Showcasing creative writing inspired by lockdown and the Covid19 pandemic
Michelle Stevens
I started Inspiration In Isolation to help share the fantastic creativity that has arisen via the impact of the Coronavirus lockdowns and the Covid pandemic.
My full-time job is in the cinema industry but I have always loved writing including poetry, blogging and children's picture books. Writing is undoubtedly my wind down, therapy and escapism.
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Check out Michelle's writing here
Clair Whitefield
Hello. My name's Clair and I co-run Inspiration In Isolation. I am a poet, storyteller and playwright. I have been writing for years and years and have performed at places like the Settle Storytelling Festival and Ledbury Poetry Festival. I am currently writing a radio play, Feather Fell. When I am not performing or writing, I work as a copywriter.
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Cara Roberts
I am a keen poetry writer and in 2019 set up my own Instagram account. I like to think poetry can be written anywhere so I'm often found scribbling away on the tube to work. My writing style is playful and I have a real love for anything that rhymes.
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Jo Dearden
Jo Dearden is a working class Mum from Lancashire. Always thinking, often writing, seldom read.
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Brian Bilston
Frequently described as the "Poet Laureate of Twitter", Brian Bilston is a poet clouded in the pipe smoke of mystery. Very little is known about him other than the fragments of information revealed on social media. His published books include Diary of a Somebody and You Took The Last Bus Home.
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Lucy Short
After leaving primary school teaching, Lucy now works for local children’s charity 'SELFA' that supports disabled, disadvantaged and vulnerable children in Craven, North Yorkshire. Having spent so much time in children’s company, she thought it was important to share the perspective of the young people around us.
Find out more about SELFA here
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Check out Lucy's writing here
Matt Goodfellow
Matt's from Manchester. He's a National Poetry Day Ambassador for the Forward Arts Foundation. His most recent collection is ‘Bright Bursts of Colour’ (Bloomsbury 2020). Other books include his acclaimed debut collection, ‘Carry Me Away’,‘Be the Change’, ‘The Same Inside’ and ‘Chicken on the Roof’ He spent over ten years working as a primary school teacher but now fills his week with writing, schools visits, libraries & festivals to deliver high-energy, fun-filled poetry performances and workshops.
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Check out Matt's writing here
Becky Gregory
Becky Gregory is a keen writer of fiction, short stories and poetry. After completing a PhD in Biological Chemistry, she went into science publishing and now works as a freelance editor for science journals. Writing daily poems during lockdown has helped her to remain sane during this emotional time.
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Check out Becky's writing here
Joshua Seigal
Joshua Seigal is a professional poet and performer from London. He has books published by Bloomsbury and other major publishers, and in 2020 won the prestigious Laugh Out Loud Book Award.
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Aoife Mannix
Aoife Mannix has published four collections of poetry and a novel. She has previously been poet in residence for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Portsmouth Museum and BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live amongst others. She has a PhD in creative writing from Goldsmiths, University of London.
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Check out Aoife's writing here
Phoebe Skinner
Phoebe Skinner, aged 9. I live in a small village in Northamptonshire. I enjoy horse riding, running, baking, art and playing with my younger brother, two dogs and cat. I wrote this poem, during our 3rd week of Corona Virus shutdown.
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Check out Phoebe's writing here
Neal Zetter
Neal is an award-winning comedy performance poet, children's author (of eight books), and entertainer with a 25-year background in communication management and mentoring. He uses his interactive rhythmic, rhyming poetry to to develop literacy, confidence, creativity and communications skills in 3-103 yr olds, making words and language accessible for the least engaged whilst streeeeeeetching the most able.
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Dianne Colk
I am an Australian artist specialising in drawing, painting and printmaking. I have written poetry occasionally over the years.
I live in inner city Melbourne but also spend time in the Northern Territory as my son lives in Darwin. Unfortunately, since the Covid-19 Lockdown, who knows when we can next travel to the “Top End”?
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Check out Dianne's writing here
Holly Atkinson
I write late at night when inspiration hits, plus it's the only time I have to focus on it. I am a stay at home Mum to our 2 year old son, farmer's wife, qualified veterinary surgeon and motorcyclist. I write poems about our everyday life and special occasions too.
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Check out Holly's writing here
Kurt Deed
Kurt Deed is an actor, a comedian and writer. He refers to himself in third person as it helps him draft his yet-to-be-published Wikipedia entry
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Chris White
Chris White is a writer. Illustrator and performance poet. He has had many books published since his first, ‘Bitey the Veggie Vampire’, in 2000.
