Poets

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Our Featured Poets

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  • Pascale Petit was born in Paris and lives in Cornwall. She has published nine poetry collections, four of which were shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize. Her ninth, Beast (Bloodaxe, 2025, was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. Her eighth, Tiger Girl (Bloodaxe, 2020), was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection, and for Wales Book of the Year. Her seventh, Mama Amazonica (Bloodaxe, 2017), won the RSL Ondaatje Prize and the inaugural Laurel Prize for eco-poetry and was the Poetry Book Society Choice. Her debut novel, My Hummingbird Father, was published by Salt in 2024.

  • Alison Brackenbury has published ten poetry collections, enriched by Gloucestershire’s hills, horses, hares and history. Her poems have received two major awards, and frequent broadcasts on Radio 4. Her latest collection is Thorpeness, (Carcanet). Alison’s new non-fiction prose book, ‘Village’, which Nicola Chester, (Guardian Nature Diarist), calls ‘wonderful’, features a legendary Gloucestershire villager, speaking perfect Anglo-Saxon...

  • Ambient Receiver is an interdisciplinary journal and publisher focused on creative practice as a means to attune to ecology. AR publishes poetry, short fiction, creative non-fiction, lyric essay, and sound works that explore the entanglement of human and more-than-human worlds. Pamphlets from CAConrad, Lydia Unsworth and Andrew Hykel Mears, and LPs from Hudson Scott, Kit Monteith, and Zac Clowes are either out or forthcoming. Ambientreceiver.org

  • Karen Downs-Barton is a neurodiverse, working-class writer. Her collection, Minx, won the John Pollard International Poetry Prize. Her pamphlet, Didicoy, was an International Poetry Book and Pamphlet Competition winner and Poetry Book Society recommendation. Karen has performed at Radio 4's The Verb, Ledbury, Deptford, Swindon, and Edinburgh International Book Festivals.

  • Zoe Brooks is a writer and performer of poetry from Gloucestershire, where she is a director of the Cheltenham Poetry Festival. Zoe’s latest collection Something In Nothing (IDP) weaves together the lives of various fairytale characters in a contemporary setting to explore difficult issues.

  • Claire Carroll writes about the intersection of nature, technology, and desire. She is a PhD researcher in Creative Writing at Bath Spa and Exeter Universities, where she explores how experimental writing – particularly short stories – can reimagine how humans relate to the natural and non-human world. Claire’s writing has been published in The Stinging Fly, The London Magazine, The White Review, Prototype, Best of British Short Stories and others. Her debut collection of short stories, ‘The Unreliable Nature Writer’, was released in 2024 with Scratch Books. She is currently associate editor of short fiction for Ambient Receiver.

  • Chaka Tomalin-Hayles: Chaka is a multifaceted writer who began writing in poetry, often exploring darker themes and emotional crescendo. His work has transcended one medium, and alongside a successful music career he remains rooted in character driven narratives that are accessible and addictive.

  • Jason Conway is a professional daydreamer, director of the Gloucestershire Poetry Society, and editor of Steel Jackdaw magazine. His work is published in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Dreich, Poetry Bus, Ink Sweat and Tears, The Phare, and on BBC Upload. Jason's Debut collection is The Wash of Hours (Black Eyes Publishing UK, 2025). He has an MA in Creative Writing (Bath Spa), is an Arts Council funded poet, and is a member of the Word Space 2024-25 cohort.

  • Ginny Darke is a Welsh poet based in Bristol, England. Her writing has been published with The Stinging Fly, Tenement Press, Magna, WORMS and Basket Magazine, amongst others. She was shortlisted for the Poetry Wales Award 2024-25 and was a Foyle Young Poet. Her debut pamphlet, Poison Centre, is forthcoming with if a leaf falls press.

