Author profile: New Contexts 4

Moira Andrew has written poetry for children, and books on the creative arts for teachers. Her most recent collections of poetry are Geese and Daughters, (IDP), Looking through Water, (Poetry Space) and Imagine a Kiss, (D&W).
Lizzie Ballagher recently won the formal category of Poetry on the Lake’s 2022 Festival competition. Find her blog at https://lizzieballagherpoetry.wordpress.com/
Alex M Barry is a Bristol-based architect with a love of poetry. First prize Coverstory books 2022 poetry competition. Numerous poems played on BBC Radio Bristol’s “Upload” with Adam Crowther.
Ama Bolton convenes a Poetry Society Stanza in Somerset, where she lives with a sculptor and two hens. Her e-chapbook Nines is due in 2023 from Snapshot Press.
Helen Boyles has had three collections published: two by IDP and the latest, Balancing the Elements, by Palewell Press. For her, writing poetry is the best way of expressing the experience of being alive and aware.
Jakob Brønnum has published 42 books in his native Danish. He appeared in Coverstory Books’ Line Breaks, The Ekphrastic Review and elsewhere. He lives in Sweden.
James Callan lives in New Zealand, with his wife, Rachel, and his son, Finn, a veritable angel and absolute delight, the subject of his poem found within this collection.
Patricia Cannon has been a Registered Nurse at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center since 2001. Her passion is her faith, photography, and the written word in all its forms.
Ray Clark is author of the highly acclaimed “Northern Crimes” series: gritty, crime fiction novels featuring detectives Gardener and Reilly, set in the West Yorkshire city of Leeds.
Allison Collins is a journalist and editor, with fiction and poetry published online and in print. Allison lives in upstate New York with her family.
Annemarie Cooper lives in Tower Hamlets and has had poems in various magazines. She has two published pamphlets: Seeds (Flarestack) and The Flight of Birds (Soaring Penguin). She loves walking and gardening.
Lea Da Silva is a writer located in Paris. Lea writes poetry and also enjoys writing fiction. Lea works with children and will show said children this collection.
RC de Winter writes in several genres with a focus on poetry which appears in several top literary journals. Her work is also included in many anthologies.
Polly East’s training in journalism led to a long-lasting connection with the United States. Much of the past thirty years was spent teaching English and Special Needs. She has been long-listed for the National Poetry Competition. 
Tessa Foley’s debut poetry collection Chalet Between Thick Ears was published in 2018, Her new collection What Sort of Bird are You? is out now.
Jim Friedman lives in Nottinghamshire. On retirement he took up writing poetry again. His first collection Standing Alone, Leaning Against was published in 2022 by Coverstory books, and was a collaboration with Dave Smith.
From a young age Manjeet Ghatoray loved reading books and writing. Words have been her passion and poetry her outlet. She also writes short stories, children’s stories and sketches.
Olga Gonzalez Latapi is a Mexican queer poet with an MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts. She has been published in Sonder Midwest, BARNHOUSE, and Wild Roof Journal, among others.
A novelist and poet, Ian Gouge is the creator of Coverstory books and the driving force behind New Contexts. His latest works include On Parliament Hill (a novel) and The Homelessness of a Child (poetry).
Jess Hasson is an emerging poet who uses emotive imagery and dense lyricism. She is currently studying by English Literature and Creative Writing at Lancaster University.
Alison Hramiak is a part time poet and teacher educator living and working in Yorkshire. She has been published in anthologies and on literary web sites. She also writes anthology reviews.
Ben Hramiak is an author with a Bachelor’s Honours in English Literature and Creative Writing living and working in Yorkshire. He is currently writing a historical fiction novel set in feudal Japan.
Jack R. Johnson is a columnist and editor. His published works include short stories, articles and the novel An Animal’s Guide to Earthly Salvation. His latest novel, In Black and White, is to be published by Propertius Press in 2022.
