Ben Wilkinson

A quick pointer to those interested - on the Contemporary Writers site, you can now find critical perspectives on the poetry of two very different, but equally fascinating, writers: Jen Hadfield and Greta Stoddart . Hadfield's second collection, pictured above, won the T.S. Eliot Prize in 2008; recently awarded to Philip Gross in 2009 for his collection The Water Table . And to those on/off regular readers of this blog: apologies for the hopeless lack of posts of late. Life, as the man says, has a habit of getting in the way. Work and writing permitting, I should hopefully find time to make some more substantial posts in the not-too-distant future. Cheers for sticking around.

Welcome to the website of the English poet and critic , Ben Wilkinson .    Ben is part of a younger generation of British poets who emerged in the 2000s. His poems tackle themes including identity, social class, mental health and sport, in clearly voiced, accessible poems written out of the landscape of the North. He has lived in Sheffield for most of his life, and the city's rural and post-industrial landscapes often feature in his writing.  Ben attended a state school and was the first of his family to go to university, receiving his first degree from the University of Sheffield. He holds an MA in Writing and a PhD in English Literature from Sheffield Hallam University. He has won numerous awards for his poetry, including the Poetry Business International Book & Pamphlet Competition and a Northern Writers Award. His poems frequently appear in many publications, including The Guardian , New Statesman , The Poetry Review , The Rialto , The Spectator , and the TL

  A list of some of poems which have recently appeared in magazines and other publications. 'Church of the Sunday Long Run', METER: the runner's review , Winter 2020 'Try living in a house', Magma , issue 75 (Winter 2020) 'The Flower Carrier' and 'The Champion' , Wild Court , 5 July 2019 'Northern Anecdotal', Magma , issue 73 (Spring 2019) 'Cage' and 'The Bull', The Spectator , 26 January and 16 February 2019 'Patient' and 'Your anxiety', The Spectator , 26 May and 9 June 2018 'Graft' , METER: the runner's review , issue #02, Fall 2015 'Building A Brighter, More Secure Future', The Morning Star , 7 July 2015 ' Days ', The Spectator , 8 August 2015 'King Kenny', Official Liverpool FC Monthly Magazine , issue 27, November 2014 'John Barnes', The Pride and the Passion: Offside Stories anthology   'The Catch', The Saturday