Paul Groves is a poet, critic and Creative Writing Lecturer, a staple of British literary periodicals over a five-decade career. He has won many accolades, including an Eric Gregory Award (1976) and The Times Literary Supplement prize twice (1986, 2007), and has…

A celebrated poet and a writer whose voice and poetics are immediately recognizable, Karen McCarthy Woolf was born in London to an English mother and a Jamaican father, Her poetry has hugely contributed to the UK poetry landscape such as…

Lachlan Mackinnon is a poet, scholar and critic. He won an Eric Gregory Award in 1986, followed by collections Monterey Cyprus ( Chatto & Windus, 1988),  The Coast of Bohemia (Chatto & Windus, 1991), The Jupiter Collisions (Faber & Faber,…

It is no surprise that Muneera Pilgrim won the 2018 Ann Kaloski Naylor award for Adventurous Writing – for ‘adventurous’ is exactly the word that springs to mind when hearing her poetry. Founding member of Nana collective and Artist Associate…

Phil Bowen is a poet, performer, biographer and playwright who has worked in over 600 schools in England and Wales as a poet-in-education since 1994. Born in Liverpool, he has published four full collections, including The Professor’s Boots (Westwords), Variety’s Hammer…

Stephen Lightbown was born in Blackburn, Lancashire.  In 1996, aged 16, he experienced a life-changing accident and is now paralysed from below the waist.  Lightbown writes extensively but not exclusively about his life as a wheelchair user. He teaches yoga…

Born in Hampshire, Warton was appointed Poet Laureate in 1785, Warton was also a literary historian and critic and is listed as having produced the first History of English Poetry. He was a highly regarded scholar. Warton died before he…

Appointed Poet Laureate in 1896, Austin was born in Headingley and was educated at Stonyhurst College, St Mary’s College and at the University of London. His upbringing was Roman Catholic but moved towards agnosticism over time.  He trained as a…

Edwin Muir was one of the chief Scottish poets of his day writing in English, as well as being known as a literary critic and translator. Born the son of a crofter, Muir was educated in Kirkwall. Following his marriage…

Poet and publisher Bob Cobbing was born in Enfield, England. He became known internationally for pioneering visual, concrete, and sound poetry and for his dynamic and often startling poetry performances; he was known too for his role as publisher, under…

Ann Carson was born in Canada and studied at the University of Toronto.  An academic and scholar, she has taught at several institutions, including McGill and the University of Michigan. She is an expert in ancient Greece, classical and Hellenic…

Nigerian by birth, Soyinka studied in both Nigeria and the UK. His political views have led to periods in exile and a stay in prison with the prospect of a death sentence.  A playwright, novelist, essayist and editor as well…

A graphic artist, painter and wood engraver as well as a poet, Jones’ work is recorded as being influenced by his Christian faith and Welsh roots although he was born in Brockley, South-East London. Jones became a Catholic in 1921….

Joy Harjo is an American poet, musician, playwright, and author. She was the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, the first Native American to hold that honour. She served three terms as the United States’ Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry and…

Dominic Moraes (1938–2004) was an Indian writer and poet who published almost thirty books. He is seen as a foundational figure in Indian English literature. Moraes’ first collection of poems, A Beginning, was published in 1957. When he was 19, still…

Davies was born in Born in Rhymney, near Merthyr Tydfill. The son of a colliery worker, Davies also worked as a miner from an early age.  An accident which resulted in him losing a finger and his participation in the…

Farjeon was born in London in 1881 into a family inured in art and literature. Her father, Benjamin Leopold was a novelist and her mother, Margaret Jane was the daughter of the American Actor, Joseph Jefferson.  Farjeon is recorded as…

Kayo Chingonyi was born in Zambia and moved to the UK at the age of six. A poet, producer, DJ, and critic, his talent was nurtured on The Complete Works mentoring scheme initiated by Bernardine Evaristo to foster equality and…