Black Blade Literary at Cymera Festival 2025
By Philippa Thompson
While Black Blade Literary has attended the Cymera Festival before, this year was intern Philippa Thompson’s first time exploring the wonderfully popular Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror publishing festival. The following article explores Philippa’s perspectives and experiences of her first attendance at the 2025 Cymera Festival.
Did you see us, our banner or our competition announcement at Cymera? We hope you did and that you are eager to learn more about Black Blade Literary. Whether you want editorial feedback on your manuscript, need professional support to write a story plan or synopsis, or require support tailoring query letters to agents, please get in touch!
Philippa’s Thoughts
Attending the Cymera Festival was a very exciting experience. There is so much available at Cymera. From in-person and online panels, to signings, theatre performances, music and author readings, the Creator’s Hall and the Blackwell’s bookshop available, Cymera really has a lot for everyone to sink their teeth into. Authors have the opportunity to discuss their writing styles and techniques at events like Cymera, and we picked up some top tips we’d like to share. Stark Holborn said that “plot comes from characters. I ask myself what do they want and how are they trying to get it?” indicating that an in-depth understanding of a character’s psychology can help to bring life to them on the page. Furthermore, Gareth Powell stated that “I realised these books were just about people. I can write people. I am people” to highlight that experience and writing about what you know can create a brilliant world for fictional characters to develop. What we learned from these discussions is that writing is different for everyone, but that it is important to enjoy what you are writing about. On another note, the panels provided interesting insights into the directions that Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror publishing may be headed towards, while also allowing writers and enthusiasts of the genres to ask questions and speak to the wonderful authors who attended Cymera.
Trends
It can be difficult at times to determine the trends that are continuing or emerging in literature, including genre-specific fictions. Cymera is a great space where discussions about these trends can take place and provide insight into the future of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror publishing. In one of the talks at Cymera with Kirsten Lang from Zeno Agency, it was suggested that there are “two popular themes right now: Dystopia [...] and people wanting to escape, [thus we are seeing] ‘cosy fiction’.” If this is true, then we may be seeing lots of new fiction which depicts dystopian societies. However, while it has been suggested that trends are changing, there are certain tropes that are consistently popular. For instance, it was also suggested by Kirsten Lang that “People love vampires [...] editors want vampires” as well as indicating that “core fantasy will always love dragons and we will always be looking for dragons. Dragons have never gone away.” Trends do not only indicate what is popular, but they can also show what is not popular anymore. With trends constantly adapting it can be difficult to know what is trending, which is why panels and talks at events like Cymera are valuable to anyone trying to predict and understand the shifting changes within the publishing industry. Again, quoting Kirsten Lang, it would appear that we might “be done with elves [...] we want something a little less human.”
Another interesting potential trend that could be developing in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror publishing is the inclusion of folklore. During a panel titled Folklores & Other Stories with V. Castro, Lyndsey Croal and Gustaffo Vargas, each author explained and explored the significance of incorporating folklore and culture into literature. This was specifically highlighted when V. Castro said that “people of colour are not a monolith [...] we may look similar but we have very very different stories.” Gustaffo Vargas added that “Geography defines many things [...] informing people’s beliefs [...] exploring and showing different landscapes [...] showing different cultures”. It was interesting to learn that more and more authors want to include their folklore and their culture in their work. This diversity is very important in making literature more accessible and multicultural. Author V. Castro said that “Creatures don’t have borders, they can do whatever they want,” further demonstrating that the inclusion of culture should cross societal boundaries and borders that we put in place.
Alongside this, the increased interest in incorporating myth and mythology into the genre has been interesting to watch and it could continue to be a popular trend moving forward. During a panel titled Myth-Takes and Royal Rewrites with Jean Menzies, Holly Race and A.S. Webb, there were some fascinating discussions about the difference between retelling and reimagining of mythology. Instead of saying that myths are being retold, A.S. Webb said that their writing is about “sticking to [one’s] interpretation rather than worrying about what others want you to write”, suggesting that mythology in fantasy is moving towards a classical reimagining instead of a retelling. Jean Menzies added that these mythological reimagining’s are about “taking a story away from the source and reinterpreting them.” It could be that the retellings of mythology are slowly becoming thought of as reimagining, which is enabling authors to reinterpret or adapt mythologies for a modern audience.
2025 Novel and Novella Competition
Cymera 2025 was fun and exciting, and Black Blade Literary also advertised our 2025 Novel and Novella Competition at the festival. We hope that you will be eager to submit your entries through the Black Blade Literary website!
The competition is open to entries until the 23rd of June 2025, and it’s completely free to enter.
1st Prize: editorial feedback on a full novel or novella manuscript (worth over £1000)
2nd and 3rd Prizes: feedback on the first 5,000 words of your novel or novella
manuscript with 50% off editorial services in 2025.
The rules of the competition are on the Black Blade Literary Competition page which you can find on our website.