  • Nick Degg is the 2025 Stoke on Trent Poet Laureate who takes his inspiration from the wrung-out dishcloths of everyday life, childhood memories and the grit and graft of the working class environs that surrounded his upbringing. He’s certainly no shrinking Violet, rattling off 100mph tongue twisters with a powerful clarity, or having the confidence to do love poems at barely more than a whisper to a crowded room. He released a CD “Harping on about stuff” in 2021, and currently has four books, “A cup of teeth”, “I come from a town” (Dream Well Writing) and twin publications “Chalk & Chaze”.

  • Kym Deyn is a writer and editor. Their debut poetry collection Folkish was published by Nine Arches in 2026, their other works include Dionysia published by Verve Poetry Press, and Unfurl, a collaborative fiction experiment. They have been widely published in anthologies and journals for their poetry and prose, including Butcher’s Dog, 14 Poems and Strange Horizons. They run The Braag CIC, a poetry and speculative fiction press.

  • Suyin Du Bois is a poet of mixed Chinese-Malaysian and Belgian heritage, living in London with her South African husband. Her poems have been published in Propel, Iamb, Stanzas, Bi+ Lines: An Anthology of Contemporary Bi+ Poets (Fourteen Publishing, 2023) and Malaysian Places and Spaces (Maya Press, 2024), amongst others. She is a member of the Southbank Centre’s New Poets Collective 2024/25. When not obsessing over word choice, Suyin spends her time building a profit-with-purpose start-up that seeks to ensure 24/7 access to nutritious, affordable food for NHS hospital staff. Eating Air is her debut pamphlet.

  • Rhian Elizabeth is a trainee counsellor and a writer. Her debut novel, Six Pounds Eight Ounces, was published in 2014 by Seren Books, and there are the poetry collections the last polar bear on earth, published by Parthian Books, and girls etc, by Broken Sleep Books, which won the Wales Book Of The Year Poetry Award and the Nation Cymru People's Choice Award 2025. maybe i'll call gillian anderson is her latest book of poems, also published by Broken Sleep.

  • Angela France has had poems published in leading journals and has been anthologised a number of times. Her fifth collection, Terminarchy, came out July 2021 with Nine Arches Press. Angela teaches at the University of Gloucestershire and in various community settings. She runs a reading series in Cheltenham, ‘Buzzwords’.

  • Formerly an actor and BBC presenter, Rachel moved back to her native Norfolk coast 28 years ago to raise a family and to write.

    In 2017 she graduated with distinction from the MA in Creative Writing: Poetry at UEA (University of East Anglia) where she also received the Brian Heiser Memorial Scholarship.

    Her poems have been published in Magma, Aesthetica, Under the Radar, Finished Creatures, The Alchemy Spoon, Ink Sweat & Tears, Lighthouse Journal, Fenland Poetry Journal, Tears in the Fence. She was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize 2017 and 2021.

    Rachel collaborated with Elvire Roberts on Knee to Knee, shortlisted for the East Anglia Book Awards.

  • Rebecca Goss is the author of four collections, most recently Latch (Carcanet, 2023). She works as a poetry mentor, is a Writing for Life Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund and is current Writer-in-Residence for CW+, the official charity of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Instagram @gosspoems

  • Georgia Griffiths is a spoken word artist from Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. Blending rhythm, storytelling and social observation, her work explores characters, politics, mental health, and working-class life. The 2025 Glastonbury Poetry Slam winner and 2026 England Slam Champion, she has performed on stages across the UK and internationally, representing the UK at the World Poetry Slam Paris. She is currently touring her debut collection; Life Imitates The Heart.

  • Jake Wild Hall is an award winning poet and one half of Bad Betty Press. He has performed on BBC Radio and at festivals and literary events across the UK. He is a multiple slam champion and his work has been published in magazines, anthologies and online journals. He is the Author of two pamphlets Solomon’s World which was longlisted for the Saboteur award for best pamphlet and Blank. His debut collection Alanis Morissette was published by Broken Sleep Books in January 2026.

