After nearly three years of relative inactivity due mainly to the pandemic, 2024 was one of our most productive years to date. 2025 is shaping up to be even better. This year got off to a good start with Isabel hosting a training session on the intricacies of rhyme, meter, alliteration, metaphor and simile in poetry. She will shortly be hosting another session on poetry performance, the two sessions to be combined in a new training programme for fledgling poets.

She also appeared with a host of poets and musician friends at the Redgrave Theatre in Bristol in February. This was followed by a multilingual project in collaboration with New Writing North

Our American trip has generated over 50 poems for Isabel’s next collection, to be launched this August. Titled ‘Usonia, An American Peculiar’, copies are priced at just £10.

One of the poems in the collection, ‘Sonata for Remington and Alliteration’ has been animated by the phenomenal artist Anna Hewitt-Rakthanee. It is being submitted to a number of film competitions across the globe.

Our Motown competition (in partnership with Clevedon LitFest) generated an excellent response, with entries from all over the UK, the USA, France, Ireland and South Africa. Guest celebrity judge Adam White has chosen his finalists, overall winner of the £1,000 first prize was Dennis Johnstone of Insch, Aberdeenshire; runner up was former Bristol stalwart Tom ‘T.S. Idiot’ Stockley, and best poem by a local author was Ruth Davies. Further publicity for the competition on Adam’s West Grand Blog promoted the competition results in Australia, Finland, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan and Poland. The poems chosen by Adam will shortly be posted on the Clevedon LitFest website here. Isabel is already working with Clevedon LitFest on an anthology of the winning and shortlisted poems. The competition was the fourth element of a five part project - A fact finding visit to Chicago and Detroit, creation of the motorcitysixty poetry competition, Anna’s wonderful animated film, and Isabel’s latest collection. Part four is yet to come, watch this space!

The Clevedon team of Colin Dick, Steve Selby and Isabel appeared again in this year’s Lyra Festival Four Towns slam (we didn’t win!). Isabel has booked herself a slot in the slam at this year's Frome festival, where she hopes to redeem herself and the reputation of the North Somerset poets.

‘High Art and Mischief’ is a new ensemble Isabel has been putting together, working initially with Melanie Branson, Edson Burton, Patrick Chandler, and Jeremy Toombs. They are creating a new high energy cabaret performance which already has three dates pencilled at St. George’s Hall, Bristol.

More workshops are planned for the autumn including one as part of the Clevedon lit fest celebration of the book festival. Isabel is working behind the scenes on another project, details of which will be launched later this year. She has also been running readings in care homes and is working with Bristol based artist Duncan McKellar on a new art project in Bristol City Centre.

She has also received news that two of her American themed poems are being published in the US – ‘Minnie – Black Gold of the Sun’ and ‘Inches from Aretha have been selected to be included in the Jerry Jazz Musician printed anthology of jazz poetry, “Kinds of Cool: A Collection of Jazz Poetry: Volume II.” The anticipated publication date is October 4 2025.