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.

  • Jo Brandon

    Jo Brandon grew up in rural Lincolnshire and studied Creative Writing at Leeds University. Her debut poetry pamphlet Phobia was published by Valley Press in 2012, followed by her first full collection The Learned Goose (2015). Jo has been writer-in-residence at various literary festivals and was a BBC-funded development writer at West Yorkshire Playhouse.

    Featured in

  • Kamau Brathwaite

    Kamau Brathwaite (1930 – 2020) was a Barbadian poet and academic who studied at Cambridge University and the University of Sussex. He was a co-founder of the Caribbean Artists Movement and published numerous collections of poetry including The Arrivants: A New World Trilogy (1973) and Slow Horses (2005) which won the Griffin International Poetry Prize.  He lived in both Barbados and New York.

    Featured in

  • Jean Breeze

    Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze (1956 – 2021) was a Jamaican dub poet (acknowledged as the first woman to work in the genre) and storyteller who was also a theatre director and actor. She published eight books of poetry and stories, and released several CDs, touring the world to perform her work. Her final collection The Verandah Poems was published by Bloodaxe in 2016.

    Featured in

  • Alfred Brendel

    Alfred Brendel is best known as a highly successful international pianist. He gave his first recital when he was only 17 and went on to record extensively, his repertoire ranging from Bach to Brahms and Schoenberg. His collection of absurd poetry One Finger Too Many was published in 1999. A second collection Cursing Bagels was published in English in 2004.

    Featured in

  • Laura Brett

    Laura Brett is an illustrator and designer based near London. Her work combines digital techniques with traditional approaches such as pen and ink. She takes inspiration from the natural world, as well as from magic and folklore. She has created covers and illustrations for some of the UK’s leading publishers.

    Featured in

  • Jan Brewerton

    Jan Brewerton is an artist and printmaker, based in Devon and Shropshire.  She studied Fine Art at Coventry University and at Goldsmiths College in London.  Her work is inspired by the domestic environment, the natural world and by travel.  She uses clean lines and bright fresh colours in her depictions of everyday objects and artefacts. She is a member of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen.

    Featured in