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.
Publications & Awards
Awards
Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize (Fiction Shortlist, 2024)
FAB Prize (Second Place for Text, 2023)
Creative Future Writers Award (Platinum Poetry, 2022)
The Literary Consultancy Pen Factor Award (Highly Commended, 2021)
Poetry
Three poems in May Showcase (The Literary Consultancy, 2024)
‘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
‘Anak ng Aswang’ (Wasafiri, 2025)
‘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, 2023-2024)
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)