Showcase: Being Vegan +Slow And Simple Days + Long Summer Days + Quorn Again

Edited by Nick Burdett

Hello there, my name is Nick Burdett and I’m a new writer. Newly public, I should say. I’ve been writing for over 15 years, but have only recently pushed for anything to be published.

I submitted a novel to Pen to Print’s 2025/2026 Book Challenge and my book, Vigilantes Anonymous, was shortlisted for this year’s prize. The novel itself will be out in the next few months and the winner from the shortlist of five will be announced in July.

During the year-long mentorship with Anna Robinson (as part of the shortlisting) I realised that, as the book will actually be out and publicly available, I should get used to having my writing actually read. Up to this point, writing had been a very personal endeavour and it’s a mentality I had to make a conscious choice to change. Having spent some time working on these Showcase pages, I’m starting to see that it’s almost easier to write an idea out in 80,000 words than it is to write something concise in the short form, like the wonderful submissions on these pages.

This brings us to my first venture into the writing world with this week’s Showcase. This week, we had World Wildlife Day and as animals, nature, and the environment are things I hold quite close to my heart, I thought I’d focus the first week around that.

First off, I have a short piece about being vegan. It’s an everyday thing for me, but probably the thing people question most when first discovering the fact.

Being Vegan

For me, the ‘life’ part of wildlife is the bit we need to focus on. Caring for the world and its inhabitants shouldn’t stop with owls, foxes and bears. All animals should receive the same level of care, regardless of whether they’re considered pets, wild animals, or food.

Choosing to go vegetarian nearly 20 years ago was an overnight decision. Almost literally. I came home one night after an evening out and decided I would no longer eat meat. It wasn’t that hard a decision. I cared for animals, so the logical step of not eating them shouldn’t have really taken that long. My wife (girlfriend at the time) was already a vegetarian, so it wasn’t a drastic change in our lifestyle. I just needed to stop eating the meat part of the meals.

The choice to step it up to full vegan was a tougher one. It happened during the 2020 lockdown, when I realised I was in full control of what was on my plate, in my tea, etc, so I could make the relevant changes easier.

For me, the joy of this is that helping the environment is almost a bi-product of being vegan. The meat and dairy industry is the cause of 15 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions and is a main driving force in the climate crisis. Combine that with the land use, water use and pollution from these farms and my choice to go vegan for the animals has a far-reaching effect outside their welfare.

It’s true that being vegan cuts out a lot of food options when out and about, but at home there’s no real difference. I simply buy the alternative. When you’re passionate about something, the ‘going without’ or having to seek an alternative isn’t really an issue. Take a football fan standing ice-cold on a wet Tuesday evening watching the game, a musician practicing the same song on repeat until their fingers bleed, or a runner in the 24th mile of their marathon. They all do it because they care and, honestly, given the options, suddenly only having one choice on the menu doesn’t seem so bad a sacrifice!

If you care about something, it’s easy to adapt.

© Nick Burdett, 2026

Connect with Nick on Instagram: @nickoburdett or X and Bluesky: @nickburdett

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My next piece is from Ellie Blake. I first met Ellie at a Pen to Print event in 2024 and it was with her encouragement I became involved with  Write On! Magazine. Taking her advice, I attended the intro course Editor Madeleine runs (which is highly recommended). Since this is what has led me to this point, it seems fitting Ellie is featured on my first page.

She’s often posting on her social media (link below) about nature, in both written word and stunning photography. I’ve included two poems she’s put together on the subject of being in nature and enjoying the world.

Slow And Simple Days

Finally a chance, a tiny rest,
weekends, simply the best
music getting us on our feet
books make us feel complete
mouth watering sweet delights
sunflowers reaching new heights
lost in nature, camera ready
click, hands calm and steady
fancy flowing dresses to wear
watching the world, without a care
hugs from friends who call to listen
peace, love & recharge, our mission.

© Ellie Blake, 2026

Long Summer Days

Long summer days
Light, too bright
Sunglasses to shade
Our eyes, a filter

To this sun drenched
Concrete jungle
Speckled with flowers
Waiting for the rain

Chilled soothing water
Quenching our thirst
Wanting more, always
When is it enough?

Churning, turning
Endless it seems
The voices, noises
Let’s find a rhythm

Heavenly jasmine
Lingering, longingly
The evening breeze
A welcome reprieve.

© Ellie Blake, 2026

Connect with Ellie on Instagram and TikTok: @mycreativeeveryday

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Jilly has sent over a poem about her journey of going vegetarian. This is a great example of knowing that something isn’t right, but maybe not being in the right place at the time to make the choice. In the end, we know ourselves and we know what we like (or don’t like, in this case).

Quorn Again

I do enjoy
my cheese and eggs
but one thing I won’t eat,
even as a little girl
I really hated meat.
I didn’t like the texture,
and even then I knew,
that using meat to feed us,
was not the thing to do.
But as young children, we are stuck,
we just do as we are told,
and so I went on eating meat,
though it really left me cold.
As the years went marching by,
I found to my surprise,
I’d always pick the veggie choice
when a menu met my eyes.
One day, in my 20s,
as I ate my mash and pie,
I announced that I’d give up the meat,
a vegetarian was I.
I never once regretted it,
I felt I’d been reborn,
Just call me Veggie of the Month
as I tuck into my Quorn!

© Jilly Henderson-Long, 2026

Connect with Jilly on Instagram: @jillyhendersonlong

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You can hear great new ideas, creative work and writing tips on Write On! Audio. Find us on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Google Podcasts and Spotify. Type Pen to Print into your browser and look for our logo, or find us on Podcasters.Spotify.com.

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