Jo Bell

Biography

Jo Bell is a poet working across the UK. She performs her own work at festivals including Glastonbury, where she was Poet in Residence in 2010, and in live literature shows like Bunch of Fives (nominated for a Ted Hughes Award in 2010). She is also an acclaimed published poet whose work has appeared in Magma, Envoi and other respected publications. Jo is the director of National Poetry Day in the UK.

Samples

The Shipwright’s Love Song Oh, but the lines of her; The curve and glinting swell – the smell as sweet as pitch pine, thick and hot as tar. Oh, I was launched and splashing in the slipway, happy to be rudderless and yawing, mast head touching to the foam. Oh, but her skin was salt, was starred with gasping salt beneath my tongue, and slowly she came round to me – bucking and slipping at my touch, making way in fits and starts to reach me and be calm. Later, long before she rocked me into sleep I saw the seas, saw all of them in one blue ache. Unlandmarked, vast; horizonless.

All poems are copyright of the originating author. Permission must be obtained before using or performing others' poems.