His poetry performances and writing workshops have taken him all over the world, visiting schools and book festivals in places such as China, Russia, Vietnam and The Congo
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Check out Chris's writing here
Laura Church
Laura grew up in Malawi and has lived and worked on four continents. A communications consultant and speech writer whose words have been spoken at the United Nations and published in the New York Times, Laura has only recently begun to publish non-fiction in her own name. She is currently polishing her first novel.
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Check out Laura's writing here
Anna-Grace Du Noyer
As well as a poet, Anna-Grace is a communications specialist for a leading UK retailer. She takes inspiration from human nature, the weather and wild landscapes. Her distinct style of poetry-journaling began during the period of her mother’s terminal battle with brain cancer, establishing her signature storytelling collections.
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Graham Hopwood
Graham although originally born in Halifax now lives in Namibia and has lived there almost 30 years. He currently works as a researcher based in the capital, Windhoek. His poetry is published via his poetry via Instagram under the name Unquiet Dreamer.
Check out Graham's writing here
Emma Fielder
Emma blogs at www.meufanglais.wordpress.com
and is a contributing writer at Her Edit magazine. Prior to that, she worked in charity communications for 11 years. She has also worked as a regional newspaper journalist, and in children’s book publishing. During the lockdown, she is fast developing a passion for Scrabble.
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Check out Emma's writing here
Aparna Muralidharan
I am an accountant that writes poetry. I live in New York City and use words to calm myself, and hopefully others around me.
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Lily Eastwood
Lily Eastwood is a 12 year old high school student that lives in England. She likes reading and writing, especially writing stories and poems.
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Mark Bird
My name is Mark C Bird. I’m the creator of Dreambeastpoems.com: a website full of inspirational poems, stories and illustrations for children. My poems have been published in the Over The Moon Series by Gill Education. I am a part-time primary school teacher.
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Check out Mark's writing here
Peter Cole
I am a copywriter, designer and publisher of funny, pun-filled greeting cards and a published Poet too.
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Rod Glenn
Rod Glenn is a writer, screen and stage actor and owner of independent press, Wild Wolf Publishing. Novels include the best-selling Sinema series and acting roles include Monster (2018), The More You Ignore Me (2018), American Assassin (2017) and the long-running play, The Life of Reilly.
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Check out Rod's writing here
Heleana Blackwell
Heleana Blackwell is a strategist at a leading creative agency in London and enjoys stand up comedy in her spare time. She has performed at venues such as Angel Comedy at the Camden Head, King Gong at the Comedy Store, 44 stories at 4Northdown and Comedy Bloomers at the Seven Dials Club. She also writes nonfiction on the future of work and has published reports for The Guardian.
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Check out Heleana's writing here
Mariam
My name is Mariam. Or actually, it’s not. Mariam is my hypothetical therapist. She listens to everything I say and takes notes. The most important things I say, she turns into poetry and publishes them on Instagram. I hope you enjoy her writings about my mind.
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Check out Mariam's writing here
Sarah Morrell
Sarah is an award winning picture book author from Yorkshire whose latest titles include ’The King and the Cockerel’ and ‘Molly’s Magic Brolly’. When she is not reading, writing or sharing her stories across schools, Sarah can be found refereeing her own mini-brood, ideally surrounded with tea and cake.
Check out Sarah's writing here
Cheryl Lee-White
My name is Cheryl Lee-White from Somerset I am a mother to 3 little ladies, a blogger and a children's author.
My link is www.thesimplemum.com
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Check out Cheryl's writing here
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Krishan Singh Chhatwal
Krishan is 6 years old and attends Garden House School in London. Krishan loves reading, building Lego, playing the guitar, watching films and running.
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Rhian Waller
Rhian Waller's short fiction and poetry has featured in several publications, most recently Akashic books. Her first novel, Eithe's Way, won the Write Factor Shortlist prize in 2014. Ship Rats, her first children's book, won first prize in its 2017 Wishing Shelf Awards category.
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Check out Rhian's writing here
Kenn Nesbitt
Former US Children's Poet Laureate (2013-15) Kenn Nesbitt is the author
of many books for kids, including "Kiss, Kiss Good Night," "My Hippo Has
the Hiccups," "Revenge of the Lunch Ladies," and many others. His
website, poetry4kids.com, is the most visited children's poetry website
on the Internet.
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Check out Kenn's writing here
Chris Plowman
Chris is the co-founder of Floatworks (www.floatworks.com). He’s a trained
Breathwork practitioner. When he’s not breathing deeply he’s usually in
downward dog. Chris is mainly found at the float centres perfecting the
Floatworks experience and laying a strategy for Floatworks future.