  • Lucy Holme is a PhD student at University College Cork. She won the Southword Editor’s Award in 2025, the Cúirt New Writing Prize for Poetry in 2024 and was a finalist for The Brotherton Award and The Mairtín Crawford Award. Her debut chapbook, Temporary Stasis, (Broken Sleep Books 2022) was shortlisted for The Patrick Kavanagh Award. A nonfiction essay collection, Blue Diagonals, was published in September 2024. Her new poetry chapbook Sardines, written collaboratively with Vasiliki Albedo, has just been published by Dialect Press. She is currently working on her first novel and full poetry collection.

  • Adam Horovitz is a poet, performer and editor. He has published three collections of poetry, Turning, The Soil Never Sleeps and Love and Other Fairy Tales, a memoir, A Thousand Laurie Lees, and an album of poetry and music with Josef Reeve, Little Metropolis. He co-presented The Thunder Mutters, a podcast celebrating John Clare, with fiddle player Becky Dellow during lockdown. He appeared on Cerys Matthews and Hidden Orchestra’s album We Come From the Sun in 2021. His latest solo book, Slow Migrations, is out with Indigo Dreams (2025) and his recent collaboration with Ella Duffy Rock, Paper, Scissors (Dialect Press, 2026) is a Poetry Book Society Summer Pamphlet Choice.

  • Alun Hughes is a poet, non-fiction writer and wilderness guide living in Stroud. His work has been published variously by Yew Tree Press, Ambient Receiver, Amplify Stroud, Steel Jackdaw and as Salmon Paths on Substack. His debut pamphlet collection, Down the Heavens was published in 2022. An album with Lensmen, Somewhere Somewhere was also released in the same year. He is currently working on his next collection, Digeny, which focuses on the sensory experience of indigeneity and being on these islands. He is also collaborating with Sean Borodale on a collection for Dialect Press and his poetry film, Long Barrow to Cuda Falls, will make its debut at this year’s NeoAncients Festival. His writing is based in nature-based practices, emergent animism and indigenous perspectives.

  • Aaron Kent is a working-class poet, publisher, and teacher from Cornwall. He runs Broken Sleep Books, and has had two full length collections released, and his new book, Selected Poems: 2015-2025 is out with Shearsman in October 2026. His work has been translated into several languages, and he has worked with organisations such as MIND, Stroke Association, and The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

  • Josephine Lay is a poet and writer living in Gloucester. She has a BA (Hons) and a MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University. She has published four poetry collections: Inside Reality (2018), Unravelling (2019), A Quietus (2021), and A kind of alchemy (2026). She was Director of the Gloucestershire Poetry Society (Jan 2020 to Dec 2022). She runs live poetry events, and Poetry Cafes in Cheltenham and Gloucester Libraries.

  • Peter Lay is a Gloucester-based poet and writer. He has two published poetry collections: Still Tilting At Windmills (2019) and Becoming Naked (2022). Peter runs Black Eyes Publishing UK with Josephine Lay as editor. He was Events Coordinator for the Gloucestershire Poetry Society (Jan 2020 to Dec 2022).

  • Lenzo (Lekan): Lenzo, also known as Vexosiris, is a Gloucester-based multidisciplinary artist from San Diego creating dark, surreal worlds through poetry, storytelling, visual design, and music. Influenced by esoteric philosophy and Neo-Jungian thought, his work explores shadow integration, divinity, and rebirth. He authored Shadows of Source: The Waking Dream and creates sigilkore-inspired music under Vexosiris.

  • Living Matter is a 40-minute spatial sound installation pulsing with imaginal resonance and rooted in the ancient landscape, weaving poetry, music, song, field recordings, into a multisensory experience that invites emotional attunement with the more-than-human. A collaboration between composer Mara Simpson, sound engineer Tobin Jones, poet JLM Morton and artist Narna Hue.

  • Andrew Hykel Mears is a poet, editor/publisher and musician based in Bristol. His work has appeared in PN Review, Poetry Birmingham, Propel, Gilded Dirt, and Berlin Lit, among others. His latest pamphlet is Rivering (Scarlett Tiger Press, 2026). He’s the founder/managing editor of Ambient Receiver, and editorial director of Bread and Roses Press. His doctoral research - Ambient Eco-Poetics: Ecological Attunement in the Posthuman Moment informs much of his writing. As a musician, he's composed for contemporary dance; performed live, improvised film soundtracks; and provided backing for Saul Williams, and Can’s Damo Suzuki. He was a founding member of the bands Youthmovies and Foals.