Diana Killi has been writing poetry since retirement. She has had several poems published in New Contexts and Dreich, and contributed a poem to United for Ukraine (Boudicca Press)
Thomas Larner is an archivist based in Bedfordshire. He has been writing poetry since 2017. This is his first publication.
Martin McGuigan is a writer from County Armagh, who now lives in Norwich. His writing has appeared in The Mays XIX, Cabinet of The Heed, and SHE magazine.
Wilson McQueen is a novelist, musician and poet from Hertfordshire. His novel if six were nine is to be published in 2023. Wilson’s poetry is a progression beyond the restrictions of song structures.
Carol Park reads, teaches, gardens, hikes and writes of California and Japan. Both have shaped her. She studied writing with Seattle Pacific University. Her novel, forthcoming, is set in 1990’s Tokyo. Find her at CarolPark.us.
Laura Payne is not a flamenco dancer but thanks to Coverstory is a poet. She’s been a journalist, consultant & is now a psychotherapist. She lives on the beach in Sussex with husband & loving labrador Wilber.
Jonty Pennington-Twist is an English poet, working out of Edinburgh, Scotland. A former lyricist and songwriter, Jonty ‘removed the jingle-jangle’ a little while ago, so as to focus solely on his love of words.
Janet Philo’s poetry is published online and in print. Her two pamphlets include Cheap Fish for Kings (Black Light Engine Room, 2020). She’s starting to have some success with short prose and she’s still scribbling away.
Jenna Plewes’s latest collections A Woven Rope (V.Press) and The Salt and Sweet of Memory (Dempsey and Windle) are both being sold by her in aid of “Freedom from Torture”. Find her on Poetry PF or on Facebook.
Stephen Poole is a retired policeman. His poems have appeared in The Ekphrastic Review, Poetry on the Lake, and LPP Magazine. New Contexts: 4 is the fifth anthology to publish his work.
David Punter lives and works in Bristol, and has published nine poetry collections, the latest being Those Other Fields (2020), Stranger (2021) and Ship’s Log (2022).
Jenny Robb is widely published in online and print magazines and anthologies. Her debut collection, The Doll’s Hospital, Yaffle Press, has recently been published.
Gillie Robic was born in India and lives in London. Her collections, Swimming Through Marble and Lightfalls and pamphlet Open Skies, are published by Live Canon.
Greta Ross lives in Canterbury UK. She has MA in Poetry (Newcastle University). Her poems explore people’s lives and the effects of social and political events.
Graeme Ryan lives near Exmoor. His poetry is featured on Bard Window and in various competitions and publications. In March 2022 he published his debut poetry collection Valley of the Kings with Coverstory Books.
Barbara Sapienza, clinical psychologist-writer, lives in Sausalito. She has a novel forthcoming Spring 2023, The Girl in the White Cape, to add to Anchor Out, 2017 and The Laundress, 2020.
Dave Smith, a retired English teacher, has recently had his debut poetry collection, Standing Alone, Leaning Against, published by Coverstory books. The book was a collaboration with Jim Friedman.
Travis Stephens is a tugboat captain who lives and works in California. His book of poetry, skeeter bit & still drunk, is available at Finishing Line Press or on Amazon.
Kate Swann is a Northern, rural poet with an eye for detail. Family, friends and travel are important to her life and none escape her pen when she is writing.
Simon Tindale was born in Sunderland, wrote songs in South London and found poetry in West Yorkshire and is currently working on a first collection.
Julia Usman’s debut poetry collection She Who Sings Is Not Always Happy (2021) and her first non-fiction book A Little Country (2022) are now available, published by Coverstory Books.
Emma is a mother and English teacher. She has poetry published in various literary journals and magazines. She enjoys writing flash fiction and short stories. Her debut novel, Shelley’s Sisterhood, is due to be published in 2022.
Owen Williams, a graduate of Loughborough University and a teacher by profession. He has been published in a variety of anthologies and journals.