Collection: Mike Barlow

Biography: Mike Barlow won The National Poetry Competition in 2006, The Ledbury Competition in 2005 and the Amnesty International Competition in 2002. His first collection, Living on the Difference (Smiths Doorstop), won the Poetry Business Competition in 2003 and was shortlisted for the Jerwood Aldeburgh prize for best first collection. His second collection, Another Place, was published by Salt in 2007. Acknowledgements: Acknowledgemenst are due to the following magazines, where some of these poems first appeared: Dreamcatcher, Interpreter’s House, Poetry Nottingham, The Rialto, Seam, Smiths Knoll, Staple. Quotes: ‘Mike Barlow is a poet of relationships, intimate and neighbourly, a clear sharp eye and a steady gaze, keeping a look-out for us.’ — Michael Laskey ‘His subject is the human condition. He does not offer easy answers but keeps on asking the important questions.’ — Carole Bromley, The North