Alison Lock - Poet, Writer
Alison Lock - Poet, Writer
Welcome to my Home Page
I write poetry, creative non-fiction and short stories. My work has been published in many literary magazines, and broadcast on BBC Radio3. I am the author of several collections and pamphlets of poetry, and short stories.
I like to connect my inner world with the natural world around me, and my new poetry collection Thrift is no exception. In many ways I am ‘communing in slow grief’ for the Earth and its vanishing creatures. The collection’s poems are grouped into three sections: Rue, Thrift and Sage – herbal names that have double meanings and lead the reader on a spiritual journey from despair through learning to be more frugal and sustainable to a new wisdom and potentially more hopeful future. I am naturally optimistic and always look for hope in any situation. Thrift will be available in print from Palewell Press in March 2024.
As well as poetry and prose, I am working on a novel I began to write during my MA in Creative Writing at the University of York St John, in which I researched the lives of 19th Century Roma and Gypsy Ryes. So far, it's been 15 years, so I'm not expecting to finish it any time soon!
In 2017, I had an accident which resulted in spinal injuries. From writing about this experience, I became very aware of the destructive and the healing power of nature. As a result, I created a long poetic sequence of personal transformation which has been broadcast on the BBC Radio 3 programme, Between the Ears:Lure, and is available on the BBC Sounds.
My new poetry collection is available here.
*****
Unfurling is a pamphlet of poems written during the Covid 19 lockdowns and is a selection of mediations and observances. Available from Palewell Press in print and in digital form. Click on the cover image to go to the Palewell Press site in order to purchase a copy.
To give you a taste of what's inside, here is a YouTube link to a reading of some of the poems:
*****
Lure:Between the Ears click to hear the Radio 3 recording.
Alison Lock's memory of a near-fatal accident on the Yorkshire moors becomes a dreamlike journey into a landscape in close-up, where nature has the power to kill or cure.
'With words, I state my being in the world,
and however softly uttered, even whispered,
they are caught on the breeze, slight feathers
to bed the nests, plumage to vane the flight,
to fletch the arrows, fly the fishing lure.'
Here, a woman writes for her life. The resulting book is transformative, a liminal journey into the bones of a seemingly familiar landscape with the power to kill or save. Lure is unafraid, the work of a remarkable poet.
Cathy Galvin
Out of physical trauma, Alison Lock creates a gorgeous lyric evocation of a unique part of Yorkshire, and therefore the world.
Robert Minhinnick
*****
A Witness of Waxwings, Cultured Llama Publishing, 2017. Longlisted for the Saboteur Awards - short story collection, 2018.
A Witness of Waxwings invites us into worlds of shifting time and identities, where brutal reality is often witnessed through a liminal lens. Within these stories are shifts of light, perception, slips into other realms, where people are inhabited by birds, selkies and sprites. There are ghosts in the ocean, faces in the wake. Alison Lock’s fictional world is a route map to unexplored mindscapes.
A collection of short stories.
Revealing the Odour of Earth. Calder Valley Poetry. 2017.
These fresh and vivid poems are written from a combination of an acute observer’s eye and a reflective, often spiritual insight. Although meanings may emerge and interpretations are sometimes floated, the poet always remains mindful of the ineffable primacy of encounter and experience. Steve Ely
Alison Lock’s poems are landscape made language. With close attention to form and sound, rhythm and rhyme, she thoughtfully observes and interprets her environment, both its terrain and the birds and beasts, trees and wildflowers that share it. This collection is a testimony to the poetic skills of a sensitive watcher of the world. Bob Horne
Maysun and the Wingfish, Mother's Milk Books, 2016.
‘With her lyrical prose and talent for invention, Alison Lock conjures a magical world, with its own intriguing myths and vivid details. I was enchanted by Maysun’s story from the very first chapter.’ Zoe Gilbert
‘A beautifully imagined world with an atmosphere that lingers. A young girl finds true power when she aligns her destiny with the natural and the supernatural.’ Ana Salote
A fantasy novella for young/YA readers.
Beyond Wings, Indigo Dreams Publishing, 2015.
“Alison Lock's is a highly individual voice. A traveller, an impressionist artist-inwords, her 'room' (or rooms – as she describes them, all of them 'rented') is the landscape, the seascape, the sky-scape of nature, in all its brilliant secret detail.
She's clearly a lover of words, and she's good at finding the right words. She's a minimalist; and (rare poetic virtue) she knows when to stop.
This is a collection to be read at a sitting; the whole is infinitely more compelling than its parts. It's not so much a body of verses as a travelogue of lyrical aperçus; it offers a consistent vision of an everyday natural world that is freshly invested with particularity and significance. Lock has a practised alertness to what is there. It is this focus, this closeness of attention and precision of description that gives her verse its authority.” R V Bailey
A poetry collection.
A Slither of Air, Indigo Dreams Publishing, 2011.
Alison Lock’s first collection of poetry is A Slither of Air. She was a winner of the 2010 Indigo Dreams Poetry Collection Competition.
'Like a gentle voice in your ear, these poems speak of love and life and pain and war with words so precisely-chosen they will make you tremble. A wonderful collection.' Laura Sheridan
‘I found myself holding my breath as the fresh, delicious images in this poetry caressed my senses. Everything one hopes for in poetry is delivered in memorable abundance.’ Joanne Klassen
A poetry collection.
Eye of the Heron.
