This will be my third year participating in the Poetry Marathon, and it will be an odd year for me. Not many people from my personal life have read my poetry, but one person who kept up with my marathonning every year and read every poem in 2021 and 2022 was my Nan. She passed away almost exactly a year ago. I don’t yet know what will come out of my keyboard this year, which is part of the magic of this challenge, but I know they will all be a little dedicated to her. Life has not always been easy recently, and I had thought for a while that I had lost some of my writing spark, but two years ago the Poetry Marathon really helped me rediscover it. My Nan was an artist, a healer, an amazing magical person, and she always told me to keep writing, and I intend to. Thank you all of you for your part in me rediscovering some inspiration, and thank you Nanny, and Grandpa, if you’re reading. I love you both endlessly.

For now I’m writing from Bristol in the UK, but increasingly my mind is half-occupied up in Scotland, where my wonderful partner and I hope to move to soon. There’s a better-than-not chance that my poems will find themselves in folklore and fairytales, autumnal fields, liminal wetlands and interstellar wanderings. I love stories, I’m fascinated by the tales that don’t quite get told in traditional narratives, and whilst I’m always drawn by writing with a bit of an edge I really like happy poetry too. If I write autobiographically, it will usually be of joyful moments. And I’m afraid I’m not that well-versed (hah!) in poetical forms, so my writing can get a bit structurally feral. It is what it is.

I don’t know about you but I’ve been looking forward to this all year. Good good luck to everyone! May your snacks be plentiful, your naps restful and your words flow easily from your writing implement of choice.