A Key to the Asylum

October 5, 2026October 5, 2026 ~ beverleystevens ~ 1 Comment

'My shoes tapped along the long echoey lino corridor as I headed for the psycho-geriatric ward that I’d been assigned to. The featureless passageway was empty, no one to be seen until I reached an external door where a young woman was mopping the entrance way . . .' This essay, set early in my working life when I still wanted to be a social worker, was published in online literary journal Dorothy Parker's Ashes in October 2026. The theme for the issue was failure. Read A Key to the Asylum at https://www.dorothyparkersashes.com/failure/horror-of-horrors.

Not drowning, but waving

May 30, 2026June 9, 2026 ~ beverleystevens ~ Leave a comment

A personal essay, first published by Headland in issue 16, November 2021 and included in an anthology 'Loving Arrangements: Stories about Modern Living and Loving' published by Rutgers University Press on 9 June 2026. Click on the image to read the essay or see details of the anthology at https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/loving-arrangements/9781978844544

Waiting for baby

May 2, 2026May 3, 2026 ~ beverleystevens ~ Leave a comment

A personal essay that recounts my hopes and fears as I awaited the birth of my first grandchild. It was published in Wild Willow Magazine's issue on mums. You can read it at https://wildwillowmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/wwm-issue-6.pdf or click on the image to read it here.

Out the front door

November 19, 2025November 19, 2025 ~ beverleystevens ~ 3 Comments

A short personal essay about farewelling my mother, published in Short Reads in November 2025. https://www.short-reads.org/out-the-front-door/

To the dance

October 21, 2025October 29, 2025 ~ beverleystevens ~ Leave a comment

This piece, published in Sad Girl Diaries recounts how it took me all afternoon to get ready for the fourth form social. You can read it at https://www.sadgirldiaries.com/post/to-the-dance-beverley-stevens

A proper Sunday lunch

October 28, 2022October 21, 2025 ~ beverleystevens ~ 3 Comments

This story of what is was like on family visits to my grandparents is published online in the Spring 2022 issue of The Longridge Review. You can read it there: the constraints on our behaviour that gave rise to anxiety and boredom, and the things that made it special. Read it at https://longridgereview.com/beverley-stevens/

Been and gone

September 16, 2022October 21, 2025 ~ beverleystevens ~ Leave a comment

Published online in the literary journal Dorothy's Parker's Ashes, this piece was submitted in response to a call for submissions on the theme 'mother'. My mother is seated in the bottom row, first on the left. Read it at http://www.dorothyparkersashes.com/mother/gone

Aide-memoire

May 28, 2022October 21, 2025 ~ beverleystevens ~ Leave a comment

This story of a phone call with my mother as her memory was going is published in Landfall issue 243. Click on the photo to read it.

Not drowning but waving

February 6, 2022May 30, 2026 ~ beverleystevens ~ Leave a comment

A personal essay, first published by Headland in issue 16, November 2021 and included in a anthology 'Loving Arrangements: Stories about Modern Living and Loving' published by Rutgers University Press in June 2026. Click on the photo to read it.

French class with Mr Lewis (or how I became an expert 500 player)

April 9, 2021October 21, 2025 ~ beverleystevens ~ 1 Comment

For most of our last year at high school, my best friend Eva and I spent every French class in the common room playing 500 with whoever was around. None of the other seventh formers commented.; perhaps they didn’t notice; or perhaps they thought we had a lot of study periods in our timetable. Our … Continue reading French class with Mr Lewis (or how I became an expert 500 player)