poetryRobert Sheppard, Professor of Poetry and Poetics and Programme Leader for Creative Writing at Edge Hill, has made an important contribution to the field of Linguistically Innovative Poetry (LIP) through his research, poetry and work as a critic.

Robert’s poetry is critically acclaimed, he has written a number of books, is regularly published in magazines and performs his work across the country including at Chapter and Verse Festivals, Liverpool Tate Gallery and Knives, Forks and Spoons readings in the North West. His work has exposed poets and critics alike to LIP, creating an appreciation of an often neglected field of British poetry.

Through his work as a critic, reviewer and poetry organiser he has helped to establish the careers of a number of up-and-coming poets by exposing their work and nurturing their development. He is the editor of the Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry and the blogzine Pages, he regularly reviews poetry books and initiated the Poetry and Poetics Research Group (PPRG) at Edge Hill.

Carys Bray, A Song for Issy Bradley, Creative Writing and Southport

In a new blog post, Robert Sheppard writes about the launch of Edge Hill University alumnus Carys Bray’s new novel A Song for Issy Bradley and the value of studying Creative Writing.

“Carys Bray’s novel A Song for Issy Bradley was published this week by Hutchinson, and it is so far meeting with success: radio interviews, good reviews (The Times, The Guardian), soundbites of approval from the likes of Nick Hornby, and the considerable backing of the publisher’s publicity machine (which is both effective and affecting a tired-looking Carys).

I knew the book was good. Ailsa Cox and I co-supervised the piece as part of a PhD at Edge Hill University, one of our literary successes (but not our only one). So it was good, before the world gets hold of Carys, that she organised a launch on her home turf of Southport (where the novel is set), in Broadhursts Bookshop in Market Street. Cakes were made carrying the book cover; Patricia thought the cakes referred to the amount of cake consumed in the novel (a bit like the Belgian food she knocked up for the launch of A Translated Man)! But this wasn’t the case. It was emphatically local and the better for that.

Read the full blog post here.

carys bray

Find out more about studying Creative Writing at Edge Hill here.