Candlestick Press
Biographies
Here you can find out more about the huge range of poets we feature in our pamphlets and the artists whose work appears on our beautiful covers.
We’ve now published poems by almost 700 historical and contemporary poets. In our pages you’ll find old favourites alongside twenty-first century voices – everyone from WH Auden to Benjamin Zephaniah. Although our emphasis is on British poetry, you’ll also find Irish, American and Australian writers.
We hope these pages will encourage you to explore further the work of a poet you’ve enjoyed in one of our pamphlets.
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James Thomson
James Thomson (1834 – 1882) was a Scottish journalist, poet and translator who wrote under the pen-name Bysshe Vanolis (chosen because of his admiration for the work of Shelley and the German poet Novalis). He grew up in an orphanage in London and is most often remembered for The City of Dreadful Night (written between 1870 and 1873) which is an allegory depicting the struggles of the poor.
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Katie Tooke
Katie Tooke is a graphic designer who has created a number of striking book covers for Picador, including Helen Oyemi’s White is for Witching.
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Jean Toomer
Jean Toomer (1894 – 1967) was an important figure in African-American literature who wrote both poetry and novels. His most famous work is Cane, published in 1923, which is a novel comprising poems and short stories. He also wrote a long lyrical poem, Blue Meridian, which expresses his hopes and dreams for racial harmony. At the end of his life he became a Quaker and fell into a literary silence.
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Barry Tottle
Lizzie Ginbey and Barry Tottle are graphic designers and printmakers living and working in the south west. They founded a successful graphic design agency before setting up a creative collaboration called ‘Inky Misdemeanors’. Here the two produce work that covers a range of printmaking styles and subjects including landscape, travel, wildlife, architecture, folklore and animals. They favour lino-cutting, wood-block prints, as well as etching on Perspex or glass.
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Katharine Towers
Katharine Towers has published three full collections with Picador, most recently Oak (2021). Her pamphlet let him bring a shrubbe was published by The Maker’s Press in 2023. She also blogs about Virginia Woolf’s novel The Waves. Her poems have been broadcast on BBC Radios 3 and 4. She also works at Candlestick Press as editor.
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Lydia Towsey
Lydia Towsey is a poet and performer with a Masters Degree in Creative Writing (and a cat called Jones). In 2012 she was shortlisted for the Bridport Poetry Prize. She has been published by The London Magazine, Hearing Voices and Magma Magazine, amongst others. Her work is included in the forthcoming Great Grandchildren of Albion (New Departures) and Raving Beauties – Halleluiah for 50ft Women anthology (Bloodaxe Books). Her full length collection, The Venus Papers, is published by Burning Eye Books ( 2015).
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