  • JLM Morton’s poetry has appeared on BBC6 Music, in Poetry Review, Poetry London, Rialto, Magma, Mslexia and elsewhere. She’s won the Geoffrey Dearmer and  Laurie Lee prizes and was highly commended by the Forward Prizes. Her debut collection is Red Handed (2024). Her second, Borrowed Ground, is forthcoming August 2026.

  • Lost Mythos is a music, poetry, comedy, history, mythical parish council meeting like no other! The haunting soundscapes of Mara Simpson and the words of acclaimed poet JLM Morton take us back to a forgotten Albion. Meanwhile, comic Emma Kernahan guides us through the agenda, blending unruly local folklore and stories from modern rural life. Ideal for fans of history, magic, and neighbourhood Facebook groups.

  • Joshua O’Cathasaigh: Growing up surrounded by art, Joseph has always been fascinated by how and why we are moved by it. HIs writing draws from what inspires him. He writes from the soul about his community, our interconnected relationships, and what he feels is a natural extension of himself.

  • Pey Oh (she/her) is a Bath-based poet from Malaysia. Her debut pamphlet, Pictograph, was published by Flarestack Poetry in 2018. Her recent work can be found in harana poetry, Butcher’s Dog, Long Poem Magazine, Iamb, Berlinlit and Propel Magazine. A Legitimate Snack, Bagua was out with Broken Sleep Books in 2021. She is a Sky Arts Royal Society of Literature Poetry winner 2021.

  • Alex Perry is a writer with a background in science (a PHD in Chemistry). His works include a short comedic play about the first baby born on Mars, a short film about an artificial intelligence avatar in the medical insurance industry who goes rogue, an illustrated STEM book about a child who learns to express her emotions from a chameleon, a poem about a doomed diabetic lab rat, and a fable about an electric forest. In his contribution to "Rise of the Badger and the Great Shrubbery", Alex' post-apocalyptic tale "A Dog Eat Dog World?", imagines what life would be like for man's best friend in a post-human world.

  • Alycia Pirmohamed is the author of the debut poetry collection, Another Way to Split Water, which was published by Polygon (UK) and YesYes Books (US) in 2022. Her debut nonfiction book, Shorelines: Memory, migration, and the selves we become, won the Nan Shepherd Prize and is forthcoming with Canongate in 2026. Then the Lake Shifts, Alycia’s second collection of poetry, is forthcoming in 2027. She is the recipient of several awards, including a Pushcart Prize, the CBC Poetry Prize and the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award, and in 2026, she was awarded the Dr Gavin Wallace Fellowship. Alycia is the co-founder of the Scottish BPOC Writers Network and she currently teaches on the Creative Writing master’s programme at the University of Cambridge.

  • Kate Potts is a poet, mentor, editor and founder of online poetry community Poetical Workshop. Feral (Bloodaxe 2018) was a PBS recommendation and a Telegraph Poetry Book of the Month. Her latest book Pretenders (Bloodaxe 2025) is a multi-voice exploration of imposter feelings. She has taught creative writing for Oxford University, Royal Holloway, Arvon, The Poetry School and elsewhere.

  • Eleanor Rees writes with places and edgelands in Merseyside, North Wales and beyond. Eleanor also has family connections to Oxfordshire. She is currently working on a sixth collection River Town written with Birkenhead and the Wirral Pennisula. She has worked widely as a local poet. Portents and Portals: New & Selected Poems spans three decades, five collections and several pamphlets. It follows Tam Lin of the Winter Park (Guillemot, 2022), The Well at Winter Solstice (Salt, 2019), Blood Child (Pavilion, 2015), Eliza and the Bear (Salt, 2009), and Andraste’s Hair (Salt, 2007), shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. Eleanor is the recipient of an Eric Gregory Award, a Northern Writers’ Award, and is senior lecturer in creative writing at Liverpool Hope University.

