John Davies is a poet, publisher, and master of the flat-pack shed. Born in Birmingham, he’s now based in Brighton where he founded Pighog Press and has devoted himself to discovering and supporting other poets, and spreading his love of poetry, writing and storytelling through Shedman, his festive alter-ego.

Davies’ poetry displays an unmistakable blend of warmth and shadow as he cuts beneath the edifices of middle-class society, uncovering the everyday surreality of contemporary Britain’s lurkers, lovers and plot hatchers. His collections The Nutter in the Shrubbery (2002) and Shedman (2008) explore collisions of the mundane and the menacing with a vivacious variety of mood and form. These are words shot full of the intelligence and humour that make Shedman such a remarkable collector of oral histories as he tours the country in his mysterious wooden edifice.

Find out more about John Davies.