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Anne Sexton was an American poet whose work is usually grouped with other confessional writers such as Sylvia Plath and Robert Lowell. She struggled with depression for much of her life and took up writing after being encouraged to do so by her therapist. Her first collection was To Bedlam and Part Way Back (1960) and her final one, The Death Notebooks, was published in 1974 (the year in which she committed suicide).

William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) is widely considered the greatest writer in the English Language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. Known as ‘The Bard of Avon’, he was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon and also wrote many poems, including his famous sonnets. The first collected edition of his works was published in 1623 and is known as ‘The First Folio’.

Jo Shapcott is currently President of the Poetry Society, and is the author of several award-winning poetry collections. She has written in collaboration with a number of musicians and is also known for her critical work and translations. Her latest poetry collection is Of Mutability (2010).

Penny Sharman is a published poet, photographer, artist and therapist. She is inspired by wild landscapes and relationships between the seen and unseen. Penny has an MA in Creative Writing from Edge Hill University. She has had poems published in magazines such as The Interpreter’s House, Strix, The North, Finished Creatures, Orbis, Ink Sweat &Tears & Mslexia. Her books Fair Ground, Swim With Me In Deep Water, The Day before Joy, Catching the Heather & The Ash of Time, Sunbathing with Fishermen are available to buy from her website. Penny is Editor of Obsessed with Pipework Poetry Magazine.

pennysharman.co.uk

Clare Shaw was born in Burnley. She has published three collections with Bloodaxe: Straight Ahead (2006), Head On (2012), and Flood (2018). Her fourth collection Towards a General Theory of Love was awarded a Northern Writer’s Award and will be published by Bloodaxe in 2022.  Clare is an Associate Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund, a co-Director of the Kendal Poetry Festival; and a regular tutor for the Arvon Foundation.

Judith Shaw has lived in various places in the UK but has been settled in St Leonards on Sea since 2004 when she returned from Iceland, where she lived and worked for a year. She has poems published by The Frogmore Papers, The Fib Review and Obsessed with Pipework, and was the Featured Poet in an edition of Orbis. She is a psychotherapist and dyslexia specialist and is also a painter and printmaker.