NEWSLETTER
Age of Empathy News: April 2025 Edition
This month brings the return of the sun and results of our winter contest
I sit here typing this on the first day of April, looking about in wonder: spring really has sprung here and the sun is blazing down on this fair isle of Britain. My well-hacked garden is biding its time as the earth slowly warms in the sunshine and I’m seeing my own sun-deprived skin already start to brown.
The start of spring isn’t always this good but today I see it as the result of a winter well survived. Yes, survived — that’s how I see winter. I won. I didn’t bemoan having to get out of bed into the dark, cold mornings. I didn’t freeze my toes off, or even get close to. I did keep moving and smiling. I really, really did! I won!
But you know the best thing about winter? I spend my time writing and reading, and not longing for much else.
And for that, I am always grateful.
How about you? Which is your favourite season, and why?
‘Silver Linings’ contest update
So, onwards and upwards, and a little note about the contest that wrapped up last month.
The panel of judges is still reading through all of the essays that were entered into the contest. We had a wonderful response and the competition really is tough. The winners will be announced in the next couple of weeks, so look out for the announcement.
Meanwhile, you can read all of the entries here.
New April prompt
Our writing prompt for the month of April is ‘The Sun’. As ever, the stories must be personal and the theme is as malleable as you like. Whatever it inspires, bring it. Here are all the details:
Welcoming a new editor
Since the last newsletter, we have welcomed a new editor into the team here at Age of Empathy and The Memoirist. Abby Paradis is an absolutely incredible essayist, with some fabulous stories to tell. Do go and stalk her profile, but to make it easier, here are a couple of her gems:
Latest in the Creative Corner
Age of Empathy founder, Aimée Brown Gramblin, has a special corner in the publication reserved for interviews with impactful writers from various different niches. This latest is fascinating and eye-opening. For instance, I had no idea that for every meateater on the planet, 1100 litres of water of used per day additional to the requirements of a plant-based diet. That’s insane to me!
Some editors’ picks
The following have been chosen by one of our editors. These include boosted essays along with those nominated but not chosen.
Holding Josh On Walnut Street by Angela Dribben
A Hemingway Hater Visits His House in Key West by Mary DeVries
I Stepped Back into the Closet During a Nephew Visit by Joe Guay — Dispatches From the Guay Life!
Comparing Me and Mom at 65 by Debra G. Harman
Don’t Date Men With Verbs for Names by Dana DuBois
My Brothers and Sisters: Silk and Sandpaper by Martha Manning, Ph.D.
A Vacuum, an Old Spanish Woman, and a Conversation I’ll Never Forget by Natalie S. Ohio
The Spring that Changed Everything by Bridget Appleby
The Complicated Relationship With Gender Disappointment by Deanna Bugalski 💋
Sports-Impaired in America — A Brief History of Life on the Bench by Anne Spollen
Minor Characters by Seandor Szeles
The Lessons My Second Marriage Taught Me About My First by Marcia Abboud
The Definition of Pediatric Cancer is Killing Our Children by Taryn Jarboe
How to Find Hope After the Fire by Sarah Paris
In Defense of Fiction by Ulf Wolf
This American Built a Garden by Ellen Smith
Ways the Universe Might End — But Not Today by Owen Schaefer
Knowledge Is Power When Seizures Come On the Hour by Stephanie Wilson
That’s all for this month’s newsletter. Thanks to all of our readers and contributors — you are very appreciated, especially for your ongoing support during the challenging times we are all experiencing here on Medium.
Do look out for the contest update in a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, happy writing!
