About the Poets
Maureen Barrett is an incurable poetry addict. She has found poetry helps her understand
and explore in depth what matters in a crazy world. She thinks Stanza is a great group, giving constructive feedback and challenging her work. Maureen’s work was Highly Commended in the King Lear Poetry Competition.
Jay Boucher is a 30-year-old poet, musician and full-time care worker, who draws upon a wide variety of influences to compose pieces that invoke powerful imagery through playful structure, rhyme and repetition. Their favourite music is any metal genre with "core" in it.
Based in South Wales, Adam Cairns's poems have appeared in various journals and anthologies, most recently iamb poets Autumn (wave fifteen). He was awarded an MA in Poetry Writing with Distinction from the Poetry School and Newcastle University in 2023. He runs poetry workshops for the RSPB at the Newport Wetlands Centre.
Born in Newport, Adele Cordner’s pamphlet The Kitchen Sink Chronicles was published by Hedgehog Poetry Press in 2021. Her poems feature in anthologies including Red Poets, Poems For Grenfell Tower and Pandemic Poetry. Her work has been placed in competitions including Welsh Poetry, Poetry on The Lake, The Plough Prize, Lord Whisky and Segora. Website: adelecordner.com.
Ann Drysdale was born near Manchester and brought up in London. She has lived on a narrowboat in the Midlands, a smallholding in Yorkshire and, for the last twenty years, in the highest terrace of a small town in Gwent. Along the way she has published eight poetry collections as well as memoirs, essays and a poet’s-eye guidebook to Newport.
Leanne Evans (nee Willliams) was born in Ogmore Vale. Her love of words started in childhood and Leanne writes about her experience of growing up with an undiagnosed mental health condition. Her aim is to promote understanding of those who struggle with poor mental health and end the stigma.
Andy Harrett was born and lives in Cardiff. He is a retired English teacher. He likes to saunter through suburban streets and to explore the Welsh borders and coast with his Italian wife. He was a prize winner in Black Bough’s mystical poetry competition and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
Phyl Harris (they/he) is nonbinary and lives in Cardiff. A retired psychologist, they took to poetry as a means of expressing their queer gender identity. Their poems were highly commended in the Welsh Poetry Competition (2023) and King Lear Prizes competition (2023).
Andy Howells was born in Stockton on Tees and grew up in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales. He has lived in Newport, South Wales since 2002 and joined Newport Stanza group during lockdown. Andy would like to thank the group for their support and encouragement.
Lawrence Illsley’s second collection, A Brief History of Trees, won the Live Canon Collection Competition. He also won the inaugural Beyond the Storm Competition. He lives in South Wales with his family. Find him on Instagram @abriefhistoryoftrees, Twitter @Lawrence_poet
Lesley James’s debut poetry chapbook is A Walk With Scissors (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BP98Z8JG) (InfinityBooksUK). Published in literary magazines and anthologies including BOLD, The Broken Spine, Full House Literary and Spelt, she was shortlisted for a Very Short Story award (LoveReadingUK). Winner of Cardiff Writers' Poetry, Flash and Article competitions, she also has two Best of the Net nominations.
Michael Kelleher wrote his first poem a few weeks after his 70th birthday and became addicted. He was Highly Commended in the 2022 Poet of Pontypool Competition. He has a poem in Memories (2024), an anthology published by Dark Thirty Poetry and has been shortlisted for the 2023 Allingham Festival Poetry Prize.
Gwyneth Marshman is a former librarian who currently works as an editor and researcher. Her previous writing exploits have included book blogging and (unpublished) fantasy fiction, and she is now experimenting with poetry. She is fascinated by stories, surrealism, nature, mythology, folklore, the liminal and the occult. Web: gwynethmarshman.com Instagram: @gwynethmarshman
Val Ormrod is a writer and poet from the Forest of Dean. She has won the Ware Poets Prize, Magic Oxygen International Prize, and been recognized for the Bridport Prize, Plough Prize, Wells Festival of Literature and Welsh Poetry Competition, amongst others. Her memoir In My Father’s Memory, about caring for her father with dementia, was adapted into a stage play called My Favourite Dog in 2022.
Mair De-Gare Pitt has published poetry pamphlets: Power Play (Culture Matters) and Hive Mind (Gwent Wildlife Trust). She has had poems in Planet, Poetry Wales, Orbis and Envoi and has been included in anthologies. She won the RS Thomas and EPH Barnard Poetry Competitions and has been placed in others.
Rebecca Royall is a Valleys-based writer and professional poor person who occasionally gets on stage and speaks or sings words. Usually shy of sharing her writing in print, since joining Stanza she has had some poetry published and writes reviews for entssouthwales.com.
Tuvs was born in South Wales in 1959 to a working class family. He has always lived in the same town and has no reason to want to change his location. His poetry is inspired by stories, events and personal experiences. Husband, Father and Grandfather.
Patrick Widdess lived in Newport for three years and was a founding member of the Stanza group. He now lives in Norwich where he continues to write and hosts the podcast Poetry Non-Stop. His work has appeared in publications including The Guardian, Agenda Poetry, The Interpreter’s House and Ink, Sweat and Tears.
Bernie White is somebody who is still trying to write poetry.