Simon fell back in love with writing poetry in 2022 while writing for catharsis, since when his style and subject matter have continued to evolve. To hone his craft he attends regular poetry review meetups and retreats including a wonderful poetry Masterclass at Tŷ Newydd with Carol Ann Duffy and Gillian Clarke in 2023.
As of June 2024, five of his poems have been published. My poem ‘Making the bed’ was published in Irish magazine ‘The Storms’ in 2023 and my poem ‘A song on the radio’ appears in ‘Masculinity: an anthology of modern voices‘ from Broken Sleep Books, published in January 2024. His deeply personal poem ‘To my right hand’ appeared in a zine from Coin-Operated Press in February 2024 and the poem ‘Fingernails’ was published and read in ‘Poetry worth hearing’ in March 2024 – and also will appear in the summer issue of ‘Inside Out’, the IAHIP journal. The first issue of ‘Ragaire’ magazine in May 2024 contains his poem ‘Tooth’.
Three more have been accepted for publication. The poem ‘Disabled’ has been accepted by HNDL magazine. His poem ‘Almost an apology’ was chosen as a featured poem to be reviewed in the forthcoming ‘Into creative’ online magazine, due for publication. The poem ‘In the presence of the remains of Saint Valentine’ was selected for publication in issue 100 of Dreich magazine – all three in summer 2024.
Simon is working towards his first collection. He is currently studying for a Master’s in psychotherapy and works part time as a therapist. Simon is from Cardiff and lives in Dublin with his wife, a puppy and a houseful of writer’s block distractions.
