The Mays

26/06/2025

Check out this review of The Mays 33 from our big sister publication Varsity!

Heather Leigh explores the poetic worlds within the recently published student anthology The Mays 33

14/06/2025

🌟 EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT 🌟

We are delighted to announce that our launch event will be taking place on the 21st June from 2-4pm on Pembroke College's beautiful Red Buildings Lawn! This is a chance for writers and contributors to as well as readers of The Mays to meet one another, mingle and celebrate this wonderful anthology together!

There will be readings from student writers, refreshments, a chance to pick up a copy if you haven't already and, most likely, sun! :)

We can't wait to see you there! In the meantime, happy reading 📖💙

🎨: Daisy Cooper

20/05/2025

We are still so excited that The Mays 33 is out in the world! In anticipation of our book sale today, here's a sneak peek into the book at Daisy Cooper's beautiful internal art 'A Penny for Your Thoughts' 🎨🖌️

Join us for our English Faculty Book Sale (in Cambridge) shortly! We can't wait to see you there, and will be around from 1-4pm 📖

The Mays 33 is also available at ✨ https://shop.varsity.co.uk/shop/product/mays-thirty-three-2025 ✨

18/05/2025

We're still so excited about The Mays 33 launch, and can't wait for you all to see it in person! Join us this coming Tuesday for our book sale where we will be selling copies of the anthology by card :)

It'll make a lovely revision break, for those of you who can make it! If you can't, no worries — copies are available anytime at: https://shop.varsity.co.uk/shop/product/mays-thirty-three-2025 !! 🌟

14/05/2025

We are absolutely delighted to reveal that The Mays 33 has ARRIVED! ☀️

Keep your eyes peeled for our initial book sale - which will be announced very soon 🔮👀

We can't wait to see you all there!

11/05/2025

as the release date of The Mays 33 nears - we're back with some more reasons to pre-order The Mays 33! 🌻📖

We can't wait for you all to see it in person! :)

Pre-order link: https://shop.varsity.co.uk/shop/product/mays-thirty-three-2025 💙

🎨: Daisy Cooper

11/05/2025

as the release date of The Mays 33 nears - we're back with some more reasons to pre-order The Mays 33! 🌻📖

We can't wait for you all to see it in person! :)

Pre order link: https://shop.varsity.co.uk/shop/product/mays-thirty-three-2025

🎨: Daisy Cooper

27/04/2025

Pre-orders for The Mays 33 are OPEN - here are some of the reasons you might want to pick up a copy of the wonderful 33rd edition of The Mays!

🌟 link to pre-order is available in our bio and at the following link: https://shop.varsity.co.uk/shop/product/mays-thirty-three-2025 🌟

🎨 by the wonderful Daisy Cooper

21/04/2025

We are so thrilled to reveal the beautiful cover of The Mays 33 - illustrated by and with huge thanks to the amazing Jessica Leer 💙

When asked about her inspirations for this year's cover, Jessica responded: "I am so excited for everyone to see this cover. I feel like I put a lot of myself in it: the colours, the dancers and stars all feel like a piece of me that I'm giving to The Mays."

Pre-sales will be opening soon. We hope you are all as excited as we are to read and enjoy all the wonderful student writing and art within this issue of The Mays. Our team has worked so hard on it, and we cannot wait for it to be out in the world with you all! 🌟

20/04/2025

33 years, 33 covers... What will this year's Mays look like? 👀🌟

🖌️: by the fantastic Daisy Cooper !

06/04/2025

Guest editor reveal [3/3] 🌷

We are beyond excited to announce that our third guest editor for The Mays 33 is the award-winning poet !!

🌟

Amelia Loulli is an award-winning poet, writer and PHD researcher looking at the poetics of breath and writing trauma. Amelia's debut collection SLIP is published by Jonathan Cape (a Penguin imprint) and is the first poetry anthology dedicated to exploring abortion. Her work has won a Northern Writers' Award, been highly commended in the Forward Prizes (2023 and 2025), shortlisted for the Bridport Prize six times and is published in a myriad of places including The London Review of Books, Poetry Review and The Rialto.

06/04/2025

Guest editor reveal [2/3] 🪻

We are so thrilled to announce that the fantastic poet Katrina Porteous is joining us as our second guest editor for The Mays 33!!

📷: Adrian Pope

🌟

Katrina Porteous is a poet whose work is deeply inspired by the lives, language and ecology of the Northumberland coast. Born in Aberdeen, she grew up in County Durham, studied history at Trinity Hall, Cambridge (1969), and travelled in the U.S.A on a Harness Fellowship (1972-4). She has published four collections with Bloodaxe, most recently Rhizodont (2024), which was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize.

Katrina has written extensively for radio and performance, often working in collaboration with musicians, and her poetry has been set for BBC Proms (2023). Her work ranges from audio-visual performances for a planetarium with an electronic composer to poetry in Northumbrian dialect: she is President of the Northumbrian Language Society. Prizes include a Gregory Award (1989), an Arts Foundation Fellowship (2003), and a Cholmondeley Award (2021). In 2025-6 she will be Artist-in-Residence for the Institute of Advanced Studies at University of Surrey.