Poetry Society Members' Profiles  

The Poetry Society has nearly 4000 members, and here are the profiles of just a few of them. If you would like to add your profile, and become a member, contact membership at poetrysociety.org.uk.

Looking for a specific poet? Type the name in the Search field followed by 'Profile'. 

Sean O'Brien

Poetry Society Vice President, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University. The Drowned Book (Picador, 2007), was awarded the Forward and T S Eliot Prizes. Cousin Coat: Selected Poems 1976-2001 was published in 2002 and a version of Dante’s Inferno, 2006. My plays are published in the Methuen Modern Drama series, and my fiction includes a collection of short stories, The Silence Room (Comma Press, 2008), and a novel, Afterlife (Picador, 2009).

Adekoya Oluseyi Adewale

Born in Nigeria, I am the author of Blossoming Rose on the Pavement. My poems have been published in several magazines, journals and internet sites. Apart from being a poet, I am a motivational speaker, copywriter and a songwriter. I am very impressed with the Society because it’s well structured and gives unlimited opportunities to its members.

Joy Howard

My poems appeared in several anthologies in the ‘80s then just as I was starting to think about a collection, I moved away from London and got engrossed in my career. Poetry took much more of a back seat until retirement, then came back with a wham. Have recently been short and long listed in several competitions and have also managed a prize. I am now publishing www.greyhenpress.com as well as writing.

Jan Dean

I’m in lots of anthologies for children. 2 collections – most recent was Wallpapering the Cat (Macmillan 2003) which was short-listed for the CLPE prize. McGough won. If you’re going to be beaten, be beaten by somebody BIG. I love Stevie Smith because she’s quirky and off the wall, Edwin Muir for his passion and musicality – especially Merlin, which is achingly beautiful and full of longing. I’m an Anglican Reader and have recently trained to take funerals in the parish.

Moniza Alvi

I was born in Pakistan and came to England when I was a few months old. Peacock Luggage, with Peter Daniels, was published in 1991. My other collections are The Country at My Shoulder (1993), shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Whitbread Poetry Award; A Bowl of Warm Air (1996); Carrying My Wife (2000); Souls (2002); and How the Stone Found its Voice (2005). Split World: Poems 1990-2005 and Europa came out in 2008 - the latter nominated for the 2008 T.S. Eliot Prize. In 2002 I received a Cholmondeley Award.

Debashis Dey

I write poems mostly for my own understanding and close friends. I have circles or community who enjoy, read and appreciate poetry plus other arts also. I got influenced by Tagore’s poems due to his brilliant play with words which could easily convey our deepest feeling and the high level of spiritual thought which was encased within his creations. Poetry served as a great tool for me to paint pictures whenever the canvas was missing.

Caroline Gill

I have over a hundred poems in print, in small press magazines and anthologies. My poem Preseli Blue featured in the Hay Festival 2008 edition of Poetry Please (BBC Radio 4). I won the 2007 general section of the Petra Kenney Poetry Competition with a sestina called The Figure at the Phoenix Mine. I’m working towards a first collection. I would recommend Kathleen Jamie’s collection, The Tree House (Picador). I was struck by Jamie’s inventive use of language and by her vision of the natural world.

Peter Campion

I became interested in poetry about 5 years ago around our son’s wedding, then as other emotion-laden events happened, and gradually I wrote about work, and about religious subjects as I also took on a role as a Reader (lay-preacher) in the Church of England. I recently read at a medical conference, a Rotary meeting, and in sermons. Three have made it into some conference proceedings, including two, about asylum, at a recent conference on Good Asylum at Leeds Metropolitan.

Malik Ahmad Jalal

I am a mathematician, an investment banker AND I write poetry. I was born in Pakistan. I lived most of my early life in Islamabad and after completing A Levels, came to London to study Economics. All my poems have an underlying message of transforming the society and therefore have political / spiritual undertones. I have written five poems; two have been published on a popular news / opinion website for South Asians.

Taymaz Valley

I was born during a cold snowy January night in Tehran the current capital of Iran. My grandfather and his brother are both published poets, and my mother and father both enjoy reading poetry, especially those that make them feel nostalgic for the old days. I have published a few poems with University Newspapers. Most of my poems can be found online. I also work as an artist and have had exhibitions in London, Norwich and Cambridge.

Clare Pollard

I started writing poetry when I was 16, and my first big break was being a ‘New Poet of ‘96’ in Poetry Review. I’ve since had three collections published by Bloodaxe, most recently Look, Clare! Look! My play The Weather premiered at the Royal Court and my radio documentary ‘My Male Muse’, was a Radio 4 Pick of the Year. I’m currently an RLF Fellow at Essex University. I co-edited Voice Recognition: 21 Poets for the 21st Century (Bloodaxe) with James Byrne.

Adele Ward

My first full collection is called Never-Never Land (Bluechrome Publishing). I also had poems published by John Murray in the Bedford Square anthology. Even school poetry couldn’t put me off. We wrote poetry at primary school in Northern Ireland, which was fun, and at secondary school we studied Keats, Wilfred Owen and D H Lawrence, which was all wonderful. I spend a good deal of time as a cartoon organising writing events on the virtual world of Second Life. 

