Alison Lock - Poet, Writer

 'A Slither of Air' collection of poetry, Indigo Dreams Publishing  2011

 or from 

http://www.indigodreamsbookshop.com/#/alison-lock/4549826196

Review on Amazon: 'Full of subtle twists and delicate juxtaposition, even the poetry tackling difficult subjects has an airy, uplifting quality.' 

Single poems published by: Assent, Pennine Platform, Reach, Sarasvati, Dawntreader, Southlight, Pennine Ink.  Poetry Cornwall, The Word (YSJ), Uroborus, Off the Coast, Westward Quarterly, The Lake, And Other Poems, and Haibun Today.

Anthologies: Virginia Warbey Anthology (2010), Soul Feathers Macmillan Anthology (2012), Heart Shoots (2013), A Speaking Silence (2013), and 'For Rhino in a Shrinking World (2013)'.

I was Poet-in-Residence for the Holmfirth Arts Festival 2012 and performed a long poem, "eye of the heron' for the launch of the 2013 festival with musician Robin Bowles, and visual artist Richard Raby. 

Eye of the Heron - commissioned poem for Holmfirth Arts Festival 2013

Links to Anthologies

Soul Feathers - An Anthology to aid the work of Macmillan Cancer support - includes poems from Carol Ann Duffy, Leonard Cohen, Maya Angelou, Seamus Heaney, Bob Dylan and many more. 

http://www.indigodreamsbookshop.com/#/soul-feathers/4546958297

http://rhinoanthology.wordpress.com/

http://www.mothersmilkbooks.com/

Heart Shoots http://www.indigodreamsbookshop.com/#/macmillan-cancer/4567736428

 A collection of short stories, Above the Parapet, in paperback and e-book.

My short stories have been featured in: Momaya Annual Review 2012, Myriad Editions Quick Fictions, Sentinel Champions, Tears in the Fence 57, Ether Books, Onward Anthologies, Sarasvati, The Dawntreader, Southlight, Something Hidden -Bridge House Publishing anthology, Deep Water Literary Journal, Visual Verse, and one story performed at Bath's bi-monthly event; A Word in Your Ear. 

Swarm and Where the Blue Line Fades won both 1st and 2nd prize in the Sentinel short story competition: judged by Adnan Mamutovic. These are his comments:

The first prize goes to “Swarm,” because it manages to tell a large story through attention to small things. Everyday work of a family becomes a metonym for the mundane lives of a larger population. It is highly suggestive and simple. It gives a sense of both personal intimacies and historical urgency.

The second prize goes to “Where the Blue Line Fades.” This story takes place at a threshold for the characters. It holds back a great deal of detail and thus creates a sense of the forgetting of the past, while at the same time the memory of it is quite potent and important.

 'Above the Parapet' - a collection of short stories - Indigo Dreams Publication 2013

Reviews:

  'This collection has a strong Eco-message. But the learning and the enlightenment is so far removed from the `Go Thou and Feel Bad About Thy Way Of Life.' Alison has a wicked sense of humour - no better displayed than in `Poetic Licence' where a local postman takes the moral high ground - far, far above us all (and didn't we always suspect that this kind of thing occurs...?)

`Above the Parapet' achieves an unusual balance - subtle and witty for those who are familiar with Alison's previous work - and true, pretty, genius eco-enlightenment for those of us who have only just discovered the Talent Of Lock.

Her stories have an uncanny knack of imprinting themselves upon your brain. But in a positive and uplifting way. Read 'Above the Parapet' and especially 'The Mission'... and I defy you to think of a local village or town sponsored event in the same, 'same old' light..

Single Stories

 'Swarm' and 'Where the Blue Line Fades' in Sentinel Champions #10

www.sentinelpoetry.org.uk/champions/catalogue/10.html

'Run Boy Run' in Sentinel Champions #7.

'Erthenta' Momaya Annual Review

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Momaya-Annual-Review-2012-Heat/dp/1480116874/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362043803&sr=8-1

 'Apple Tree' - Onward Anthology I

''Eggshell' - Onward Anthology II

'The Cemetery Bus' - Journeys and Places, York St John University 2010

 by Shirley Golden