The Letters Page

Reading Through a Magnifying Glass: An Interview with Olivia Hellewell Translation is at the heart of our recent collaboration with UNESCO Cities of Literature, The Letters Page, Vol. 5. To celebrate the involvement of the nine incredible translators who worked with u…

Our latest feature article is here!

To celebrate the involvement of the translators in Volume 5, we spoke to Olivia Hellewell, who translated Manca Renko's letter from the Slovenian, to discuss her thoughts on and experiences with translation.

theletters.page/2026/03/06/r...

Beyond Four Walls: What Remains? The idea of home is far from universal, but a common thread is an unspoken sentimentality. Home becomes less a place than a feeling, as is so deftly captured by Estonian poet Tõnis Vilu in his cont…

'Beyond Four Walls: What Remains?'

Following the release of The Letters Page Vol. 5, members of our student teams reflect on the letters. Their new article turns to a letter from Tartu by Tõnis Vilu, translated by Jayde Will, offering an exploration on identity.

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On the Same Page: A Conversation on Collaborative Writing ‘Editing between us is lovingly done and always with the reader in mind. The shared responsibility makes us more attentive’, reveals The Letter Page’s Web Editor Elodie Edwards. H…

'On the Same Page: A Conversation on Collaborative Writing'

Check out our new article, written by our student Web Team, sharing their experiences with working on the journal, the challenges and quiet rewards.

Read here: theletters.page/2026/02/12/o...

Image of a brown journal on a table, with a black illustration of a map showing Europe, Asia, and Africa, and text saying ‘The Letters Page Vol. 5 | Edited by Jon McGregor’.

Recently translated Soviah Khoriyati’s charming ‘I was looking for surrogate parents’, an ode to Jakarta kos, & letter to fellow City of Lit Nottingham.

A post on @theletterspage.bsky.social site abt her piece & Ibu kos in a lineage of muses: theletters.page/2025/11/24/l... @jonmcgregor.bsky.social

(no title) Visit the post for more.

Submissions for the Letters Page Vol.6 are open, and close on the 22nd March!

Please send your handwritten letter to this address:

The Letters Page
School of English
Trent Building
University of Nottingham
Nottingham
NG7 2RD

We look forward to reading your submissions.

In case you missed this last year, The Letters Page Vol. 5 is out!

Thank you for all the support and the fantastic contributions from across the globe that made this possible.

In Support of Christmas Cards At The Letters Page, we believe that Christmas cards are so much more than sentiment: they are imbued with meaning through their simple physicality and personal touches. We think that the impersona…

Here at The Letters Page, we may be slightly biased in favour of any form of letter-writing... 😏 Click below to discover why we are firmly in support of Christmas cards.

theletters.page/2025/12/22/i...

Spotted: Volume 5 in the wild 👀

And there’s still time to get your hands on a copy before Christmas (as long as you order *right now*)

store.nottingham.ac.uk/product-cata...

Mapping the World in a Letter Cities, like letters, are layered; they’re contradictory and defined by presence and absence working simultaneously. Marius Burokas’ Vilnius-inspired letter serves as a reminder that bo…

'Mapping the World in a Letter'

This article turns out attention to Vilnius, where one letter opens onto questions of memory, witness, beauty and what it means to write from the edge of uncertainty.

Read here: theletters.page/2025/12/04/m...

Folklore in the Forest and the City The myth of Robin Hood has travelled far beyond its own home forest. Outside Prague’s main train station lies Vrchlického Sady, known by locals as Sherwood. This urban park doesn’t hold the legenda…

'Folklore in the Forest and the City'

Inspired by Ondřej Štindl’s letter from Prague, translated by Michael Baugh, this article explores how the environment around a writer can shape their writing.

Read here: theletters.page/2025/12/03/f...

'Writing during the end of the world'

Read another article written by our students, this time about a letter from Ljubljana by Manca Renko, a sharp and self-aware meditation on handwriting, translation, and the uneasy business of writing in a world that refuses to stand still.

'Can Books Bridge Nations?'

Our student interns have been taking a closer look at some of the letters that made it to print, ahead of The Letters Page Volume 5.

Check out the article, focusing on reading habits, separating art from artists, and work from Ukraine.

The Letters Page are excited to announce the release of their new Printed Journal!

Vol. 5 is a special collaboration with Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature. It features translations of letters from 9 UNESCO Cities of Literature.

shorturl.at/3rN0I

‘The vessel of her life was full’: The Literary Muse Prevails Today, the ‘muse’ has a more tangible sense. Its divine connotations have evolved over time, yet the compulsive power of inspiration remains inexplicable. And it is this power that permeates Soviah…

‘The vessel of her life was full’: The Literary Muse Prevails'

Read our new student-lead feature, prompted by Soviah Khoriyati’s letter in the upcoming issue, who writes from Jakarta about inspiration in the form of her elderly landlady.