Berkan Ulu

I write in English and Turkish. I have written about 300 poems. Some have been published here and there insignificantly but I am not a published poet as you would call. A few years ago, some of my poems were read and commented on by Andrew Motion and Mario Petrucci and they were rather encouraging but it is hard to get published in Turkey if you write in English. For now, I just hope for them to be published.

Trefor Davies

I had a long gap where I wrote nothing but last year I created a website www.philosopherontap.com in order to have a vehicle for my work and also to provide somewhere that others can post to. This site now has twenty or more poems written by me (under username tref), in a variety of styles together with a few bits of prose and ideas. Some of my immediate family also publishes on www.philosopherontap.com and I am trying to encourace other friends to do so.

Jenny Hammond

I have written approximately one-hundred-and-fifty poems, and have submitted several to The Rialto magazine — as yet unpublished. I inherited my father’s poetry books after his death in 2004. Initially, writing poetry helped the grieving process, developing into writing for fun for the family, before becoming an obsession — making up for lost time by reading poetry, and improving my style. I have recently joined the Stoke-on-Trent Stanza Group, as a way of sharing with and learning from those more experienced than I am.

Tiffany Anne Tondut

My notebooks are choked full of about 10 years of writing. Poetry Monthly and Inclement have recently accepted some pieces, and I was published in Poetry News in 2009. I co-edit an off beat youth culture mag called Supersweet www.supersweet.org. I'm resident pin-up poet for Peek Magazine (www.peekmagazine.co.uk) and about to embark as a columnist for Love is the Law magazine.

Alice Northgreaves

My involvement with poetry is 98% as audience but recently – since having absorbed a lot, a little is starting to seep out – I’ve started to try writing. I really like hearing contemporary poets read because, from their introductions and intonations, I learn more about the context and meaning of their work. I go to many events in London, including the Poetry Café, and also attend an appreciation group in Guildford.

Maggie Sawkins

A pamphlet, Charcot’s Pet, was published by Flarestack in 2003, and my first full collection, The Zig Zag Woman, was published by Two Ravens Press in 2007. I’m the founder member of Tongues&Grooves, a poetry and music club which meets monthly in Portsmouth. We showcase local, national and international poets. www.tongues-and-grooves.org.uk. I work at South Downs College where I teach students with specific learning difficulties. I also work freelance as a creative writing facilitator in health care settings.

Alice Willington

I’ve had one poem, Cartography, published in November 2006 in Avocado Magazine and was short-listed for the 2008 Bridport Prize. At the moment I’m writing on almost a daily basis. I recommend the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop because she put her landscape into her poems, Jen Hadfield because her sense of enjoyment in writing is the same as a child enjoying the sound of slurping milkshake, Jane Draycott because she’s good.

Helen Mort

I was born in Sheffield in 1985, but a few years ago abandoned the hills of the Peak District for the flat Cambridgeshire fens. My consolation was a thriving local poetry scene, and I became a Stanza rep for Cambridge in 2004, and got involved with CB1 Poetry: www.cb1poetry.org.uk. tall-lighthouse published my pamphlet the shape of every box in 2007 and a pint for the ghost (2009), a PBS Pamphlet choice in 2010, which I performed as a one-woman poetry show. I received an Eric Gregory Award in 2007 and won the Manchester Young Writer prize in 2008.

Chris Hardy

I have had two collections published, the latest being A Moment of Attention, August 2008, from Sam Smith’s Original Plus Press. I have had poems published in over 60 magazines both extant – Rialto, Smith’s Knoll, Poetry Review, The North etc, and extinct – Slow Dancer, Brando’s Hat, Iron. I have also won a few prizes in competitions including in the Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition and the London Writers’ competition and poems are online at www.greatworks.org.uk, www.poetrypf.co.uk/, nthposition and elsewhere.

Camilla Nelson

I first performed my poetry at a school assembly when I was eight. More recently I have performed in The Poetry Society Café. I have attended Poetry School workshops with Tim Liardet and Roddy Lumsden. I am interested in the relation between word and image in poetry and tend to put orange in my poems. My favourite poet of the moment is Chelsey Minnis.

John Lindley

In 2004 I was Cheshire Poet Laureate. I live and work in Congleton, Cheshire as a freelance poet and creative writing tutor. I’ve been writing since the age of 17 and had poems published in a number of magazines. My fifth collection will be available from Headland in 2009. www.johnlindley.co.uk

D A Prince

I belong to ‘SoundsWrite’, a Leicester-based poetry group for women, and attend the Poetry Society Stanza in Market Harborough whenever I can. I’ve been published in many magazines, including The Rialto, Smiths Knoll, Magma, Staple, Other Poetry and Seam. I have had three pamphlets published, including two with Pikestaff Press - Undoing Time (1998) and Keeping in Touch (2002) - and a full-length collection, Nearly the Happy Hour, with HappenStance Press (2008).

