Arah Ko writes, ‘I superimposed my own meaning into the adopted “Birch Skin” form, exploring the concept of the “unblessed” and how my own experiences with asthma had to do with negative space, with the un-. While not being able to breathe has always been a specific fear for me, it has been adopted as a societal fear of coronavirus. A friend of mine in the Chicago area who had to be hospitalized for suspected COVID-19 said, “I’m not afraid to die. I am ready. But every night I am afraid I will stop breathing in my sleep, and not even know.”

Georgia Louise Luckhurst is a 21 year-old writer from Scotland, in her final year studying English at St Andrews. Her favourite poet changes every day but she is especially fond of e.e. cummings and Terrance Hayes. She has written a poem from quarantine that you can read here.

Ruins of a Letter from Hemingway to Fitzgerald during the Quarantine.