This Was Your Mother

How would you describe ‘All the Losses’ in one sentence? Sam, this is such a difficult question, ugh. I come from a background where people monopolise conversations and get philosophical about anything and everything, so I can only say that one-sentence answers are not in my DNA. I think Red, the EIC of Alien Buddha Press, put it well when he called my collection a wound and a palette. I suppose a child in me is still trying to make sense of the past and her place in this wor

A chat with Louise Longson about her poetry collection, The How in the World (Hedgehog Press, 2025) How would you describe The How in the World in one sentence? It will be a rambling one, with much punctuation and subordinate clauses. Here goes: The poems explore the relationship between humans and nature, how we are involved in the natural world, not separate from it; how everything we have done and are doing impacts on our world; how floods, deforestation, wars, pollution

A chat with Janice Warman about her poetry book These are the things we have los t (Fly on the Wall Press, 2026) How would you describe These are the things we have lost in one sentence? An unflinchingly honest journey from a South African childhood to the landscapes of motherhood and love, a celebration of life’s joys, an exploration of courage, grief and abuse, and an elegy for what inevitably slips through our grasp. How did you come up with the title? It’s the title of th

A chat with Lawrence Moore about his poetry collection, This Joyful Interlude (Jane’s Studio Press, 2025) How would you describe This Joyful Interlude in one sentence? Aha, I have a ready-made answer for this one! Here’s the one sentence description I gave to my publisher Jane Cornwell, when I pitched the book to her. ‘Pasted against the nebulous backdrops of doubt and passing time, This Joyful Interlude assembles a delicate collage of hopes and romantic longings.’ How did y

A chat with Bex Hainsworth about her poetry book Circulaire  (Written Off Publishing, 2025) How would you describe Circulaire  in one sentence? Circulaire is my confessional era, a collection of poems exploring inheritance, femininity, corporeality, and relationships. How did you come up with the title? There is a poem in the pamphlet called ‘Circulaire’, the French word for circular. The poem describes two holidays in La Rochelle, ten years apart, which form bookends to the

A chat with Amy Lilwall about her book, The Water That May Come (Fly on the Wall Press, 2025) How would you describe The Water That May...

A chat with Beth Brooke about her book A Long Way Down (Dempsey & Windle, 2025) How would you describe A Long Way Down in one sentence? ...

A chat with Tessa Foley about her poetry collection Try To Find Me (Live Canon, 2024) How would you describe Try To Find Me in one...

A chat with Karen Pierce Gonzalez about her new book Moon Kissed, Earth Wrought, Vision Drunk (Bottlecap Press, 2025) How would you...

Allison and Janet at Memphis Pizza Cafe in 2009 A chat with Janet Dale and Allison Renner about their hybrid chapbook, Green Light: the...

A chat with Carmella de Keyser about her poetry pamphlet, The Liminal Light of the Night (Hedgehog Press, 2025) How would you describe...

A chat with Fiona Halliday about her poetry book, Thoughts on Life (Hedgehog Press, 2025)   How would you describe Thoughts on Life in...

A chat with James McConachie about his poetry collection, Consolamentum (Black Bough Poetry, 2024) How would you describe Consolamentum...

A chat with Quinn Clark about their book, 365 Days of Healing  (Summersdale, 2024)   How would you describe 365 Days of Healing in one...

A chat with Benedicta Norell about her poetry pamphlet, Terrible Mother  (Black Cat Poetry Press, 2024) How would you describe Terrible...

A chat with Sanjeev Sethi about his poetry collection, Legato Without a Lisp (Classix, 2024) How would you describe Legato Without a...

A chat with Sadie Maskery about her poetry collection, Overheard Lovesongs (Alien Buddha, 2024)   How would you describe  Overheard...

A chat with Elizabeth Barton about her poetry collection, Auroral  (Alien Buddha, 2024)   How would you describe Auroral  in one...

A chat with Bonnie Meekums about her novel, A Kind of Family (Between the Lines Publishing, 2024) How would you describe A Kind of Family...

A chat with Margaret Royall about her poetry pamphlet, Owl Fetish (Dreich Press, 2024) How would you describe Owl Fetish in one sentence?...