Niall O'Sullivan

I live in Herne Hill, South London and work as a poet, editor and host. I’m an overdue new member, don’t tell anyone... I’ve loved poetry ever since I was a nipper, but have to admit that it was Bukowksi who showed me that poetry could be written in a certain kind of way, by a certain kind of person for a certain kind of audience. As an active member of the London live poetry scene I’ve been to thousands of readings, from the Soho toilet venues to the red wine mafia, and seen the best and worst of both. I’ve released two books with Flipped Eye, you’re not singing anymore (2004) and Ventriloquism for Monkeys (2007). http://niallosullivan.co.uk

Rodney Wood

I was originally a member of the Poetry Society in the mid 80s when I first became interested in poetry. I've had over a hundred poems published in magazines (incl The Reater, Other Poetry, Interpreters House, Iota, Krax, Stride, NthPosition and South) and even had one read on Poetry Please. I attend open mics at the Poetry Cafe in Reading and The Den of Voice in Guildford. I do voluntary work at the local arts centre.

Rachel Nisbet

11 poems, accompanying Gilbert Paquet’s photos of Greenland, were published as ERRATICS Greenland: Photographed with Poetry (Le Puits 2008). Profits are donated to the charity Practical Action, supporting their sustainable energy and climate change programmes. I participate in an informal summer critiquing group in Geneva; a sound poetry group called the Tuesday Poets, and the Geneva Writers’ Group. Seamus Heaney’s poem, 'Personal Helicon', reminds me how our words and our world entwine over a lifetime.

Menna Elfyn

I wrote five volumes of poetry in Welsh, two of which won major prizes, and another part of the A level Welsh syllabus before exploring parallel-text translations and since 1995, most of my poetry books have appeared in Welsh/English (Bloodaxe). I was Poet Laureate for the Children of Wales in 2002 and I direct the Masters Course in Creative Writing at Trinity University College, Carmarthen. My poem ‘Brooch’ appeared on the Underground in Spring 2009.

Richard Copeland

I’ve been published in a number of poetry magazines and my first small collection, This is not a Sonnet, has recently been published by Survivors Press. I’m the Stanza Rep for North Herts. and a member of the Letchworth-based group Poetry ID. I’ve attended a number of poetry festivals and listened to a wide range of poets. I have also taken part in a number of readings and once read a specially commissioned work on BBC TV.

Perciphone Petticoat

I live in South Somerset working as a freelance theatrical performance poet and Niche workshop coordinator. I am currently studying for a Voiceworks Vocal Teaching Diploma. My first perfomance was the Poetry Café in Covent Garden. I am a member of many groups and have many associates and friends involved in written word and performance poetry. Among others, I'd recommend Chelley - www.myspace.com/chelleythepoet, for her poem ‘Silence Is Deadly’; Baba Brinkman -www.myspace.com/bababrinkman, Fameree - www.myspace.com/richardfammeree.

Jocelyn Page

I have been published in The Interpreter’s House, Smiths Knoll, City Lighthouse Anthology, and various music websites. Since finding poetry in London, I have made dozens of lovely new poetry friends. We meet at performances, attend workshops together and generally support each other. I also belong to the SE London Stanza, and Malika’s Kitchen, a group of London poets. At the moment, I’m loving Dean Young, August Kleinzahler, and Richard Wilbur, in particular. I tend to gravitate toward American writers and poets.

Barry Tench

Published in local and national magazines, I now work as a creative writing tutor in schools. ‘Juxtapose’ won 2nd prize in the 2008 Troubadour competition. I began writing poetry in the 1970’s when poets like John Cooper Clarke and Linton Kwesi Johnson were receiving media attention. I read poets like Ginsberg and Kerouac. Forsaking football and beer, I consumed poetry at a furious rate and found new inspiration in Larkin and Auden. Preparing a first ‘collection’ to send to publishers.

Robert Jaggs-Fowler

I have been interested in poetry since childhood, ever since I realised how wonderful the rich music of the English language is. Shakespeare was probably my first exposure to such delights. My first collection, A Journey with Time, was published in 2008. Important poems to me are W. B. Yeats – ‘He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven’; Sylvia Plath – ‘Edge’ and Derek Walcott – ‘Love After Love’. They all touch on the raw emotions of human existence.

Anna Johnson

I grew up with poetry in our house. My dad can recite great swathes of epics and chunks of the British canon. One of my strongest memories of reading poetry at school is reading 'Are we going to see the rabbit?” by Alan Brownjohn, and 'Mending Wall' by Robert Frost. I have written regularly for the past eight years. I meet weekly with four friends to write and share our work. I study in two groups weekly.

Alfred Corn

Collections include Stake: Selected Poems, 1972-1992, and Contradictions (Copper Canyon Press, 2002). I received Guggenheim and NEA fellowships, an Award in Literature from the Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, a fellowship from the Academy of American Poets, and the Levinson Prize from Poetry magazine. I taught in the Graduate Writing Program of the School of the Arts at Columbia, and held visiting posts at many US universities. I’ve taught courses for the Poetry School, and one for the Arvon Foundation.

