You have written a wonderful collection of verse called The Poultry
Lover’s Guide to Poetry. Can you tell us about your journey of writing the
poems and what inspired you at the time?
The pamphlet is inspired by my five silkie hens, but is also about childhood memories of my family keeping chickens. The first poem about never chasing your chickens caused me to think about how chicken poems could enable me to explore different themes in a new way. Some things I did not think of at first, for example, the gender issue and the role of my father.
You have also been working on poetry about dyslexia, being a tutor
yourself. Can you give us an example, or a snippet of a poem? What is it
about dyslexia that fascinates you?
So the first two lines of the dyslexia sequence could be this, but it may change:
in the beginning was a din of words
the lexical vomit of paint on salt dough
I think this sequence is a lot more emotional than the first one- I felt I have to write it. We all know what dyslexia is and lots of good things are being done to support dyslexic learners, but there are still many painful experiences and it can become overlooked. I also wanted to look at the creative potential of dyslexia and other ways of using language.
Being a Sylvia Plath fan, which poem would you choose and why?
Tulips. The way Plath responds to the kindly meant flowers in a negative, but creative way says so much to me about mental health.
Have you always written poetry from a young age?
Yes I have always scribbled poetry, though there were big gaps where other things, such as children, took over. At a recent school reunion a friend still had a school magazine with some of my poems in. I wrote my first hen poem when I was eight and can remember the first line: ‘a fluff or a puff is my silkie called Fairy’.
What is your creative space like? Do you have a study or write
on-the-go, or both?
We live in a small house, so my space is in bed with a netbook and a bag of popcorn or on the living room table. Being around my family keeps me grounded. I am a lark; my best writing time is between 5 and 8 in the morning.
What else do you care about? What themes keep cropping up in your
work?
I care about too many things, for example, I have written a few poems about what is happening in the NHS and other news items. I write about friends in hopes of healing pain or celebrating good things. People, and how they connect with places, are very important in my poems. Friends have to be beware that they might end up in a poem! I am also interested in environmental issues and the interface of town and country.
As a poet, you are perhaps very observant! What is the funniest
conversation you have overheard?!
I love conversations on trains, especially mobile phone ones, where you imagine the receiver. A few months ago, during one of those gales, I heard a drunk man on Wigan Station, telling his girlfriend that he wasn’t coming back and half an hour later he was saying he was catching the next train home. Odd how people spill out their emotions in public and how narratives, in this case, predictably, develop.
Which other poets inspire you?
I am inspired by many contemporary poets: Judy Brown, Hannah Lowe, Helen Mort, Jane Weir, Mark Doty, Ian Duhig. Yeats is always special. There are so many good poets; some are there to challenge me and others just open my eyes to something or embody how I feel.
Tell us about one of the best days of your life.
Well one of the most exciting poetry things was when I won the Wigan Greenheart competition in 2012. I went to the ceremony and I did not know I had won. The prize was £1,000 which was mine to spend on poetry.
What plans have you got for the future?
.At the moment I am spreading my wings to do a small performance based on the chicken poems. I am also trying help develop local poetry groups. I help with the poetry strand of The Words & Music Festival held in Nantwich every year. I don’t tend to think of long term goals. As you get older you realise things just happen.
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