Claire Dyer is a poet and writer of women's fiction and works part-time for an HR research forum in London. She's lived in Surrey, Bedfordshire, South Wales and Wokingham, Berkshire and, after a brief stint in Birmingham, now lives in Reading with her husband, sons and cats.
She was shortlisted in the 2010 Cinnamon Press Poetry Award, commended in the 2010 Ware Open Poetry Competition and the York Open Poetry Competition 2010/2011, Highly Commended in Ver Poets Open Competition 2011 and won the 2010 WomenWords poetry competition. She has had poems published by Two Rivers Press, South, Orbis, Ragged Raven Press, Envoi, and Leaf Books.
She recently completed an MA at The University of Reading and for more information on Claire, please visit www.clairedyeronlyconnect.co.uk
Wendy Klein studied Drama and English at the University of Utah and San Francisco State University before leaving the US in 1964. In the UK she qualified first as a social worker (1983), then as a family and couples' psychotherapist (1992), an occupation she has pursued until her recent semi-retirment.
Wendy completed the Undergraduate Diploma in Creative Writing at Oxford University in 2000, and the Post Graduate Diploma in Mondern and Contemporary Poetry in English at Oxford Brookes University in 2006. Her work is published in many competition anthologies and magazines, including Mslexia, the Jewish Quarterly, Magma, Smiths Knoll, Poetry Nottingham, The Interpreter's House, Envoi and Brittle Star. Her first poetry collection, Cuba in the Blood, was published by Cinnamon Press in February 2009, www.cinnamonpress.com. Wendy won 1st Prize in the 2009 Ware Poetry Competition with her poem Me in my Ho Chi Minh Sandals.
For more information on Wendy, www.wendyklein.co.uk
and http://www.poetrypf.co.uk/wendykleinpoems.html
Anna-May Laugher is a half French, half English, first prize winning poet who was raised both in France and in England, and now lives near Reading. She is also the writer of short stories and recipes and is the owner of a hypothetical sloth called Otto.
Her poem, 'Stone Map in Ravelin Park' was chosen by Media Studies students at the University of Chichester to feature in a film voiced by Joanna Lumley as part of the BBC's Big Screen Project in Portsmouth. She has also been commissioned to write a poem about the River Ingle. Anna-May reads at many venues and was commended in the 2009 Ware Poetry Competition.
For more information on Anna-May, please visit www.annamay.moonfruit.com
Gill Learner grew up in Birmingham, moved first to London and later Reading where she has lived for many years. Poetry took over her life in 2001 since when her poems have appeared in numerous anthologies and journals and also been read on Radio 3 and BBC South Today. She has won a number of awards including the Poetry Society's Hamish Canham Prize 2008, and she came second in the Keats-Shelley poetry competition 2010. Her first collection, The agister's experiment, was published by Two Rivers Press in January 2011. The Poetry Book Society Bulletin said of it: 'The poems here fizz and crackle while exploring the vast range of humanity - they are by turns funny, chilling and angry, but are all diverse in form and content. …[they] leave a lasting impression on the reader in this excellent debut.'
She values feedback from workshops such as Reading's Thin Raft and goes to hear poets read whenever possible, particularly at Reading's Poets' Café where she was guest poet in May 2007 and also when her book was launched in February 2011. For more information and sample poems visit www.poetrypf.co.uk/gilllearnerpage.shtml
Kate Noakes is a prize-winning poet living in Caversham, Berkshire. Kate was born in Guildford of Welsh parentage. She has degrees in Geography and English Literature from Reading University and an MPhil from the the University of Glamorgan. She is widely travelled and has lived in South Australia, California and South Africa.
Her first collection, Ocean to Interior, was published in December 2007 by Mighty Erudite Press, www.mighty-erudite.co.uk and her second, The Wall Menders by Two Rivers Press, www.tworiverspress.com, in May 2009. She has been invited to perform her work at Glastonbury Festival, Hay Festival, Nottingham Poetry Festival and Windsor Arts Centre, among others. In 2009 she won the inaugural Owen Barfield Prize. Kate runs Boomslang Poetry and offers readings and workshops in the UK. She is a member of the Welsh Academy and her third collection is due out in late 2012.
For more information on Kate, please visit her occasional blog, http://www.boomslangpoetry.blogspot.com/
Lesley Saunders is a poet and education consultant. Amongst several prestigious prizes and awards, her poem 'The Uses of Greek' was shortlisted for the Best Single Poem in the Forward Prize 1999; in 2008 she was awarded joint first prize in the Manchester Poetry competition for a portfolio of poems, and was a finalist in their 2010 competition. Lesley has performed at many venues, including The Troubadour and the Voicebox, South Bank Centre.
Her books include a co-authored volume with Jane Draycott and artist Peter Hay, Christina the Astonishing (Two Rivers Press, 1998); Her Leafy Eye, a collaboration with the artist Geoff Carr (Two Rivers Press, 2009); No Doves (Mulfran Press 2010); and most recently Some Languages Are Hard to Dream In, a pamphlet with images by Christoper Hedley-Dent (Mulfran Press 2010).
Lesley had held several poetry residences and is involved in various collaborations and commissions. She runs creative writing workshops and especially enjoys working with less experienced writers - please visit www.lesleysaunders.org.uk for more information.