  • Rise of the Badger is an art and poetry anthology exploring post apocalyptical futures. Published by Black Eyes Publishing UK (2025). The human race has failed to protect itself and has finally become extinct. What happens next on this small blue planet that floats in a minor solar system within the vastness of space? What Pheonix will arise from the ashes of the human race?

  • Elvire Roberts is a poet from the LGBTO+ community, based in Nottingham, UK. She works as an interpreter between British Sign Language and English, with a background in other languages. Elvire writes from a physiological reimagining of emotion, often through the animal, vegetable and mineral. Her poems have appeared in publications including 14 Magazine, Dark Mountain, Finished Creatures, Magma, Reliquiae, The Rialto, Tentacular and the Candlestick Press anthology Ten Poems About Getting Older.

    Elvire collaborated with Rachel Goodman on Knee to Knee, shortlisted for the East Anglia Book Awards.

  • Philip Rush was born in Middlesex. Big Purple Garden Paintings was short-listed for the Aldeburgh First Collection Prize. He has collaborated with the photographer Andrew Fusek Peters; his most recent book of poems is Camera Obscura from The Garlic Press, and his most recent pamphlet is Dusk Code.

  • Anna Saunders is the author of Communion, (Wild Conversations Press), Struck, (Pindrop Press) Kissing the She Bear, (Wild Conversations Press), Burne Jones and the Fox (Indigo Dreams), Ghosting for Beginners, Feverfew, The Prohibition of Touch, (all Indigo Dreams). Her latest book is Eurydice in the Ruined House, ( Indigo Dreams). Anna is the Founding Director of Cheltenham Poetry Festival.

  • SollE (Nathan Solle): is a vocalist, producer and spoken word artist from Stroud, UK. As creative director of statesunder¡nspection, his work explores identity, memory and mental health through immersive live performance. He has performed at Womad, Bristol Beacon and Arnolfini, and was selected for the Roundhouse × Raise the Bar Poetry Slam from over 300 applicants.

  • Martha Sprackland is an editor, writer and translator. Citadel (Pavilion, 2020) was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and the Costa Poetry Award; a new collection is forthcoming in 2027. Dark Night, her translation of sixteenth-century Spanish mystic St John of the Cross, is published by Penguin Classics.

  • Ellora Sutton is a poet based in Hampshire. She is the poetry reviewer for Mslexia, and a pamphlet selector for the Poetry Book Society. She has been published by The Poetry Review, Magma, Poetry London, etc. Her debut collection, Little Bitch (Verve, 2026), was described by Rachel Long as, “Sharp, tender, hilarious [...] a marvel!”   

  • TSantana (Travon Powell): Spoken word artist and rapper born in Gloucester, his work spans poetry and music across different genres. He explores topics such as social inequality and injustice, bringing them together through thought provoking and deeply personal stories.

  • Lydia Unsworth is a poet based in Greater Manchester, UK. Her work has appeared in many journals and anthologies including Oxford Poetry and Shearsman Magazine. She is an NWCDTP-funded phd candidate at the Centre for Place Writing, MMU, looking at kinship with disappearing post-industrial architecture. Her latest collections are Stay Awhile (KFS Press) and This Now Extends to My Daughter (Blue Diode).

  • Merce White: Mercedes White is a Gloucester-based writer with background in poetry, theatre, music and sound design. She often writes about matters of the heart, subtle observation, and uses writing as a tool to express the textures of her inner world.

  • Alice Willitts is a poet and plantswoman from the Fens with a stubborn optimism about the future. She believes in putting hope into action: co-launching Bending The Arc, co-creating DIRT plantable poetry and writing. Kiss My Earth (Blue Diode) out now. www.alicewillittspoet.uk

    Alice collaborates widely, including with JLM Morton and with Ilse Pedler and Hilary Watson.

The Dobunni Poetry Festival is a space for contemporary writers to explore what it means to belong