A performance of 'eye of the heron' at the launch of the Holmfirth Arts Festival, Choppards Mission, Holmfirth, June 13th 2013. With musician Robin Bowles and photographer Richard Raby.
- The poetry reading set to music was more than the sum of its parts. Excellent and held at the right time of day. The evening summer light filtered through the beautiful windows and enhanced the performance. An excellent beginning to the Festival.
Three Hares.
A collaboration of poetry and music.
'This is about the trees/how they sustain us/how they nourish our culture/our folklore/our myths/our deepest dreams'.
Poetry - Alison Lock. Music - Robin Bowles. Drum and sound technician - Marc Layton-Bennett.
Recorded at St Paul's Church, Armitage Bridge, Huddersfield. UK 2014.
Other Publications, Prizes, Qualifications:
MA Literature Studies and Creative Writing, University of York St John.
Pushcart Nominated 2020.
My short stories have won prizes in the following:
The London Magazine Competition 2015,
The 14th Conference for the Short Story in English at Shanghai,
1st Prize and 2nd Prize. Sentinel Literary Quarterly Competitions,
Semi-finalist in the Carve Esoteric Prize 2014.
Shortlisted Lakeview International Short Story 2017
The Tillie Olsen Prize 2019 - special mention.
2nd Prize Segora International short Story Prize 2020
My stories have been published in the following journals:
The Tishman Review
The London Magazine,
Firewords Quarterly,
The Copperfield Review,
Junoesq,
Litro,
Lakeview International Literary Review.
Cro Magnon,
Paper Swans,
Deep Water Literary Journal,
Momaya Annual Review 2012,
Myriad Editions Quick Fictions,
Sentinel Champions,
Lampeter Review,
Tears in the Fence 57,
Flash Frontier,
Sarasvati,
Southlight,
Visual Verse.
HaloLitMag
All the Sins
The Drabble
Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazine
Segora
'Erthenta' was performed at Bath's live bi-monthly event - A Word in Your Ear.
Poetry
My poems have previously been published in the following publications:
Ink Sweat & Tears
14 Magazine
The Galway Review
Nymphs
Arc Magazine
Mycelium Lit
Empty House Press
Ofi Press Mexico,
Assent,
Pennine Platform,
Three Drops from a Cauldron,
Ground,
Reach,
Sarasvati,
Dawntreader,
Southlight,
Pennine Ink,
The Word (YSJ),
Uroborus,
Off the Coast,
Westward Quarterly,
The Lake,
And Other Poems,
Haibun Today
Algebra of Owls
Eunoia Review
Anapest Journal
Three Drops in a Cauldron
Burning House Press
Words for the Wild
Reliquiae Journal supplement
Contemporary Haibun Online
Sky Island Journal
Blythe Spirit
The Beach Hut
Atrium
Anthropocene
Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal
Poetry Pea haiku
Poetry of Places
The Beach Hut
Words for the Wild
Tiny Seed Literary Journal
Alba
The Wild Word
Ethelzine
Winner (joint) of the Indigo Dreams Collection Competition 2010 and publication of A Slither of Air.
Welshpool Festival Poetry Competition 2020 - Highly Commended.
Highly Commended for the Selected and Neglected 2020 @ Hedgehog Press
Revealing the Odour of Earth was featured in A Restricted View from Under the Hedge issue 1 from Hedgehog Press
'Sisterhood of the Seas' is published for the Time and Tide Festival anthology, Arachne Press; and read at the Solstice Festival at Holyhead and Maryport 21 December 2019.
My 'Noon Son' poem was read at The Solstice Shorts Festival: Noon - on December 21st 2018 at two locations: London, by actor Grace Cookey-Gam; and at Carlisle.
My 'Crow Haibun' was read at The Solstice Shorts Festival: Dusk - on December 21st 2017 at three locations: Aberdeen, Carlisle, and Rossendale where my poem was read by actor Tom Bell.
Anthologies - my poetry and short stories are included in the following:
Virginia Warbey Anthology (2010),
Soul Feathers Macmillan Anthology, Indigo Dreams Publishing (2012),
Musings on Mothering. Mother's Milk Books (2012).
Heart Shoots, Indigo Dreams Publishing (2013),
A Speaking Silence (2013),
'For Rhino in a Shrinking World (2013)',
Something Hidden (2013) Bridge House Publishing
Hildegard : visions & inspiration, edited by Gabriel Griffin Wyvern Works (2014),
Poems for a Liminal Age, edited by Mandy Pannett, SPM Publications (2015).
Over Land, Over Sea, edited by Kathleen Bell, Emma Lee and Siobhan Logan (2015).
Samhain (2016). Three Drops from a Cauldron. Ed Kate Garrett.
National Flash Fiction Day online anthology (2016)
Flash: The International Short Story Magazine, October (2016).
Liberty Tales stories and poems inspired by Magna Carta. Ed. Cherry Potts. Arachne Press (2016)
Solstice, DUSK, Arachne Press (2017)
Bonnie's Crew. Ed. Kate Garrett-Nield. (2018)
Reflections. Cleckheaton Festival Anthology (2018)
Noon, Arachne Press (2019)
Time and Tide, Arachne Press (2019)
Cotton Grass, Maytree Anthology (2019)
Green Fields, Maytree Press (2020)
100 Words of Solitude 2020
Non-fiction and essays
Pendemic - Musings in the time of Covid
Blue Nib - Rock Season
Spelt issue 1
My work can also be viewed on poetry pf