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Check out Chris's writing here
Rosil Barrantes
I have always considered writing as a form of release. For me it can either be an escape from reality or a way to face reality. I am a Filipino freelance writer who recently discovered that sharing poetry online is like getting a little shot of endorphin
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Morna Sullivan
Morna Sullivan has always had a love of stories. She is a member of the Coney Island Writers Group, Co. Down and the SCBWI Belfast group. She’s won a few writing competitions, has had short stories and poems published but is still chasing that elusive publishing deal.
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Check out Morna's writing here
Alison Hunt
An aspiring author of Middle Grade fiction, Alison has had one short story and two poems published. One of the poems, a haiku, was recently re-published in ‘I Am The Seed That Grew The Tree.’ She works on a supermarket checkout and is proud to be a keyworker.
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Check out Alison's writing here
Claire Davies
Claire is a freelance editor and sometimes writer, living in London.
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Mark Hanna
Future '72 is the assorted work of Mark Hanna; a musician, artist and poet from the UK. Mark spent many years working as a guitarist in the music industry before turning his hand to pencil drawings and of course, poetry...a natural evolution from songwriting.
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Layla Maghribi
Layla is a British-Arab freelance writer and multimedia producer. Layla was based out of the UAE for several years working as a journalist for CNN International covering the Middle East before returning to her hometown in London. Layla is now spending her lockdown in the city writing poetry and completing her first novel. www.laylamag.com
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Check out Layla's writing here
Kalila Netherling
Kalila Netherling is an aspiring author that has spent many years writing poetry and dabbling in horror stories, but only after marrying her husband in December of 2019 did she finally come to the decision to share them with the world. Her poetry is quickly gaining recognition via Instagram.
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Samantha Leach
Since graduating from Durham University (First Class Honours), Sam has shared her passion for literature at prestigious UK boarding schools and since September, has been teaching in Canada where she founded ‘The English Tutor’ with her partner Julie. During lockdown, she has been teaching children all over the world.
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Check out Samantha's writing here
Bonnie Radcliffe
Bonnie is a writer and wild swimmer. She has been writing most of her life and often gets lost in beautiful words. She would be adrift without stories. She writes a swim blog at www.swimbonnieswim.com.
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Check out Bonnie's writing here
Charlotte Simmons
I'm Charlotte Simmons, (no connection to Tom Wolfe). I've been writing as part of my working life for over 20 years but have recently started writing fiction in my spare time. I'm currently running my PR business from home during lockdown, in the middle of a house renovation, with two small children to feed, educate and entertain. The blank page is the place I go when I need to escape, and I'm going there quite a lot at the moment.
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Check out Charlotte's writing here
Jim Landwehr
Jim is a twenty-first century cartographer and Renaissance man. In between his day job that keeps the lights on and the creditors at bay, he walks his dog, takes an occasional bike ride and scribbles out books and poetry. Next to his wife and his two above average children, his seven books are his biggest pride and joys. He’s working towards a Pulitzer, but at the moment would settle for a few good Amazon Reviews and a little beer money. Visit his site here
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Check out Jim's writing here
Sarah Ziman
Sarah Ziman is originally from Wales, now living in Hertfordshire. She is a proofreader, copy-editor and poet, and writes for both children and adults. Several of her poems for children have appeared in The Caterpillar. During lockdown, she is appreciating nature even more than usual.
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Check out Sarah's writing here
Poppy Shrimpton
Hello my name is Poppy Shrimpton, I am 8 years old and I live in Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire.
I love pandas, art, gymnastics, reading and roller skating.
I hope you enjoy my poem, I wrote it in week 7 of Lockdown.
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Check out Poppy's writing here
Julie Stevens
Julie Stevens lives in Cambridge, UK. She has had Multiple Sclerosis (MS) for 30 years. Her poems reflect the impact MS has on her life, as well as other topics close to her heart. Her poems have been published in various magazines, online and in print. Her website is www.jumpingjulespoetry.com.
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Check out Julie's writing here
Catherine
My name is Catherine I recently moved to the Lancashire coast due to personal problems with my younger son . I am not a poet or writer but a retired primary school teacher and the main carer for my son. I have always loved reading poetry and occasionally I’m inspired to write my own poems. I am a member of a support group for carers and recently I was asked to write a piece of poetry about the my life since lockdown . Thus I wrote ‘Down by the estuary’.
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Check out Catherine's writing here
Peter Walsh
Peter Walsh, has two books written to date. One of 50 Finalists of 8,000 entrants, in an International Poetry Competition. He’s credited by American author, Andrew Joyce in his 7th book called ‘Mahoney’, Olivier Winner, Pat Kinevane. Kris Kristofferson, said his poem ‘The Mirror’ made him puff up with pride”.
