I hold an MA in Writing Poetry from Newcastle University and the Poetry School London. My third book, a pamphlet of poems about Noah's Ark was published by Green Bottle Press in 2019.
I am currently working on two sequences of poems. The first sequence is poems inspired by the life and works of Paul Nash, the painter. This was for my MA portfolio for which I received a distinction. The aim is to expand the work and to find a publisher. The other sequence of poems is based on the work of Kathe Kollwitz. The British Museum had an exhibtion of her work last autumn as I was finishing my MA studies. Like many poets I have to balance the need to earn a living with finding time to write poems. My plans for 2020 include some self-organised writing retreats. My third book, Elements of Water was published by Green Bottle Press So I've been doing readings from the book. I helped to organise the Poets for the Planet Verse Aid Poem-A-Thon in February 2020. Collectively the event raised over seven and a half thousand pounds or our chosen charities; Earth Watch and Bees for Development.
Cinnamon Press published my first two poetry collections, Convoy (Cinnamon Press 2013) and Voices from Stone and Bronze (Cinnamon Press 2016). I undertook a considerable amount of work for both books. Convoy is based on the experiences of merchant seamen, including my grandfather, on the convoys to Malta in the Second World War. Voices from Stone and Bronze was inspired by war memorials in the UK and France and visits to the Western Front, with Jeremy Banning and Vanessa Gebbie.
I have written poems for a number of organisations, including the Church of Christ the Cornerstone in Milton Keynes, providing poems for civic events and King’s College London for ‘Cultural Exchange in a Time of Global Conflict: Colonials, Neutrals and Belligerents during the First World War’ (CEGC).
“Just to say a huge thank you for yesterday: such powerful poems, and what a pity we didn't have the poster on display. But I think the poem spoke for itself, and in fact reminded me of the description of the medical examination that Lawrence writes about so evocatively (typically nightmarish for Lawrence, very different from the benign doctor in your poem). What a fascinating entry-point into the subject, and I loved Eeden's imagined reply. Thank you so much for engaging so deeply with the exhibition …."
-Santanu Das, Project Leader and Principal Investigator
I regularly lead writing workshops, including for Cinnamon Press and my local community library. I am available for manuscript feedback, workshops and mentoring.
How I got there
I was born in Norfolk to Welsh parents and had a peripatetic childhood as my father worked for the Ordnance Survey as a surveyor. We spent a lot of time in North Wales during school holidays. I started writing stories and poems at school, thanks to an inspiring teacher, Rosemary Harper, who instead of giving me gold stars would annotate the best ones with TR – meaning the head teacher would arrange for them to be tape-recorded for posterity.
I studied history at London University and returned to the university a decade or so later to complete an MA in Higher and Professional Education. After pursuing a career in higher education administration I escaped into self-employment to allow more time for writing.