I’m a poet and creative educator. I believe in the power of words and in sharing that power with others.
I lead poetry workshops in secondary schools and am currently Patron of Writing at Didcot Girls’ School and St Birinus School . I am a registered Poet in Schools with The Poetry Society and a member of The Society of Authors. I also run poetry courses for adults and do 1-to-1 mentoring and editorial work with individual poets.
I have a background in teaching and have taught in a wide spectrum of settings, from hidden gem community centres to bursting-at-the-seams secondary schools. I have an MA in Writing Poetry from The Poetry School/Newcastle University and I was nominated for Best Single Poem in the Forward Prize, 2020.
You can find me on Facebook, Twitter @kitespotter and Instagram.
*New for 2020*
My debut poetry pamphlet, Winter with Eva, was launched on February 14th with V Press. Winter with Eva is the kind of poetry sequence that you’ll want to sit down and read through, in one sitting.
Sadly, due to the Coronavirus outbreak, I’ve had to postpone the launch reading events. BUT on the plus side, you can now watch me read a ‘Winter with Eva’ poem-a-day, for FREE, via my blog.
It’s “very human, very conscious” (- V Press) “a poignant but tough love story told against the backdrop of Brexit-era England…” (- Tamar Yoseloff)
“This is a love story so sensual that you can smell autumn leaves on the ground and taste snow on your lips. You may well read this in one sitting because it’s like watching a studio theatre production.” (- Candyce Lange, Happenstance Press. Read the whole review, here: Sphinx )
Read one of the poems from the sequence here, and order your copy here.
Jacob Polley (2016 T.S. Eliot Prize-winner) has said that I work with a ‘potent mixture of self-awareness, the subconscious and artistic discrimination.’
Glyn Maxwell (shortlisted for Forward Poetry Prize & T.S. Eliot Prize) calls my writing ‘sure-footed and distinct.’
Photo: Flourished @ Bold Tendencies: by Sophie Collins & Sam Riviere