Jane Dobson

I've lived in Leeds since 1982. I teach English as a Foreign Language so meet people from all over the world - such a privilege. The curriculum was a lot narrower when I was younger and we read no 20th century poetry at all. I won a bursary for an Arvon Foundation Course and was surprised and delighted to find people were still publishing new poems! I started writing again quite recently but haven't published any.

Nigel Bruen

I run a chicken farm in France. At school we learned poems by heart and I loved the emotive flow they engendered. Favourite poems are 'The Revenge', 'News from Ghent to Aixe', 'The Listeners'; one is effortlessly transported, held and (in the second case) made to cry. I have written all my life and am published in: 'Boxing the Compass', 'Keep Your Head Down', 'Shadows of Wax' (writing as Tim Trezare) and www.warpoetry.co.uk/Bernie_Bruen_poetry.html

Tony Kaplan

I published five collections of poetry from 2002 to 2006. My latest book is The November Tree. From 1984 to 2008 I wrote more than 1200 poems. My poetry books are available in 75 universities worldwide across 18 different countries. You may read my testimonials to appreciate what other university professors, poets and other people have commented about my poetry. www.tonykaplan.com

Kaethe Fine

I was born in NYC and live in London. At school I loved William Carlos Williams, TS Eliot, Emily Dickinson, and Shakespeare. One of my current favourites is Mary Oliver. Her work is like one long beautifully chaptered meditation on things that are small, natural and, the way she puts them, fill you with life. I have around 12 poems published in Aesthetica, Nthposition, Keystone, Maida Vale Poets (pamphlet), Graphic Poetry, City Lighthouse, etc. My first collection is out soon (tall-lighthouse).

Amy Kilpin

I live in Hertfordshire and I’m an international journalist. I’ve only recently started to take myself seriously as a poet, and while I have composed a fair quantity of poetry in the past, I am new to the realm of publishing, having recently achieved publication in a monthly national poetry magazine. I hope my career as a poet will proliferate with publication of a collection - something which I hope to achieve in the near future.

Alan Moore

I’d recommend ‘The Onion, Memory’ - Craig Raine. It has a child-like awareness – a super-sensitivity. ‘After Long Silence’ – Yeats. The musicality. ‘The Morning of the Poem’ – James Schuyler – deceptive simplicity. I have two collections: Opia (Anvil Press Poetry) was a Poetry Book Society Choice, 1986. My second collection, How Now! (Anvil) was published in 2010. I gave the name to the principal piece of legislation in the Irish tax code – the “Taxes Consolidation Act 1997”.

Hazel Cameron

As a child I found books by Burns and Wordsworth on the bookshelves and read and reread them. I do the admin for Scottish Pamphlet Poetry which is a wonderful supportive community of poets and publishers who produce poetry in pamphlet form. It grew from the grass roots and has flourished over the past nine years with a wide and diverse range of poetry and pamphlet styles. We organise market style fairs and readings which have a great buzz to them and attract lots of visitors.

Sue Kindon

From my teens I remember Louis MacNeice's 'Prayer Before Birth' and Ted Hughes's 'The Horses'. Then in the 6th Form I was lucky enough to have a really enthusiastic teacher, who was inspirational on T S Eliot, and didn't stick to the syllabus. I belong to a poetry writing group in our village and I'm part of the Brewery Poets, Kendal. Hull is such a poetic city because it works in mysterious ways and has inspired poets from Marvell to Sean O'Brien.

Daniel Ware

In my early teens I read Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis. By the time I got to the 'Touch but my lips' verse I was in love with rhyme. I have published 15 poems in a self-published book on Lulu.com that so far not a single person (other than me and my Mother) has bought. My Mother writes poetry, which strangely enough I never knew until I shared my own work with her. How many others are there like us? Writing and hiding?

Mary Gilonne

 I’ve lived in a village near Aix-en-Provence for over 40 years. I’m a freelance translator. I‘ve always been interested in poetry, and the influence of a talented teacher fired my enthusiasm. Tennyson, Keats, a little Wordsworth, but anything contemporary was in out of school hours. I recommend ‘Tides’ by Hugo Williams – so much compressed feeling. ‘The Otter’ by Heaney - the delight in the language is joyous. I’ve written many poems, publishing is the optimistic next step!

Norman Andrews

I live in East London and work from home as an accountant. I’ve been writing poems for 65 years. I read and learned many poems by rote at school. My favourites are D H Lawrence, T S Eliot, Dylan Thomas and Adrian Mitchell. I like the open mic nights at Betterton Street and have been to poetry festivals, particularly if Adrian Mitchell was performing. I’ve published one collection called Ipecac and Old Snapshots and I’m working on a second.

Vicki Primm-Sexton

I became interested in poetry at school, and I was mainly inspired by Rosen, McGough and Larkin. I have read classical literature for as long as I can remember. As a classical singer, I have also long appreciated good settings of poetry to music. I’ve written some more poetry fairly recently, and I did have some poems published at school. My English teacher told me that I must never stop writing it. I’m also a landscape and portrait artist. 

