I still have hand written books of poetry dating back to my primary school days; I was very lucky that my parents always encouraged me in this, enduring and applauding each performance of 'new work'. I won my first prize for poetry, aged 17, when I entered 'She' Magazine's poetry competition with a tongue in cheek poem called 'Ode to Bad Poetry'. At University, I added parody songs with a hint of satire to my repertoire and was lucky enough to perform some of these at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in various student revue shows. In subsequent years I discovered the joys of slam poetry and won a number of prizes as a slam poet, including the title of Manchester Poetry Festival Slam Champion in 2000. Since then I have delivered my work to audiences in nurseries, schools, libraries, pubs, theatres, literature festivals, and I have even performed inside a giant inflatable peach! My poems have been published in numerous books and magazines in the UK and the US as well as online. I have included some examples on this website along with links to other websites that feature my work.
..a wonderful book by a great poet! " Some of the poems from the book also feature on my CD 'Everybody Everywhere Stomp Your Feet'. There are some new poems on there too, as well as some backing tracks and rhythms that teachers and children can use when they write and perform their own poetry. |