Read here: theletters.page/2025/11/24/l...

Tickets for the gala evening on Monday 1st December at 7.30pm in Nottingham are live!

The evening will be a celebration of Nottingham’s 10 years as a City of Literature!

Get your tickets here: linktr.ee/TheLettersPa... to see us there and learn about our new print issue!

‘More risk… but more meaningful?’: The Future of The Letters Page There is, in Jon’s words, ‘a weird tension’ between The Letters Page’s insistence on physical submissions and its simultaneous reliance on digital media. The journal mandates that submi…

'Letters present a wealth of information.'

Our latest feature by our student interns explores the importance of physical journals, the future of the Letters Page, and the rise in digital letter-writing.

Read here:
theletters.page/2025/11/11/m...

‘Yours, in fragments’: The Contradictions of Correspondence The more letters we write, the more moments we capture, and the more fragments we preserve, the closer letters come to revealing our complete identity. Letters become our own personal archives, spl…

'To write a letter is to perform the self in ink'

'‘Yours, in fragments’: The Contradictions of Correspondence' is our latest feature, reflecting the importance of letter-writing.https://theletters.page/2025/10/31/yours-in-fragments/

‘From necessity to narrative’: The History of Letters To trace the origins of letters is to trace humanity’s evolution, from necessity to narrative, from survival to expression. Letters serve as proof that human culture hinges on exchanged words…

"To trace the origins of letters is to trace humanity's evolution."

'From necessity to narrative: The History of Letters', written by our student interns, traces the origins of the letter back to the initial clay tablets in Mesopotamia.

Read here:
theletters.page/2025/10/24/f...

‘It’s not a campaign, it’s curiosity’: A Retrospective on The Letters Page What began as an unsuspecting blog page, advertising itself as ‘the letters page for a journal that doesn’t yet exist‘, soon morphed into a professionally produced journal of which every page was a…

'It's not a campaign, it's curiosity'.

Want to learn about how the Letterspage came to life?

Our student interns interviewed Jon McGregor to ask why the Letters Page was created, how it came to be, and what he hopes for the future.

Read here:
theletters.page/2025/10/28/i...

The Letters Page is back!

The Letters Page is back and better than ever. We have some exciting things for you in the works, so keep an eye out and get ready!

‘From necessity to narrative’: The History of Letters To trace the origins of letters is to trace humanity’s evolution, from necessity to narrative, from survival to expression. Letters serve as proof that human culture hinges on exchanged words…

Would you like to read a beautifully-written article about the history of letter-writing this weekend? Well of course you would! And here it is:

www.theletters.page/from-necessity-to-narrative-the-history-of-letters

You’re welcome! 😉

‘Sharpened pencils are for novices’: An Interview with Rachael Smart Letters are important to our latest contributor, Rachael Smart. So much so, that she will send them even when she’s unsure whether they will ever reach their intended addressee. When I ask wh…

This weekend, why not pencil in some reading time and take a look at our latest article?

Link below. 👇

theletters.page/2025/06/27/s...

Are you Team Blunt Pencil or Team Sharp Pencil? ✏️

In our latest article, writer @smartrachael.bsky.social talks tools of the trade (and reveals how to write a thank you letter to a sheep).

Interview by @naomiadam.bsky.social

theletters.page/2025/06/27/s...

Good things come to those who write. ✍️

Many thanks to everyone who has written to us here at The Letters Page for Vol. 8. We look forward to hearing from even more of you across Vol. 9! As ever, we are at:

The Letters Page
School of English
The University of Nottingham
Nottingham
NG7 2RD

Signed, sealed, delivered... almost yours!

If you receive one of our lovely aerogrammes this week, why not post a snap of yourself enjoying the read using the hashtag #theletterspage? 📷

Sealed with a loving stamp. 💌

If you would like one of these beauties through your door, simply write us a letter and we will respond! More details at link in bio.

Would you like to see your name on this page? Simply write us a letter at

The Letters Page
School of English
The University of Nottingham
Nottingham
NG7 2RD

and you will receive a personalised, hand-folded aerogramme in return!

More details at link in bio. 🔗

Coming soon to a letterbox near you? 👀
Details in bio!

‘That bit of space to think and drift off’: An Interview with Nicola Varley The return to ‘shed season’ provides our latest contributor, Nicola Varley, with ‘that bit of space to think and drift off and daydream’, discovers the The Letter Page&#8217…

Where do you like to write? ✍️

Our latest contributor, Nicola Varley, discusses the shed that is her creative space over at theletters.page/2025/05/09/that-bit-of-space-to-think-and-drift-off-and-interview-with-nicola-varley