Steven Redhead

I’ve lived in Japan for 30 years working in the Food Industry. One of the first poems I remember reading was ‘The Scarecrow’ by Walter de la Mare, when I was 11. I’ve written poetry since 1970s and self published on the internet. I’d recommend ‘The Marriage of Heaven and Hell’ by William Blake to other Poetry Society members - seems an interesting concept that would solve many issues.

Beatrice van de Vis

I was born in Buenos Aires of Berber, Spanish and Dutch descent. I’ve lived in London for 20 years. I love Donne, Rainer Maria Rilke, Pablo Neruda, Ezra Pound, Emily Dickinson, Mary Oliver, Simon Armitage… I read sometimes at Ambit events in Soho on open mic nights, as well as frequenting the Poetry Café and various other venues, including private recitals. I’ve been published in Blithe Spirit (British Haiku Society Journal) and in various Canadian and American anthologies.

John Webber

I’ve been writing poetry for about 15 years. Had Van Gogh Had A Day Job (Indigo Dreams Press) was published in 2008, and poems have been published in Reach, Envoi, Poetry Life and Quill and Ink. I also had a poem selected by Roger McGough for a poetry on the buses project. Some of my work can be found at www.barenibs.com. I am a member of UKAuthors online writing community which some of my friends also belong to.

Omar Sabbagh

My mother was the original prompt for my interest in English literature, giving me the works of Austen and Dickens to read when I was eleven. Poems I’d recommend are Hughes’s ‘The Thought-Fox’, Heaney’s ‘Mint’ or ‘Digging’, Fiona Sampson’s ‘The Plunge’, Don Paterson’s ‘Letter to the Twins’ and R.S. Thomas’s ‘The Island’. I’ve been published in Poetry Review, Stand, PN Review, The Reader, The Warwick Review, Envoi and more. A collection with Cinnamon Press  (no title yet) is due soon. 

Bob Doughty

I'd recommend William Carlos Williams because his simplicity of language and voice is something which anyone can appreciate. Others would include Hugo Williams, Sylvia Plath, Simon Armitage (no-nonsense approach and impact), Carol Ann Duffy (because of her variety and range), and Michael Symmons Roberts. I started my MA at MMU in 2007 and I've had two poems published, one in an anthology via a competition, and another in a small society anthology.

Jan Bebbington 

I teach at a small independent school. I was inspired by an enthusiastic schoolteacher, who made us enact poems in short tableaux formats. I’ve never forgotten the experience and do it now to inspire my own students to gain an appreciation of poetry. I am a member of Bards at Blidworth, Poetree Creations and Poetry At Longdales. I write profusely and have read at my local church and poetry groups but have never sought to get them published.

Kevin Dawson

I’ve written poetry since I was at school, it seems to be a natural outlet for my feelings and emotions. However, my school was not a very poetry oriented. I recommend Ted Hughes and Leonard Cohen. I’ve written lots of poems but not had any published to date. Being a country boy, the countryside and the coast are all inspirational to me. People may be surprised to know that I’m an honorary Romanian citizen!

Sheila Hillier

For many years I taught at Barts & The London School of Medicine, as a medical sociologist. Retired, I continue my research on health in China as Emeritus Professor. I won the 2009 Hamish Canham prize and I was commended in the National Competition 2006. My first collection A Quechua Confession Manual (Cinnamon) is due soon. I like poets whose names I can’t pronounce or spell: Milosz, Holub, Zagajewski, Szymborska, Ni Chuilleanain and never travel without Hart Crane.

Jovica Tasevski - Eternijan

I live in Macedonia where I’m on the Editorial Board of ‘Stremež’ magazine and a member of Macedonian Writers' Association. The poet Jovan Koteski made a great impression on me when I met him at my high school – his poetry has high aesthetic values and he had a tragic life. My poetry includes Something Can Be Heard (1995), Visions. Verb (1997), Lightning (1998), Pendulum (2001), Heavenly Guards (2004), The Syntax of the Light (2008).

Robert Fitzmaurice

I have had a few poems published in national and local anthologies. In the early 1990s I teamed up with a number of friends who were also writing and formed what we decided to call 'The Balcony Group'. It was a useful way to share and critique each other's work and talk more broadly about the craft of verse. The first readings I went to were by Frances Horovitz, Anthony Thwaite, and Craig Raine in the 1980s. www.robertfitzmaurice.co.uk

Abegail Morley

My primary school teacher Sheila Gravells opened my eyes and ears to the world of poetry when I was 10 years old. Since then I have attended Arvon and Ty Newydd courses, published widely, and gone on to win the Cinnamon Press Poetry Collection Award and publish my first collection How to Pour Madness into a Teacup. I live in Kent working as a School Librarian.

Daphne Gloag

My mother shared her love of poetry with me and took me to a poetry group. I joined the Society in the 70s, when I met my future husband, poet Peter Williamson, at the group he ran. Diversities of Silence was published by Brentham Press in 1994 and A Compression of Distances by Cinnamon Press in 2009 - described by John Latham as ‘without doubt an important collection’ – ‘a distinctive voice’, writes Myra Schneider, ‘both enquiring and lyrical, which affirms life and celebrates love’. I won first prize in the 2009 Scintilla short poem competition.  

