Sophia Blackwell – författare

Poetry is increasingly democratic in its use of different formats, but it can be difficult to know how to navigate the range of options available. In a competitive field, this information is not always easy to access, and many poets make mistakes. This handbook is here to help.How do you make the finances work? Should you release a pamphlet or a full collection? Which promoters should you work with? How can you get your work reviewed? How do you maintain a public profile if performance isn’t for you? What mentoring and publication options are open for mid-career poets? The Poetry Writers' Handbook will answer all these questions and more. It provides: - practical advice on managing income and funding a career - detailed information on printing and distribution, marketing and publicity, and submission to editors, reviewers and prizes- up-to-date contacts for funding organisations, prizes, publishers and magazines for poets and their work.It gives a clear and up-to-date picture of what poets should focus on at different stages in their career.

Sophia Blackwell's new collection, The Fire-Eater’s Lover, is about performance of all kinds. Whether it's the rituals of seduction, the trials and triumphs of squeezing into a red vintage dress or the adrenalin of putting a microphone to your lips, these poems are filled with the joy of performing. The Fire-Eater’s Lover conjures together scraps of everything from classic blues songs to job rejection letters, marriage proposals and medical questionnaires, and whips them into a circus of illicit sex, love lost and found, bittersweet goodbyes and moments of illumination.