Lerah Mae Barcenilla is a writer and poet who grew up in Cuartero, Capiz in the Philippines full of magic, superstition and tradition before moving to the UK.
Her work explores Filipino history, mythologies and folklore, the unreliability of memory and the violence and delight in transformation.
She is currently in the middle of revisions for her magical dark academia fantasy novel inspired by Filipino mythology and folklore.
Publications & Awards
Awards
FAB Prize (Second Place for Text, 2023)
Creative Future Writers Award (Platinum Poetry, 2022)
The Literary Consultancy Pen Factor Award (Highly Commended, 2021)
Poetry
‘To Love and Be Loved as a Language Primer’ in How It Started anthology (Creative Future, 2022)
Three poems in Issue 3: Spell (The Alchemy Spoon, 2021)
‘to unravel / to bloom’ (Harana Poetry, 2021)
Two poems in 30 Synonyms for Emerging anthology (Verve Poetry Press, 2020)
Short stories
‘The City Where One Finds The Lost’ in Modern Gothic anthology (Fly On The Wall Press, 2024)
Mentoring
Poetry Mentoring with Poet Rishi Dastidar (The Literary Consultancy, 2023)
Novel Mentoring with Harper Voyager’s Natasha Bardon (Asian Women Writers, 2022-2023)
Residencies
Hippodrome Young Poets inaugural cohort (Birmingham, 2019/20)
Punch Records’ Gallery37, Spoken Word Camp (Birmingham, 2018)
Writing West Midlands’ Room 204 Writer Development Scheme (Birmingham, 2017/18)