Teresa Birks

I became interested in poetry through the study of Indonesian and Malaysian literature and oral traditions. I was fortunate to meet a number of Indonesian and Malaysian poets, with Usman Awang being the most influential (since passed away). Eddin Khoo, Malaysian writer, translator and poet also very inspiring. I have written one or two poems but I am more hopeful of undertaking some translation work in collaboration with other poets.

Andrea Holland

I was born on the same day as Jack Kerouac and I teach Creative Writing at UEA and Norwich University of the Arts. I have written poetry since I was about 15 years old, and loved reading poetry, but after taking a writing workshop I realised I wanted to pursue it more seriously and study it further/write more; did an MFA in Creative Writing at University of Massachusetts. My poems have been published in The Rialto and Smith’s Knoll, among others, and a pamphlet by Smith/Doorstop: Borrowed in 2007. www.andreaholland.com 

Bob Hanson

I am a retired grandfather of 11. I work as a volunteer in three prisons with a Buddhist Meditation Program and am active in peace efforts here, Palestine and Africa. I am also a member of Parliament of World Religions family. Chasing Wind Mills was self-published on LuLu.com about a year ago, and I attended a seminar called “shut up and write” at the Red Bird Studio in Milwaukee WI USA and the muses have not been quiet since.

Rebecca Goss

I taught creative writing at Liverpool John Moores University. I now write poetry full time. My father gave me a copy of Seamus Heaney’s Death of a Naturalist. I read ‘Trout’ and thought I want to describe things like that. My first collection was a pamphlet Keeping Houston Time published by Slow Dancer Press (1997). My first full length collection is due with Flambard Press. Poems published in many magazines and anthologies and I’ve enjoyed some competition success. 
www.poetrypf.co.uk/rebeccagosspage.html

Margo Berdeshevsky

But a Passage in Wilderness was published by The Sheep Meadow Press (2007). New poems have appeared recently in Poetry Review and Wolf Magazine. I was the recipient of the Poetry Society of America's Robert H. Winner Award, The Chelsea Poetry Award, Kalliope's Sue Saniel Elkind Award, and 2 Pushcart Prize Special Mention citations. Beautiful Soon Enough (recipient of American Book Review/ Ronald Sukenick Award for Innovative Fiction) was published in 2009, by Fiction Collective Two. A poetic novel, Vagrant is forthcoming from Red Hen Press. www.redroom.com/author/margo-berdeshevsky http://margoberdeshevsky.blogspot.com/

Debbie Jellings

A tutor at Birkbeck said my poems were of prize winning standard and another tutor at Sussex, Abi Curtis, cemented that – and I ended up with a distinction for my Creative Writing MA. My first poem, ‘Cubs in the Sake Steam’, was shortlisted for the 2009 Aesthetica Creative Works competition. I’d recommend the poetry of Eavan Boland, a visual poet who speaks for my experience as a woman and a poet - complex and breathtakingly moving.

Pat Jourdan

In infants’ school we had afternoons of Walter De La Mare, Christina Rossetti, Rudyard Kipling, R.L.Stevenson, and Alfred Tennyson. Waiting for us in the grammar school were W.H. Auden and T.S.Eliot. My collections include The Bedsit, Ainnir, Turpentine, The Cast-iron Shore and poems have been in many magazines. I’ve won some prizes too. I have been connected with several groups in England and in Ireland. My family are vaguely polite about it.

Jane Mosse

DM Thomas was my tutor when I was a student. At ‘A’ level, I fell in love with DH Lawrence’s work. Recently I was in Lake Orta for the Poetry on the Lake Festival with Carol Ann Duffy. It was a magical experience and a great privilege to be there. I live on the beautiful island of Guernsey. There is an active poetry scene here and it was through this that I met my now partner, Richard Fleming, also a poet.

Nabila Jameel

I’m studying a Creative Writing MA. Many of my aunts and uncles were also poets. I run poetry events and I was recently guest poet in Grasmere. I’m published by Suitcase Press, BBC websites and The Wordsworth Trust. I have broadcasted my poetry on radio, including BBC Asian Network. I think in Urdu for love so my poetry in English is very much coloured by this language and I weave together the two sound systems. Two of my poems have been accepted for Poetry & Audience.

Sally Evans

I met my husband through the Scottish Poetry Library when it was first founded. We gave the Library a heap of poetry books. I edit Poetry Scotland, now on issue 63 and published more than 700 poets. Published books include Looking for Scotland, Bewick Walks To Scotland, The Great North Road, The Bees and The Honey Seller. My latest published work is translations in Christopher Whyte’s book of poems in Gaelic, including the title poem ‘Bho Leabhar-Latha Maria Malibran’. www.desktopsallye.com

Peter Pegnall

I teach under-achieving children at City University and write poetry criticism for Poetry Ireland Review. I have had four collections published: Broken Eggs (Lapwing Publications); Foul Papers (Lapwing Publications); Through the Rock (Blackwater); Season of Missed Chances (Lapwing Publications). My work has been published in many magazines and anthologies. I run a monthly poetry event in Richmond and I started the first Anglo-Portuguese Poetry Festival in Silves, the ancient Moorish capital of the Algarve, which ran from 1994-2001. 

