Megan Hopkin is a budding novice writer, experimenting with poetry and prose to articulate the complexities of various keystone moments of being a young adult. She has a journalistic background, contributing photography and writing to local newspaper The Antrim Guardian, as well as contributing to grass roots Belfast based zine, Roots. 

 

“I have always had a passion for literature, and in capturing snapshot moments of memories with words. I know my work has improvement to make: but that to me is the joy of writing. It constantly evolves and grows with you. I like to reread the poems I have written and reflect on the personal growth that has taken place since then.”

 

Megan is currently studying History at Queen’s University Belfast and has accepted an offer to further study a MA in Media and Broadcasting.

 

“Decluttering The Attic was written after my friends jokingly asked what I write about now, having come out of a bit of a depressed period. We joked about the best pieces of writing coming out of periods of darkness – that ‘only under pressure, diamonds are created’, and so I challenged myself to articulate how I have felt in this new lease of happiness. Letting go of toxicity in the form of bad relationships, and drinking profusely,
has helped me so much. I have felt like the past few months have been one of renovation. Trees A Crowd is a piece exploring the concept of loss; whether it is a feeling of hopelessness only applicable to people, or whether it is a natural state of being which later reveals hope. To experience true joy is reliant on experiencing sadness beforehand,  and hope can be found in rather hopeless situations where one may not expect to find it. You Keep My Inkpot Wet is a satirised poem reflecting upon the masochistic attitudes of writers around rubbish relationships. The glamorisation of unrequited love is portrayed through hyperbole, only to end on anti-climax – sure, you may not have found the one, but at least you have something to complain about in a poem! Carpe Diem is the first poem I ever wrote, and it’s very basic in its structure.
A simple acrostic, I tried to link the famous saying to the fish of similar name and make an optimistic little piece. Very self-explanatory in its contents, Carpe Diem promotes getting up and at em!”