Founded in 2010, Poetry Space Ltd is dedicated to promoting and nurturing creative expression without fear, judgement or prejudice. We believe in organic, sustainable creative growth – bearing quality, collaboration and care in mind across everything we make and do.
Susan Jane Sims FRSA – Founder & Editor
A reader and writer of poetry all her life, Susan’s work gathered momentum after a free-fall writing course with Angelika Weinrich at the Gestalt Centre in London in 2009. It helped her get past the inner censor and write from a deeper place. Now, with numerous poems in print, she encourages others to find their voice through poetry and loves running workshops with both adults and children.
Her first full collection, A Number of Things You Should Know, was published in June 2015 by Indigo Dreams Publishing. Her pamphlet Irene’s Daughter has proved popular with general readers and especially with those who have been bereaved; counsellors and therapists working with clients can request a free copy, and it is also available in the Poetry Space shop.
In December 2014 she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and enjoys working on projects with the potential to promote social change. A Hawthornden Fellow, she spent four weeks on retreat at Hawthornden Castle in 2018 – a stay that led to her most recent collection, Splitting Sunlight (Dempsey & Windle, 2019).
After moving to Beaminster in Dorset in 2018, Susan and Chris opened Tangerine Café and Gallery in April 2019, now open for special events – food nights, poetry readings and performances, occasional open mic, and not-for-profit events for the local community. She currently runs an online poetry group on Zoom; send a message for details.
Editors & volunteers
Poetry Space has been shaped by a generous community of editors and volunteers.
- Wendy French edited a first full collection by Margaret Eddershaw, a prizewinner in the Poetry Space Competition 2012. Wendy won the International Hippocrates Prize for Poetry in 2010.
- Richard Gall edited That Sweet Name Like Magic Has Made Me by Michael Kwaku Kesse Somuah. Richard studied for a Master’s in English at the University of Manchester and now works in publishing.
- Johanna Boal helped promote the Poetry Space Competition 2014. A former prison librarian in Yorkshire and a great networker, her pamphlet Cardboard City is available in the Poetry Space shop.
Competition judges
Philip Lyons (2010), Rose Flint (2011), Cheryl Moskowitz (2012), Martyn Crucefix (2013), Alison Brackenbury (2014), John Siddique (2015), Myra Schneider (2016), Michael Di Placido (2017), Gill McEvoy (2018), Caroline Price (2019), Bobby Parker (2020) and Rosie Jackson (2021).
Guest editors for Showcase Quarterly
Moira Andrew, Jo Waterworth, Margaret Eddershaw, Denni Turp, Thelma Laycock, Jean Harrison, David Mark Williams, Prem Kumari Srivastava, Mandy Pannett, Di Coffey, Johanna Boal, Nick Cooke, David Norris-Kay, Rosie Jackson, Pam Zinnemann-Hope, Lizzie Ballagher and Leela Gautam have all edited editions. If you would like a voluntary spot as a guest editor, do get in touch.
Get involved
The simplest help of all is spreading the word – send a link to Poetry Space to a friend, even one who thinks they don’t like poetry; we may change their mind. We also warmly welcome volunteer editors, proofreaders and typesetters. It’s a great way to gain experience, and every contribution helps us do more.
The Kill
For Emily Dickinson
The Kill
— Susan Jane Sims
Susan Jane Sims, from A Number of Things You Should Know (Indigo Dreams Publishing). First published in the Bath Café Poets anthology The Listening Walk (2014).