closing date of Friday, May 1st, 2026. Worcestershire LitFest and Fringe is welcoming short stories of no more than 300 words for this competition.
• The Young Writers Competition is accepting entries NOW, with a closing date of Friday, May 1st, 2026. Worcestershire LitFest and Fringe is welcoming stories of no more than 300 words for this competition, written to the theme of ‘Wonder’.
• The Worcestershire Poet Laureate Competition is accepting entries NOW, with a closing day of Friday, May 8th, 2026. Entrants are required to submit two poems for consideration here; one written to the theme of ‘Wonder’, and one on a theme or topic of their choosing.

Full details of the competitions, and the finer details of how to enter, can be found on the Worcestershire LitFest and Fringe website now by clicking here.

After years of devoted reading, commissioning, editing and more, Polly Stretton has now officially retired from her role as Black Pear Press Director. It would be remiss of us not to take this opportunity to thank Polly for everything she has done for this company though.

Polly, like so many editors at small presses, has given hours of her time and consideration to the authors that Black Pear Press has represented over the years. The hours here can be unforgiving, but Polly was only too happy to give increasing amounts of her time to ensure the company stayed afloat, alongside her fellow Directors.

Now, Polly has decided to step from her role to pursue other projects – and to give herself a much-needed break from track changes and comment boxes. We are endlessly thankful to her efforts in making Black Pear Press what it is, though, and for now we can only say that she will be a sorely missed part of the team.

We will rope her back in for the occasional bit of editing though, because you can never really escape that part of the job…

Black Pear Press will continue to run as usual, at the hands of remaining Directors Tony Judge and Charley Barnes. Our submissions will remain closed for the time being while we recalibrate and re-assess the directions Black Pear Press will move in, in this next leg of our publishing journey. But don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere!

Black Pear Press are delighted to announce the launch of a new anthology, Craft of Care, collated and edited by Charley Barnes and Claire Walker.

The launch for the anthology will take place online on February 25 from 6:30pm. The Zoom details to access the launch can be found below:

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82489281113?pwd=6aaCIDuMPsWLTsseaAs4xd9VNOno58.1

Meeting ID: 824 8928 1113 / Passcode: 944186

Craft of Care is an anthology of creative nonfiction and poetic responses to the theme of caregiving. The book, and its brave contents, sheds light on the realities—sometimes harsh, sometimes wholesome—of caregiving, and how a carer carries their responsibilities with them. Edited by Charley Barnes and Claire Walker and featuring writers such as Sophia Argyris, Penelope Shuttle, Paul Atten Ash, Catherine Redford, Rob Walton, Catherine Balaq, and Gaynor Jones, this book offers rich and varied perspectives on the complexities of caregiving, beyond the day-to-day demands and into the heart of helping, listening, and sometimes grieving that comes with caring for another. Here, there are partners, parents, grandparents, children, friends, and patients, who have received care, sometimes from a family member, sometimes from a health professional, sometimes from themselves. The resulting works voice the fragile interplay of emotions and practicalities behind, within, and after the role of carer.

To order your copy of Craft of Care, please click here, which will take you through to the relevant payment details.