OUT NOW!
What they’re saying:
“Please buy this wonderful smart funny passionate political book!”
—Jane Wilkinson
“As political as it is personal and so coherent it's like a single object, entirely, assuredly, unquestionably itself from start to finish.
Based on lines by Kenneth Patchen, it is written as though in a trance. All the hard won skill, nuance, formal mastery and insight are second nature here, at the service of the decisive moment, with Katy Evans Bush completely and magnificently in charge. These aren't poems you read, these are poems that happen to you. So buckle up! It's gonna be a hell of a ride but you are in completely safe hands.
—Natalia Zagorska-Thomas
[This] is a book crafted from chaos. In her introduction Katy Evans-Bush writes of life in contemporary Britain: "I had no resilience except on the page. The poems grew darker. And the darker I wrote the better I felt." But these are poems of exorcism, not consolation – the lines an urgent act of salvage or profane incantation. A phenomenal achievement by a much-loved poet, this book is top of my reading pile in the caravan this week… jostling with the catalogue for the 2001 Tate Gallery exhibition of William Blake, whose fiercely necessary and fiery vision it shares.
—Nancy Campbell
Critical poetry workshop: Wednesdays
This small, friendly critical feedback group has been running in one form or another since 2009, and its members have gone on to be well-published, prizewinning, energetic presences in the UK poetry world. Formal, free verse, prose, spoken word, collage, cut-up, Oulipo - whatever you’re writing, bring it here. You can be well published or just starting out. You don’t have to be writing the best poetry in the world. You just have to be serious about writing, and about both giving and critical feedback.
Summer:
1 May -24 July
Alternate Wednesdays, 5-7pm, on Zoom
7 sessions £150
Poem Talk: Thursdays
45 minutes: one lunch hour, one closely examined poem
…and off you go, full to the brim! This is a poetry READING group, not a writing one - even if you just think you might be interested in poems, this is for you. It meets weekly, in six-week mini-terms.
Spring:
25 April to 30 May
Summer (7-week special):
6 June to 18 July
Thursdays, 1-1.45pm, on Zoom
£40 for six sessions
To join, or for more info, get in touch here
I have 25 years of experience working with an extraordinary range of material, each within its own conventions. Community newspaper, EU policy reports, press releases on a range of topics, technical papers on sustainable energy and housing retrofits… even prizewinning poetry collections.
I have a forensic eye and I love what I do.
Get in touch for a quote.
My clients include small startups, national institutions, poets, academics, magazines and small presses.
Drop me a line for a quote.
Need help with your manuscript? Whether you have a publisher lined up already or you want to get it in shape to send out, I can help you.
I’m a professional editor of 25 years experience; I gained my editing experience in not-for-profits and in community programmes, where I worked with all kinds of people on all kinds of documents and content. I’ve been working with poetry manuscripts for almost that long, and have edited collections that were shortlisted or won major UK poetry prizes.
The fee is variable on a project-by-project basis, so drop me a line to talk about what you need, and we can arrive at a quote and a plan.
Your next steps
Wherever you’re at in your writing I can help you see the wood for the trees. I offer one-hour one-to-ones where we can talk in depth about five of your poems — you can get an awful lot from this — or, for bigger goal-based pushes, I can put together a mentoring programme with you and help you tackle your next big writing or publishing challenge — whatever it is.
Get in touch and let’s talk.
Your manuscript
What they say:
“I wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your Thursday Sessions, and find them invaluable in my understanding of poetry. I have found it one thing to move a bunch of disparate students through the mammoth task of how words should land on a page. It’s another thing altogether to patiently teach the art of reading poetry, and be given the space to take in such a great breadth of styles and masters. I have felt free to ask all the ignorant questions and for those questions to be responded to kindly and with grace. For me, it’s an indispensable experience. On a Monday, I often find myself wishing it were Thursday. “
—Fleur, workshop member
“Smart, friendly and informed; she asks the right questions”
—Chrissy, workshop member
“Possibly the best workshop I’ve ever been to”
—Susan, workshop member
“Thanks for being 100% terrific Katy again. All the students I’ve spoken to—and there was a genuine cross-section—were thrilled and inspired”
—Philip, secondary school head teacher
I’ve heard nothing but praise for you: everyone loved your reading and the students loved your workshops. Thank you!
—Marcus, head librarian
Baroque in Hackney is no longer.
But I’m back online, in A Room of Someone Else’s. Intermittent posts on arts, culture, politics, the odd funny story (I hope) and updates from the cost of living crisis.
“I'm a poet, essayist & blogger starting a new life after being forced from my home by rising rents. My book on homelessness, displacement & precarity will be published by CB Editions. In the meantime, here's where I'm writing about my new world.”
If you have experience of homelessness or precarity and would like to be on the paid email list, please let me know.