Phillip Whittington

I live in Scarborough and am a relational centred counsellor in advanced training. I’ve recently published a book of children’s poems, What a Hullaballo, based around my 70's childhood experiences. Because of my Dyslexia I have always feared my own creativity and been terrified of showing it to the world. My therapy training has enabled me to become self-aware and realise that I no longer need to fear myself. www.whatahullabaloo.com

John Hewitt

In no particular chronological order, I've been a chef, a shoes salesman, a soda jerk, a cinema projectionist, an accounts clerk and drove director Ridley Scott around a film set. I've always loved poetry and I’m now a full time poet. Yeats’s 'He wishes for the cloths of Heaven' still makes me cry! I would also recommend Wilfred Owen and Sylvia Plath - imagery, passion and difference of styles. www.john-hewitt.com 

Sue Guiney

I’ve had poems published in a variety of 'greater and lesser' journals both here and in the US (I am originally from New York, now living in London) plus my poetry play Dreams of May was published by Bluechrome in 2006. I’m presently completing my first full collection. I started writing poetry about 15 years ago when a teacher of mine convinced me that everything you write really should at least aim to be poetry. www.sueguiney.com 

Ann Segrave

I have several poems in anthologies, and my first collection Aviatrix has just been published by Oversteps Books (www.overstepsbooks.com). I was a finalist in the Bard of the Year competition in the late nineties, but I have been writing poetry since I was 7 years old. I am just beginning to do readings and generally promoting my work in Lewes, East Sussex, where I live. www.lady-errant.org.uk

Nina Boyd

I have had several poems published in poetry magazines, including The North and The Rialto. At the moment I am trying to write 101 sonnets, one every day, triggered in some way by each poem in Don Paterson’s 101 Sonnets. My husband is a poet and this is what introduced me to poetry. I am an MA student at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Writing School and I live in Huddersfield which is a vibrant centre for poetry writing and performance. www.ninaboyd.com

Pat Winslow 

I have published six poetry collections – the most recent are Unpredictable Geometry (Templar) and Dreaming of Walls Repeating Themselves (Templar). I live in Oxfordshire where I’m a Writer in Residence for HMP Long Lartin, and I run writing workshops for Chipping Norton Theatre. I also work with other artists on projects in the community from time to time. I’m a member of Back Room Poets and I also go to a poetry reading/sharing group. 

Fabio Riglietti

I live and work in Milan. I was interested in poetry when I was young, attracted by the Italian "Scapigliatura" and the "Poète Maudit" because it was for Europe a moment of great changes, hopes, promises then great illusions and as we know great delusions and disasters. I write a lot of lyrics for songs in English and Italian for my friends and me. Some poems in Italian will be published maybe next year. 

Eve Grubin

I was raised in New York City and recently moved to London. I was the programs director at the Poetry Society of America for five years and taught poetry at The New School University for seven years. I am now teaching poetry workshops at the London School of Jewish Studies and working on my second book of poems. Morning Prayer was published by the Sheep Meadow Press in 2006 and I've had poems published by Agenda. www.evegrubin.com

Jenny Rowbory

I started writing poems when in 6th form – it seemed natural to me, like they need to be written. I’ve written 2 collections – my current one is Rainbows in my eyes (Longman, £6.99), with which I am trying to raise £35,000 to fund medical treatment that is unavailable on the NHS as I have been bed-bound and unable to sit up for five years due to severe illness. See www.jkrowbory.co.uk for more info.

Colin Mansell

I was born in Bromley, Kent, and I now live in Eltham, London. It’s nice to be in the heart of things. I started writing poetry in 2007. I was soon hooked. In 2009 my book deep blue was published by Chipmunka Publishing. I consider London to be the most poetic city.

David Parry

I'm the founder of the Gruntlers, which regularly performs at the Poetry Cafe. I've also read and performed my own work across London. Having had 2 collections published: Caliban's Redemption (2004) and The Grammar of Witchcraft (2009), I have discovered that most of my friends value poetry, whereas my family hold a philistine attitude to verse. Lastly, I'm a practising Spiritualist. Perhaps my work-in-progress (working title: Anarchy in Green), finally nails my political as well as poetic colours to the mast.

Andrea Wren

I write for a living as a freelance journalist and travel writer, but I'm pretty much a newcomer to poetry, having only been writing it since June 2009 (other than my forays into it while at school!). Still, I have been reading my work around the Manchester poetry circuit since I began writing and have enjoyed developing my style. Website: www.andreawren.co.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/andrea_wren

Wendy French

Former head of the Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital School, I now work with people suffering from mental health problems and victims of strokes. I have run workshops for the National Trust and was Project Manager for the Poet in the City scheme arranging for poets to work in schools. My second collection surely you know this (a fragment from Sappho) was published by tall-lighthouse, 2009.

