Read

Poems on the page, books and downloads

‘Jo Bell is one of the most exciting poets now writing and no time is wasted in the company of her work.’ – Carol Ann Duffy

My second collection Kith is out now from Nine Arches Press. Order it here – or see where and when I’m reading live, here. There’s an article here on the process of putting the book together with editor Jane Commane.

My first book Navigation is out of print, but is available on Kindle for £2.99 here (the contents page is a mess, but the rest is fine).

I was recently asked by the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, to contribute to a series of poems on climate change for the Guardian newspaper. Here’s my piece, Doggerland.

John Donne’s gloriously gloomy A Nocturnall Upon St Lucie’s Day, being the shortest day of the year inspired this response Things Which Are – which reverses his absences and sadness, to make it the longest night a time of affirmation and sex.

Here’s a sequence of poems written for the Royal Derby Hospital: Waiting – Seven Poems for the Royal Derby Hospital, with artwork by Diana Shepherd.

Here are some prizewinning poems of mine from the Charles Causley Prize, the Wigtown and Cafe Writers prizes.

My day-to-day work is not just the writing of poems, but the connecting of poets. I do this on Twitter @Jo_Bell and on Facebook. Thousands of poets follow my posts for news of competitions, journal deadlines and other poetry news. I try not to bore them. Come and have a look.