Sylvia named Coopers Oxford Marmalade Factory, ‘the Jam Factory’ when she established an Art and Antiques Centre with café, bookshop and repair services. The name has stuck! She’s best known locally for the ten year Oxford Castaway series in The Oxford Times. It brought together people who would usually never meet and she made it diverse which was rare then. Her novel, Sculpting the Elephant, is half set in Jericho and half in India. Sylvia is a campaigner for libraries and recently, with friends and the help of Korky Paul raised the money to build the first community library in west Kenya where her novel Not so Black and White is partly set. Her best-selling Brushstrokes in Time is a historical novel which tells the story of the courageous Stars artists (Beijing 1979). Her memoir has been endorsed by the journalist, Yasmin Alibhai Brown, the international poet Sudeep Sen and the history professor, Rana Mitter (Oxford and Harvard).

‘Life is serious, but is not to be lived too seriously’. Serious or humorous, my poems are always good-natured.

I write when I have something to say, and I feel I have found the right way to say it. It’s about having fun with words and meaning, using words skilfully to say things differently, and saying the familiar in unfamiliar ways.

In 2017 I self-published a collection of poetry and wit as Particles of Light, with a 2nd edition in 2025. The book has been well received and has sold well in my local bookshops.

Intersecting Lines, my second collection, was traditionally published by indie publisher Beercott Books in 2021. In 2025 Beercott Books published my third collection, titled Reflections. These two collections continue to reflect my interest in people, love, the natural world, and the human condition.

In 2025 I also compiled together the sections of wit from my 3 collections and published it as Wit ‘n Word. There are poems to move you, to surprise you, and to make you laugh. The humorous poems and one-liners are there for entertainment, to be enjoyed, though they often contain a ‘sting in the tail’. I hope readers will enjoy reading my poems and will feel I am putting their own experiences and emotions into words.

I read regularly at poetry ‘open mics’ and at local literary events, and I give talks about my poetry to community groups.

I have been a writer of fiction for many years, initially as a short story writer for women’s magazines when I was published extensively, nationally and internationally.

After completing an M.A. in Creative Writing, I turned to full length fiction and have now written four novels with a fifth close to completion. My novels are character driven – their genre is book group/commercial/literary crossover with themes of the complexities of family life, relationships and the influence of the past upon present lives. Set in the latter years of the 20th century and the opening decade of the 21st, each novel is a standalone story.

My fifth novel is something of a departure for me: set in London during WW2 with themes of conscientious objection as well as duty and familial obligation, it is my first venture into what can be considered historic fiction.

In addition to writing, I run creative writing classes and workshops and enjoy speaking to a wide range of societies and groups about my creative process and my long writing career.

Mario Coelho is a award wining children’s book illustrator based in Oxford with several mainstream picture book publications including with the prestigious Oxford University Press and several independent publications with the very well known and acclaimed children’s poet John foster.

Very recently I have worked alongside the great illustrator Korky Paul for a publishing project with Epic Tales where we both illustrated several titles.

Rohan Davies is the author of The Saga of the Witch, a fantasy series inspired by Norse myths.

It has been over a thousand years since the gods and giants fought in the climactic battle of Ragnarok. Humanity survived, but the world is still a harsh place. Anike is a witch, trying to understand her nature while hiding her power, knowing she will be feared and reviled by the people she wants to help. She is drawn into a struggle between law and chaos as ancient beings wake once more to threaten all of humanity. Her choices will help to shape the future of the world.

The first book in the Saga, The Demon and the Witch, was published in 2024, followed in 2025 by The Giant and the Witch. The third book in the series, The Hunter and the Witch, is planned for late 2026, to be followed by further books in the Saga in future years.

Rohan lives in Norfolk, overlooking the sea, and enjoys walking along the unique coastline. He has been an avid reader of fantasy books since a child and has studied for a diploma in Norse mythology. He has been playing and designing role-playing games for his entire adult life. The world for The Saga of the Witch was originally created for one such role-playing game. After a long career in dispute resolution, Rohan decided to do something creative instead, and now designs games and writes full-time.

nü editions is a uk-based independent publisher that aims to introduce original, innovative poetical works that provoke thinking, through bilingual productions.