Poetry South 2007 brings you the latest work from fifteen of the south’s liveliest writers.
Rich in voice and tone it provides a vivid snapshot of the developing face of contemporary poetry across the region.
Coming from both new and established writers this collection includes
informative notes from the contributors giving an insight into their working methods and how particular poems have evolved.
This collection passionately reveals that poetry remains a potent force on the southern arts scene, whilst providing a valuable document in promoting contemporary poetry to an ever wider audience.
Charles Simic considered that poetry ‘was the cats’ choir that sat beneath the window of the room in which the official view of history was being written’.
Sit down and listen. Sit down and wail.
FEATURING POETS
• John Agard
• Tim Beech
• Brendan Cleary
• Tom Cunliffe
• John Davies
• Robert Dickinson
• Hugh Dunkerley
• Sarah Jackson
• Maria Jastrzebska
• Grace Nichols
• John O'Donoghue
• Catherine Smith
• Lorna Thorpe
• Sarh Wardle
• Jackie Wills
POETS' PROFILES
John Agard was born in Guyana and came to Britain in 1977. He has published a number of collections of poetry for children and adults. He was the first writer-in-residence at the South Bank Centre in 1993 and at the BBC in 1998. His most recent adult collection, WE BRITS (Bloodaxe Books) received a Decibel shortlist as part of the Galaxy Awards 2007. Maura Dooley has said of his work; ‘His poems are direct and arresting, playful, full of startling imagery, and hilarious, passionate and erotic as often as they are political – often managing to be all these things at once.’
Tim Beech was born in Cannock, Staffordshire in 1953. He was educated at Cannock Grammar School, Flintshire College of Technology and the University of Salford where he gained a Ph.D. in physical chemistry. He currently works as shepherd/estate worker on Lullington Heath National Nature Reserve. He has a pamphlet of poetry, ‘A Solitary Pine Tree in Sussex’, published by Pighog Press and is a member of Footwork, the collective of Sussex poets.
Brendan Cleary is a highly respected poet and teacher. He has published 4 full length collections including White Bread and ITV: Selected Poems 1985 – 1990 (Wide Skirt Press), The Irish Card and Sacrilege (Bloodaxe), and stranger in the house (Wrecking Ball Press). Jackson was published by Pighog Press in 2004 and Weightless by Tall Lighthouse in 2006.
Tom Cunliffe comes from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. He is a painter/printmaker, a member of Footwork and lives in Hove.
John Davies published his first pamphlet collection ‘The Nutter in the Shrubbery’ in 2002. In the same year he won an ArchiTEXTS Award for his first residency as Shedman (www.shedman.net) and he set up THE SOUTH to produce seven special ACE funded commissions for poets working with visual artists on the theme ‘place of birth’. He has received an Arts Council England personal development award and his poetry has been published in anthologies and magazines and he has read his work at events and festivals in the UK, Ireland and Europe. His full length collection ‘Shedman’ is also published by Pighog
Robert Dickinson had poems in various magazines; Szyzgy, a joint collection with Andrew Dilger, was published in 2001. Other works include a comedy, ‘Murder’s Last Case’, which played for a week in 2004, and the libretto for ‘Joby Talbot’s Path of Miracles’, which premiered in 2005.
Hugh Dunkerley has published two pamphlet collections, ‘Walking to the Fire Tower’ (Redbeck Press) and ‘Fast’ (Pighog Press). He teaches at The University of Chichester and is the West Sussex Poet Laureate. He lives in Brighton and is married to the novelist Bethan Roberts.
Sarah Jackson lives and writes in Brighton, where she is undertaking doctoral research in creative writing at the University of Sussex. Her poems have been published widely in journals that include ‘The Rialto’, ‘Envoi’, ‘Other Poetry’ and ‘Interpreter’s House’. She is also an Associate Tutor on the Creative Writing and Personal Development Masters degree at Sussex University, and has facilitated writing workshops in mental health and community outreach settings. She is currently working on her first novel.
Maria Jastrzebska was born in Warsaw, Poland and grew up in London. She is author of ‘Postcards From Poland’ (Working Press) ‘Home From Home’ (Flarestack) and ‘Syrena’ (Redbeck Press) and was co-editor of ‘Forum Polek’ a bilingual anthology of women’s writing. Her work appears in numerous anthologies and journals, most recently in ‘Images of Women’ (Arrowhead), ‘Apokalipsa’ (Slovenia), ‘Brand’, ‘Chroma’, ‘The Interpreter’s House’, ‘Kirjailija’ (Finland), ‘Poetry International Web’, ‘Smiths Knoll’, ‘Staple’. She founded SOUTH POLE, ‘Outskirts’ and co-runs Queer Writing South.
Grace Nichols, poet and children’s writer was born and educated in Guyana. Since moving to Britain in 1977 she has written widely for both adults and children. Her adult books include ‘I Is A Long-Memoried Woman’ which won the l983 Commonwealth Poetry Prize; the ‘Fat Black Woman’s Poems’ and ‘Sunris’ which won the Guyana Poetry Prize. She served as poet-in-residence at the Tate Gallery 1999 to 2000 and received a Cholmondeley Award in 2001.
John O’Donoghue has lived in Brighton for the past ten years. He Chairs Survivors Poetry, a funded organisation which to exists to publish and promote the work of people who have suffered mental distress. Currently working on a PhD in Creative Writing at Bath Spa. His work includes ‘The Beach Generation’ and ‘Brunch Poems’. A memoir, ‘Sectioned’, will be published by John Murray in 2009.
Catherine Smith was chosen as one of the ‘Next Generation’ poets of 2004 by the PBS/Arts Council. Her first full collection, ‘The Butcher’s Hands’ (Smith/Doorstop) was a PBS recommendation. A new collection, ‘Lip’, is forthcoming from Smith/Doorstop in November 2007 and a collection of her short stories will be published by Bluechrome next year.
Lorna Thorpe ’s debut poetry collection from Pighog Press ‘Dancing To Motown’ was the Poetry Book Society’s pamphlet choice for autumn 2005. Also a published short story and features writer, her first full collection, ‘A Ghost In My House’, is due from Arc this year.
Sarah Wardle is lecturer in poetry at Middlesex University and has published two collections with Bloodaxe, ‘Fields Away’, shortlisted for the Forward prize for best first collection, and ‘SCORE!’, which includes some of her poems, written as poet-in-residence for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. She has just finished her third collection.
Jackie Will’s fourth collection of poetry ‘Commandments’, is published by Arc this autumn. It covers territory that she has always been interested in – people and relationships – but in this one she expands into religion and how a woman defines herself. Her first collection, ‘Powder Tower’, was shortlisted for the 1995 TS Eliot prize. Other collections are ‘Party’ (Leviathon 2000) and ‘Fever Tree’ (Arc 2003).
