About.

Brevity is a 6-times yearly, literary handbill that launched in October 2019. You can find Brevity FREE of charge at all Island libraries, as well as Monkton Arts, Aspire Ryde, Medina Books in Cowes, The Goose Bookshop in St Helen’s, Babushka Books in Shanklin, Quarr Abbey Bookshop, Ventnor Exchange, The Star Coffee & Ale House, The Freshwater Coffee House, and Coffee Nut in Ryde, to name just a few.

Writer and Isle of Wight resident Anmarie Bowler is the founder of Brevity. “A full-scale glossy magazine is more than I can manage. But a handbill – an elegantly folded piece of paper featuring compelling stories from Islanders, for Islanders, is perfectly sized in terms of shape and ambition.”

In 2024 Brevity in collab with StonesCrabs Theatre, with support from Arts Council England, led the Hear Me Now project – a series of writing workshops, inspiring walks and inclusive talks for LGBTQ+ people and allies.

Anmarie is a produced playwright; her theatre piece AKA was adapted into a short film by UK director Dave Maybrick in 2018 and has earned several awards on its world-wide tour of film festivals. In 2019 Anmarie served as Head Copy Writer for The Wight Book, a large format book about the Island. Consistent with her obsession with ‘small stories’ Anmarie has teamed with local photographer Zoe Barker to create Re:Box, the Island’s tiniest art gallery, tucked inside a decommissioned K6 grade-listed telephone box in Ryde.

“Short form expression of all kinds excites me, and I’m no doubt an evangelist for what is today called flash fiction. I’ve this feeling that everyone on the Island has at least one good short story in them.”

Stories from Anmarie’s collection entitled Keeper regularly appear in Brevity and are currently being workshopped for the stage. Flash fiction inspired by her childhood in suburban Ohio also feature from time to time. Her short story entitled Heritage Vinyl appeared is The Figlet, Issue Two Summer 2024.

Things To Know.