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Tom Moraghan
Adam Lazarus
I’m a fun-loving father and fledgling poet who has been posting a poem a day on Facebook since this craziness started. My 'poems for pandemics' are cheerful rhymes for challenging times - silly, funny and clever poems to chronicle the lighter side of crazy current events.
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Check out Adam's writing here
Sean Dugher
My name is Sean and I am 7 years old. I love Lego and playing tennis and cricket. I live in Berkhamsted with my family and two cats. I hope you like my poem.
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Check out Sean's writing here
Kenzi:D Jupp
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Hi! I’m Kenzi Jupp, I’m 11 and I’m autistic. Trying to raise awareness for autism through the poetry I write using my own personal experiences and insights to promote understanding and acceptance for all.
After all like my first ever poem says I’m just me!
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Check out Kenzi's writing here
Peter Frederick
I am a full-time Bid Writer and part-time, unpublished, children's writer, who loves writing humour and bringing a smile, even in the toughest times.
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Lydia Ragoonanan
Lydia is a New Zealander living in the U.K. While she writes for her work now and then, it’s in the lock down environment that she has started to express thoughts and feelings through poetry.
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Check out Lydia's writing here
Wez Merchant
Wez Merchant, 40, is the owner of Strike Media and creator of the MyFilmClub social community film app. Created a weekly film industry newsletter during pandemic to help create order from chaos and is a mental health advocate having tackled a vestibular balance disorder
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Check out Wez's writing here
Kelli Russell Agodon
Kelli Russell Agodon is cofounder of Two Sylvias Press. She is the author of six books and the recipient of Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year Prize in Poetry. Her next collection of poems, Dialogues with Rising Tides, will be published by Copper Canyon Press in 2021. www.agodon.com / www.twosylviaspress.com
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Check out Kelli's writing here
Melissa Studdard
Melissa Studdard is the author of five books (including I Ate the Cosmos for Breakfast and Like a Bird with a Thousand Wings) and the recipient of The Penn Review Poetry Prize. Her poems appear in The New York Times, POETRY, The Guardian, and more. www.melissastuddard.com
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Check out Melissa's writing here
Carmen Fong
Carmen Fong is a surgeon by day, and a writer/ artist at other times of the day. She has been published online in The Apothecary and Resistance Poetry, and is working on several YA novels. She lives in New York City with her wife and two cats
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Check out Carmen's writing here
Ceinwen Haydon
Ceinwen lives in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, and writes short stories and poetry. She has been widely published in web magazines and in print anthologies. She graduated with an MA in Creative Writing from Newcastle University in 2017. She believes everyone’s voice counts.
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Check out Ceinwen's writing here
Afra Abro
Afra is from Hyderabad, Pakistan. She loves writing poetry about the current topics that cause consequences globally. She has composed many spoken word documentaries on her Instagram page and encourages people to view her feed for more content and live poetry readings.
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Check out Afra's writing here
Henrietta Heron
Henrietta writes and paints in Devon, and is the mother of five children. She is training to be a death doula and works pastorally in a Hospice. Henrietta is currently using spare moments of lockdown induced redundancy to work on her first book.
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Check out Henrietta's writing here
Conrad Burdekin
Conrad Burdekin is a leading children's poet, living in West Yorkshire. Throughout Lockdown he has also been writing poems inspired by these three months of craziness. He says that they're not all poems for children! He lives with his wife, three daughters, and oh-so-annoying but loveable dog, Pebbles.
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Check out Conrad's writing here
Iain Gilmour
Iain is a professional musician and an amateur blogger having kept a daily blog since January 2018. In the absence of work due to the pandemic, I have challenged myself with other writing. I found this structure of sonnet online and decided to try my own version.
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David Canning
David Canning is from Colchester and has published two poetry collections: An Essex Parish (2015) and The Celestial Spheres (2020). His poetry has appeared in several anthologies, and on Channel 5’s The Great Gardening Challenge. In 2020 he was commended in the Poetry Society’s annual Stanza Competition.
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Check out David's writing here
Deborah Turner
I’m a woman of a certain age, and the former Head of Publicity for the UK office of a major US film studio, now very happily working part-time within the NHS.
Writing in one form of another has always been my escape from the stresses and strain of real life.
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Check out Deborah's writing here
Vimal Madhavan
Writing gives me the time to find the right word, time I don't get or can't find during a conversation. I like writing about life experiences,
sometimes looking at my childhood in colonial Fiji, sometimes at whatever is happening around me now.