Leslie Tate

My writing, which is language-and-character led, draws its inspiration from modernism. It blends irony and observational detail with passionate informality. Head and Heart, my collection on CD, offers 57 poems about a late-life love affair, using many different expressive styles to deal with romance, sexuality and alopecia. Aphrodite’s Children, my debut novel, recounts how a young ingénue struggles to relate to women within the ‘free-love’ ideology of the 60s. www.leslietate.com

Michelle McGrane

Born in Zimbabwe in 1974, I spent my childhood in Malawi, and moved to South Africa with my family when I was fourteen. My collection, The Suitable Girl, is forthcoming in the United Kingdom in 2010. I live in Johannesburg and blog at peony moon (http://peonymoon.wordpress.com).

Ronnie Goodyer

My poetry has appeared in a great many magazines and solo collections Within The Silence, Indigo Dreams, Lizard Reality, New Words From An Old Hat and The Way of the Dance. I am a regular competition adjudicator and was selected by the BBC as a panel judge for their Off By Heart project in 2009. I run Indigo Dreams Publishing which publishes 3 poetry magazines, anthologies and collections, plus regular poetry competitions. Details at www.indigodreamsonline.com idpoet AT rocketmail.com and Facebook group Indigo Dreams Poetry.

Claire Meadows

I was born in Hull in 1981, and moved to London in 2001. In 2008, while working as a legal secretary at a global corporation, I had a nervous breakdown and was hospitalised for nine weeks. After this experience, I decided to concentrate solely on bringing my first collection Gold After to fruition. I graduated from the Open University with a degree in English Literature in 2009. I am currently trying to find a publisher for Gold After.

Lynda K Robinson

I am otherwise known as 'Goblet Boodles', a much-Published/Radio-Broadcast Humorous Fairy-Tale & Verse-Fable Poet, Story-Teller, Author, Illustrator and Composer. I recite my Original Fairy-Tale Poems/Verse-Fables in special 'Goblet Boodles costume'- performing from my 'Poet's Plinth'! A Full Member of EQUITY, The Society For StoryTelling, a Teacher-Member of The AOTOS and a LLAM (plus 4 Honours Medals for Speech & Acting) of LAMDA. 
www.KittyPigfish.com or www.ContactAnAuthor.co.uk/

Susan Whitmore

A poet and artist, amongst other things, published in Scotland’s Markings quarterly, Poems on the Buses and on Radio 4, winning The Afternoon Shift’s Alternative Christmas Poem. Convenor of the Brondesbury Group’s monthly poetry meets in NW London for 7 years. I run landscape painting weeks for Christopher North, Stanza Rep in Spain, and teach life drawing at London’s Tricycle Theatre. My two heads occasionally convene for exhibitions and publications.

Bruce Barnes

I was the Stanza representative for Leeds and Bradford for a number of years - probably best known in the area for flurries of ‘what’s-on’ emails. My first collection was The lovelife of the absent-minded Phoenix Press 1993, and since then I have self published Somewhere Else Utistugu Press 2003, (synchronicity intentional), had the occasional poetry competition win, and most recently had my first play, Branwell in Bradford, performed at the Bradford Playhouse.

Nick Makoha

I’m a Ugandan poet in London, the Newham writer in residence, and one of ten poets on the Complete Works programme, which will culminate in a final anthology Ten (Bloodaxe). I’m working on my 1st collection. My poem ‘Vitsa’ was commissioned for Tate Remixed. My 1st pamphlet was The lost collection of an invisible man (FlippedEye). I’ve toured with The British Council in Finland, Czech Republic, the US and The Netherlands. 

Sheenagh Pugh 

I live in Shetland though I also have close ties with Wales. I have published many poetry collections with Seren, also two novels and a critical work on fan fiction. I have been shortlisted for the T S Eliot and Whitbread prizes and have won the Forward Prize for best poem of the year.  http://sheenagh.webs.com, writing blog http://sheenaghpugh.livejournal.com

Lesley Saunders

Four books so far: The Dark Larder (Corridor Press 1997); Christina the Astonishing, with Jane Draycott (Two Rivers Press 1998); Her Leafy Eye (Two Rivers Press 2009); and No Doves (Mulfran Press 2010). Joint first prize in the 2008 Manchester Poetry Competition and showcase Poet in Magma 44. I like collaborative work and unusual residencies. For projects, writing workshops and readings, including at Chelsea Physic Garden and Acton Court, see www.lesleysaunders.org.uk.

Harriet Torr

I live on a croft in Westfield Caithness, a great place to see the night sky as there’s no light pollution. I’m about 100 yards from Assery Tulloch, an ancient burial site on the shores of Loch Calder. I had a pamphlet published by Koo Poetry Press (2009) and a poem commended in the National Poetry competition (2008). I had an unpublished collection held as semi-finalist (2006) for the Dorset Prize USA. I've had several poems in Poetry News.

Graham Buchan

I have published Airport Reading, There is Violence in these Vapours, and In Bed with Shostakovich, all with tall-lighthouse. Also published short stories, reviews and travel writing. I like poetry which communicates, not obfuscates, and which is borne of life experience. I like images. Generally, brevity is a virtue, and humour is no bad thing. I dislike endless similes, flowery language and self-indulgence.