Naomi Foyle – Editor

Winner of the Hryhorii Skovoroda Prize (Ukraine) and many other accolades for my writing, I am a British-Canadian poet, novelist and essayist based in Brighton UK. As an editor at Waterloo Press and other independent UK publishers, I have mentored and/or edited over twenty poetry collections, including A Privilege of Rain by David Swann, shortlisted for the 2010 Ted Hughes Award, Tantie Diablesse by Fawzia Kane, longlisted for the 2011 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, and eight titles for LIT UP, a mentoring and publishing programme for emerging poets of colour at Waterloo Press. I am also the editor of the bilingual anthology A Blade of Grass: New Palestinian Poetry (Smokestack Books, 2017), for which I wrote a critical introduction and arranged launches in the UK, NYC, Jordan and Palestine.

I am the poetry and fiction editor of two British journals: Critical Muslim, the journal of the Muslim Institute; and Gramarye, the journal of the Chichester Centre for Fantasy, Fairy Tale and Speculative Fiction. As a Reader in Critical Imaginative Writing at the University of Chichester I supervise a wide range of undergraduate to PhD theses, with a specialism in Poetry and SFF. My doctoral projects have included a High Fantasy novel featuring a non-binary protagonist, a collection of poems on the theme of feminism and witchcraft, and an poetic novel about a self-harming ballet dancer.

I was brought up in London, Hong Kong, Liverpool and Saskatchewan, in an interracial Quaker family with inclusive and internationalist values. I view all my literary work as a form of cultural and anti-racist activism - I will happily work with anyone who shares my values, but I especially seek to use my platform as a writer, lecturer and editor to shine a light on under-represented authors. In so doing I aim to help change the publishing industry, the culture at large, and myself. I am aware of my white middle-class and able-bodied privilege and I know that I learn as much, or more, from my diverse clients as they do from me. I read widely and keep up with the news and diverse cultural media, but when it comes to cultural, historical or political references I may not understand, I try always to ask, not assume. If I get things wrong, I apologise. I'm grateful for this dimension of my work - the trust I have built up with my clients has deepened my understanding of political change, enhanced my capacity for empathy and humour, and enriched my life with new friendships. My activism is not limited to my paid work: I campaign on equalities issues for my university union, and take to the streets on a regular basis!

Please note that this summer (2025) I am editing a book on the theme of child sex abuse, and as I find this work to be emotionally intense, I cannot take on any other projects this year with similar themes.