Phil Askham is retired academic writer of text books, research papers and professional magazine articles. Upon retirement he joined a local writers group attempting short stories at first before settling on writing poetry as therapy.
Joseph Chaplain is a writer who lives in the Peak District. He initially began writing poetry as part of a creative writing challenge. Since then, he has improved his craft thanks in part to the mentorship of the other poets featured in this anthology. His style is at times absurd, surreal, intense and outlandish, drawing on an amorphous variety of subject matter for inspiration including the human condition, natural landscapes, and underground music. His poetry has appeared in Coverstory Books’ New Contexts anthologies, The Rebis and The Crank, and his short fiction has been featured in Crystal Peake’s Dark Folklore anthology.
Isabel Footring started to write seriously in her early 60s. She found the confidence to develop her poetry style thanks to the encouragement she received from the Stanza poetry group. Her first poetry book One for the Crow was published in 2020. Since then, her poems have appeared in First Flight, an anthology in 2023 published by the Nottingham-based Paper Cranes poetry collective. Her short story ‘The Fish’ appeared in New Contexts: 6 published by Coverstory Books in 2024. Isabel has performed her own poetry at open mic venues in Derby and Nottingham. She co-hosts DEDA Poets, an open mic evening in her hometown, Derby, where she also promotes the work of fellow Midlands poets at the Derby Book Festival. Her writing is inspired by the natural world, and the way legends and myths still resonate today.
Simon French has had two poetry collections published – Joyriding Down Utopia Avenue (Coverstory Books 2021) and The Deadwing Generation (Coverstory Books 2022). His poetry has appeared in many magazines and been placed in competitions. He lives in Derby, England and works full-time helping people secure social housing.
Jim Friedman lives in Beeston, Nottinghamshire and took up writing again when he retired. He has had poems published in magazines, anthologies and placed in competitions. In 2022 Coverstory Books published a first collection of his poems Standing Alone, Leaning Against, alongside those of Dave Smith. In 2024, his second collection A Picture’s Worth was published (Coverstory Books).
Ian Gouge has been writing for many years with over thirty books to his name, mainly novels, short stories, and collections of poetry. In June 2023 he performed his poetic monologue Crash at the Ripon Theatre Festival, and at ‘WordFest’ in Market Rasen in 2024. A sometime Indie Publisher, he also mentors at public writers’ retreats.
Emmaline O’Dowd lives in Derby, and is a long-time member of Derby City Poets, which she currently chairs, and more recently, of Derby Stanza. Her work has appeared in a range of magazines, such as Orbis, Acumen, Popshot and New Contexts
Dave Smith began writing poetry seriously when he retired as an English teacher. His work has appeared in a variety of publications and he has been successful in several competitions. In 2022, his debut collection Standing Alone, Leaning Against — co-authored with Jim Friedman — was published by Coverstory Books.
Roy Woolley’s recent work has appeared in The Crank, Gallus (Poetry Scotland), Pulsebeat Poetry Journal, Consilience and the Hammond House competition anthologies Stardust and Changes.
Coverstory Books - Ian Gouge, Publisher 