About

A native Bristolian who's never managed to get away for long, Deborah writes mostly poetry. Her six collections – Communion (2011), Map Reading for Beginners (2014), Breadcrumbs (2016), The Shadow Factory (2019), Learning Finity (2022) and Love the Albatross (2024) – are all published by Indigo Dreams, as is her historical novel, Dart, which appeared under their Tamar Books imprint in 2013.

She has an MA in Creative Writing from Manchester Writing School. She runs workshops, judges competitions, and has read at many poetry festivals and events. Her poems have been widely published in magazines and anthologies, broadcast on Radio 4’s Poetry Please, shortlisted numerous times for the Bridport Prize, and awarded several prizes, including runner-up in the 2022 Buzzwords Poetry Competition, the 2018 Plough Prize Short Poem Competition, 2016 Wells Festival of Literature Hilly Cansdale Prize, 2013 Buzzwords (Gloucestershire) Prize, 2012 Pre-Raphaelite Society Poetry Prize, 2011 Dor Kemmyn Poetry Prize and 2010 Wells International Poetry Competition. They have also been nominated for Forward and Pushcart prizes.

In addition to her personal writing and poetry readings, she facilitates two monthly poetry groups at Bristol Folk House and co-runs Silver Street, Bristol’s longest-standing open mic. For many years she was also a member of the IsamBards, four Bristol-based poets writing site-specific poems and conducting poetry walks around the city.

Photo by Alexander Turner for The Guardian