Guest Poets 2015

April

John Foggin

"John lives in Ossett, West Yorkshire. He has been a teacher, lecturer and LEA Adviser for Drama and English. he has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Leeds, but learns much more from The Poetry Business and all the poets he has met there. His poems have appeared in 'The North', 'The New Writer', and 'The Interpreter's House', among others. He was First Prize winner in the Lumen/Camden Poetry Competition (2014) and of The Plough Prize (2013). His first collection of poems , a chapbook: 'Running out of Space' was published in April 2014, and his second, Larach was published by Wardwood in November 2014."

 Steve Ely

"Steve Ely is a poet from the West Riding of Yorkshire. His book of poems, Oswald's Book of Hours, is published by Smokestack and was nominated for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection in 2013 and the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry in 2014. Englaland, his second book of poems, was published in April, 2015, also by Smokestack. His novel, Ratmen, is published by Blackheath Books. Ted Hughes's South Yorkshire: Made In Mexborough, a biographical work about Hughes's neglected Mexborough period, will be published by Palgrave MacMillan in July 2015."

28 May

 Evan Jones

"Canadian poet Evan Jones has lived in Manchester since 2005. He is the author of Paralogues (Carcanet, 2012) and was co-editor of the anthology, Modern Canadian Poetry (Carcanet, 2010)."

Sheri Benning

"Sheri Benning's new and selected poems, The Season's Vagrant Light, is forthcoming with Carcanet in July, 2015. Sheri has published to books of poetry in Canada, Thin Moon Psalm (Brick Books 2007) and Earth After Rain (Thistledown Press). Sheri divides her time between Glasgow and her family's farm in Saskatchewan." 

25 June

Sheila Wild

"Sheila’s poems have been published in a number of journals, including The North, The Rialto, Orbis and MsLexia. She has a collection forthcoming with Cinnamon Press. Her work has been widely anthologised and she has won several awards, including first (2012) and second (2014) prizes in the Manchester Cathedral Poet of the Year competition, and runner up in the Wigtown Poetry Competition (2013). Most recently she is the runner up in the British Haiku Award 2014." 

 Michael Conley

"Michael Conley is a teacher from Manchester. He completed an MA in Creative Writing at MMU in 2013. Aquarium is his first published pamphlet."

 30 July

Ben Wilkinson

" Ben was born in Staffordshire and now lives in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. He holds an MA in Writing with distinction from Sheffield Hallam University, and has won numerous awards for his poetry, including the Poetry Business Competition and a 2014 Northern Writers' Award. His latest short collection of poems, For Real, is published by Smith|Doorstop. With support from Arts Council England, he is working towards a first full collection of poetry, for which he is seeking a publisher." 

 27 August

Kim Moore

"Kim Moore was born in 1981 and lives and works in Cumbria. Her first full length collection “The Art of Falling” was published by Seren in April 2015. She won a New Writing North Award in 2014, an Eric Gregory Award in 2011 and the Geoffrey Dearmer Prize in 2012. In 2014 she was Poet in Residence for Ilkley Literature Festival and Digital Poet in Residence for The Poetry School. Her first pamphlet ‘ If We Could Speak Like Wolves’ was a winner in The Poetry Business Pamphlet Competition, judged by Carol Ann Duffy. ‘If We Could Speak Like Wolves’ was chosen as an Independent Book of the Year in 2012 and was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Pamphlet Award and the Lakeland Book of the Year Award. Her poems have been published in Poetry Review, Poetry London, Poem, The TLS, Ambit, The Rialto, The North, Magma, Staple, Stand, Iota, Mslexia, The New Writer, Obsessed With Pipework, Brittle Star, The Interpreter’s House, The Frogmore Papers, Orbis and Other Poetry. Her work has been anthologised in Salt’s ‘Best British Poetry 2012′ and Oxfam’s ‘Lung Jazz'. Her reviews and articles have been published in Poetry Review, Mslexia, Artemis, Agenda and Under the Radar." 

 24 September

Anne Caldwell

"I grew up in the north-west of England and have been a keen reader all my life. My poetry has been published in a range of anthologies - Poet’s Cheshire (Headland) and The Nerve (Virago) and three books by Cinnamon Press who have also published my first full length collection. My work has appeared in many British magazines including Writing Women, The North, Poetry Wales and Quattrocento. I finished an MA in writing poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2007; I perform all over the UK. My current poetry collection is called Talking With The Dead and is published by Cinnamon Press. I have been short-listed in the Huddersfield Literature Festival Poetry Competition and won a micro-story competition that explores the theme of shoes, set up by Museums and Libraries in West Yorkshire by Cartwright Hall. I won an award to attend the Wired Writing Programme at The Banff Centre in Canada in 2006 which involved staying in Banff for two weeks and then working alongside Canadian writers until April 2007."

29 October

Wendy Pratt

"Wendy was asked to co-judge Prole's first poetry competition, something which she enjoyed immensely. Her first poetry pamphlet, Nan Hardwicke Turns into a Hare was published by Prolebooks in late 2011 and is selling well. She was delighted to see it reviewed favourably in the Times Literary Supplement, Other Poetry and several other publications. Her second, full size collection, Museum Pieces, also published by Prolebooks launched in January 2014 and is also selling well. Her third collection, a pamphlet entitled Lapstrake will be published by Flarestack Poets in 2015."

 26 November

Lucy Burnett

"Leaf Graffiti, Lucy’s first collection of poetry, was published in 2013 by Carcanet Press / Northern House, while individual poems have been published in a wide range of magazines. In 2007 she was shortlisted for the Chroma International Poetry Prize. She is currently seeking a publisher for her latest creative project, Through the Weather Glass, an exploration of climate change via the myth of Icarus and the narrative of a cycle expedition from Salford to the Greek island of Ikaria. This hybrid ‘novel’ is written in a generically experimental form combining magic realist travel writing with poetry and the visual image." 

 17 December

Maria Isakova Bennett

"Maria Isakova Bennett is an artist, poet and teacher from Liverpool.  During 2014 she was highly commended in the Gregory O’ Donoghue Poetry Competition, shortlisted in the Munster Literature Chapbook Competition, and awarded first prize in the Ver Open Poetry Competition. Last month, Maria’s debut pamphlet was published by Poetry Bus Press in Ireland."