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Monica Devine
Monica Devine is a poet, essayist, and figurative ceramic artist. Her recent book Water Mask, is a collection of stories that reflect on motherhood, place, memory, art, and perception in the natural world. View her work at monicadevine.com
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Check out Monica's writing here
Samantha Reynolds
Samantha Reynolds from Vancouver is many things: entrepreneur, mother, wife, collector of great friends, and a poet. She has been writing a poem every day since 2011 as a way to trick herself into being present to the little moments that would otherwise surely be missed. More of Samantha's work can also be found at www.bentlily.com
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Check out Samantha's writing here
Jim Start
My name is Jim, I’m 39 from South West England
I work as a hgv driver and only discovered poetry in 2018.
Since then I have been writing poetry and have had some work published locally.
I hope you enjoy my poetry
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Check out Jim's writing here
Luke Durnell
Luke has been writing poetry for seven years and has performed at many local open mic / poetry readings called Voice Box in Wrexham, North Wales. More recently he has started reading his work on YouTube in order to try and reach a wider audience.
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Check out Luke's writing here
Alice Curley
Alice M. Curley is a poet living in Boston, MA. She studied playwriting and theatre at Boston University, and now works at Harvard University for the Division of Continuing Education. She found herself driven to write about the pandemic because there was so much to be said about these unprecedented times.
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Check out Alice's writing here
Stuart McPherson
Stuart McPherson is a poet and spoken word artist from Leicester in the United Kingdom. His work centres around trauma and the family, as well other societal issues. He also runs ‘Thee Absentee’, a poetry blog with aspirations of publishing, reviewing and spotlighting poetry.
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Check out Stuart's writing here
David Livingston
David is a former Army Officer and father of two whose day job is in leadership training. He dabbles in poetry, when the spirit takes him, alongside his forays into inventing gadgets.
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Check out David's writing here
Priyanka Srivastava
Priyanka Srivastava is a writer based in Singapore, her poems are often about her life in India and Singapore.
When she is not lost in words, she loves to read specially non fiction books. She also loves to play with colours.
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Check out Priyanka's writing here
Rosella Dello Ioio
Rosella lives in London and is inspired by our wild world, calmed by the sea and powered by heavy carbs. Currently working on a fictional novel about big cat sightings in Wales.
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Check out Rosella's writing here
Hollie McNish
Hollie is a UK poet and author who loves writing. Based between Cambridge and Glasgow, she has published four collections of poetry:
Papers (2012), Cherry Pie (2015), Why I Ride (2015), Plum (2017) and one poetic memoir on politics and parenthood, Nobody Told Me (2016), for which she won the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry. Find out more at holliepoetry.com
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Check out Hollie's writing here
Shambhavi Deshpande
Shambhavi is an engineer in the making and poet by the soul. She writes poetry in various genre and themes but her favourite pieces revolve around family and roots. The only thing she likes more than writing a poem is performing one. When not sitting in a cosy cafe, with a cup of mocha and a cupcake, she can be found in random lanes petting dogs or by the beach in Goa, India.
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Check out Shambhavi's writing here
Valerie McLoughlin
Valerie is an Irish engineer. She enjoys listening to radio plays and short stories with her two children.
Living through unprecedented times, she has found writing and listening to music a great form of release and escape.
Her lockdown go-to song is Landslide by Fleetwood Mac.
She wrote her featured story during the spring 2020 lockdown"
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Check out Valerie's writing here
Lisa O'Hare
Lisa is based in North West England and has previously been published in anthologies by Buzzin’ Bards, Printed Words, and the Black Lightning Engine Room Press. She has also had two poems featured on BBC Radio Manchester Upload shows, including this one. Lisa regularly performs at spoken word evenings including Verbose, Testify and SpeakEasy.
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Check out Lisa's writing here
Aiza Qader
My name is Aiza Qader. I am 12 years old. I am in grade 7. I live in Islamabad, Pakistan.
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Gavin Jewkes
Gavin Jewkes is a Welsh writer living in south west London. Over the years, he's worked in copy writing and marketing for the likes of ASOS, John Lewis and Three U.K., but began writing poetry for pleasure as a distraction to the misery that came with lockdown last spring.
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Check out Gavin's writing here
Mahamed-Amin
I'm Mahamed-Amin. I'm 10 years old and I was born in London. I have a younger sister who is 7 years old. I am determined , respectful and helpful. I love and enjoy football and maths. I have written a few poems and in the future will write more.
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Check out Mahamed's writing here
Linda Middleton
I am a lifelong lover of writing and began sharing my passion for poetry last year. I am delighted to have had two poems published in the amazing children’s magazine, The Caterpillar. I work with children and love nothing better than inspiring them with my poetry.
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Check out Linda's writing here
