Meet the Editorial Team

Charley Barnes — Managing Director

Dr Charlotte “Charley” Barnes is an author, poet and lecturer, and was the Worcestershire Poet Laureate for 2019-20. Currently Writer in Residence at The Swan Theatre, Charley’s publications include The Women You Were Warned About (Black Pear Press), A-Z-Hearted Guide to Heartache (V.Press), Intention, Copycat, and Play (Bloodhound Books), Body Talk (Picaroon Poetry), Death is a Terrible House Guest, and Burn the Witch (The Black Light Engine Room Press), and Go on a Road Trip (Wild Pressed Books).

Email Charley: [email protected] | Twitter: @charleyblogs | Web: charleybarneswriter.com


Sabotage Reviews, and its sibling ventures, have grown so much in the last eight years. Claire [Trévien] has developed and manned something special, alongside a hard-working team of valued editors, too. While even I am sad to see Claire take a step back from the Sabotage family, I’m delighted to be taking a step in to continue the work that Claire has started and, hopefully, to bring new ideas and opportunities to the Sabotage network as well. I’m hoping that Sabotage can continue to grow with a strong team still sitting behind the wheel.

Charley Barnes, Managing Director, upon taking over from Claire Trévien in August 2018

Karen Goodwin — Poetry Editor

Karen Goodwin

Karen Goodwin is a poet, sometime journalist and English teacher. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the UEA and received an Eric Gregory Award from The Society of Authors. Her poems have featured in various anthologies and magazines including Oxygen: New Poets from Wales, Seren Selections (Seren Books), Stand, Poetry Wales and The Rialto. She lives in Brighton.

Email: [email protected] | Twitter: @kgoodwinpoet


“It’s a real honour to be Poetry Editor for Sabotage Reviews, advocating for smaller presses and indie lit, new voices are given equal space in a poetry community free from the usual gatekeepers. I joined the team in 2016, gradually taking over from Becky Varley-Winter and am incredibly lucky to be supported by a great team of poets and reviewers.”

Karen Goodwin, Poetry Editor

Phil Olsen — Fiction Editor

Phil Olsen is a short story writer from Liverpool with a Creative Writing MA from the University of Manchester’s Centre for New Writing. Winner of three flash fiction competitions (Northern Short Story Festival Slam 2017; Writing on the Wall’s WoWFest 2016; Book Week Scotland 2014), Phil has blogged and reviewed for Comma Press, Manchester Literature Festival and The Manchester Review. He is also a submissions reader for Vestal Review.

Email Phil: [email protected] | Twitter: @Liverpolsen | Web: polsen.co.uk


I’ve long been a fan of short stories – from the realism of Raymond Carver and Alice Munro, to the surrealism of Miranda July and George Saunders – and love the fact that Sabotage really champions the form, celebrating short story collections, anthologies, novellas and chapbooks. It was an honour to be invited to take over from Richard T. Watson in March 2019, after he’d been looking after the fiction side of things since the very beginning of Sabotage back in 2010.

Phil Olsen, Fiction Editor

Hannah Ledlie — Spoken Word Editor for Birmingham and Midlands

Originally from Edinburgh, Hannah is a Birmingham-based poet interested in ideas of dystopia, sexuality and belonging. In 2015 she was shortlisted for the BBC Young Writers’ Award, and as a member of the University of Birmingham’s poetry team she came first place at UniSlam in 2018 and ’19. In 2019 Hannah was also a member of the winning team at the Hammer & Tongue National Team Slam Final, and won Platform Penguin’s spoken word competition. When she’s not writing, Hannah enjoys watching way too much Drag Race, and admiring dogs while going for walks.

Email Hannah: [email protected] | Twitter: @HannahLedlie | Web: hannahledliewriting.com


I am delighted to become Sabotage’s Birmingham Spoken Word Editor, for I see it as a chance to promote and represent a community which is both brimming with established talent and consistently welcoming to new voices. I also look forward to facilitating critical discussions about the work coming out of Birmingham, because I believe the best way for a community to grow is for it to examine and challenge itself whenever possible.

Hannah Ledlie, Spoken Word Editor, upon joining Sabotage Reviews in January 2019

James Webster — Spoken Word Editor for the South East

Webster is a performance poet, who has gigged around London, Oxford and Coventry and runs Strange Little Stories. He is one of the longest-standing members of the Sabotage Reviews editorial team and is known for texting poetry direct to people’s mobile phones. He loves words, socialism and you. In that order.

Email Webster: [email protected] | Twitter: @websterpoet | Web: strangelittlestories.tumblr.com


Beth O’Brien — Social Media Manager

Beth O’Brien is currently doing an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham. Her debut poetry pamphlet, Light Perception, was published by Wild Pressed Books in 2019, and her poetry was featured in the Black Pear Press anthology, Pressed Flowers. Her first full poetry collection, I left the Room Burning, is out February 2021 with Wild Pressed Books. She is the Editor of Mad Hatter Reviews and writes graded reader children’s fiction for Westchester Publishing Services.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter and Instagram: @bethoblogs Facebook: @bethobrienwriter
Website: www.bethobrienwriter


Previous members of the Editorial Team

Claire Trévien — Founder and Former General Manager (2010 – 2018)

Find Claire on Twitter: @CTrevien


Richard T. Watson — Former Fiction Editor (2010 – 2019)

Find Richard on Twitter: @RichardTWatson


Becky Varley-Winter — Former Poetry Editor (2015 – 2018)

Find Becky on Twitter: @RVarleyWinter


Sally Jack — Former Spoken Word Editor for the Midlands (2015 – 2019)

Find Sally on Twitter: @PunctualSally


Liam Lees — Former Social Media Manager (2019 – 2021)

Find Liam on Twitter: @thatwriterliam


Niamh MacKenzie — Former Social Media Manager (2019 – 2020)

Find Niamh on Twitter: @nronaidm


Meet the Reviewers

View profiles of some of our Contributing Reviewers