"Urgent and deeply moving, Guinevere's poetry is written with powerful narrative and imagery that sparkles. This is poetry that not only needs to be read, but demands you sit up and listen." Natalie Ann Holborow.
Welcome to Guinevere Clark's poetry HQ, sharing publications, project updates, and poems - past, present and future! Guinevere is currently seeking the right publisher for her second full collection or first chapbook.
Guinevere's first poetry collection, Fresh Fruit & Screams is published by the late Bluechrome Press (2006). More recently she's been featured in: Minerva Rising (2018), The A3 Review (2019), Black Bough Poetry (2019), The Atlanta Reveiw (2020), Magma (2020), nawr Magazine (2020-21), Blackbox Manifold (2021) and Culture Matters (2022). She was in the final 10 of the Ambit International Poetry Competition (2020) and received Shortlisted and Highly Commended Awards in The Hammond House International Literary Prize (2022) with two poems. The Wales Poetry Award (2022), judged by Gwyneth Lewis shortlisted her poem 'First Steps in Fishguard'. One of Guinevere's ambitious chapbooks on sexuality and motherhood, King Mattress, was shortlisted in the Poetry London Pamphlet Competition (2023) and she was a finalist in The Cinnamon Press Literature Award (2023). Her poem 'St Non' was published in the 'How I Write a Poem' series with Poetry Wales (2023). Guinevere has been nominated three times for The Pushcart Poetry Prize 2019-2021. Her goal is to have a second full collection contracted for publishing under the wing of the right publishing house by 2025.
Latest review on her full unpublished collection, Gift of Venus, finalist entry to The Cinnamon Press Literature Award,
"In a collection that explores motherhood with a kaleidoscopic eye, Guinevere Clark constantly finds fresh perspectives. Inhabiting the borders between motherhood and the natural world, particularly through the edge-spaces of the coastline of south-west Wales, she delivers precise and surprising imagery in poems that are formally deft and linguistically dexterous. There are big themes at play here: questions of fertility and gender, of domestic abuse and the extremes of suffering and joy, but there is nothing didactic at work. Instead we are invited in to the experience at the heart of each piece. A deeply embodied and highly accomplished collection". Jan Fortune.
Background
Guinevere studied Creative Writing, Physical Theatre & Live Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University, graduating with a First Class B.A.Degree in Creative Arts (2001), an M.A.Degree in Creative Writing (2011) from The University of Wales Trinity St David and a Creative Writing PhD (2023) from Swansea University. In her PhD she produced a trio of chapbook collections and a thesis, 'The Egg in the Triangle: Poetics of Motherhood, Sexuality and Place'.
At Swansea University she has presented at The Welsh Studies Post Graduate Conference reading on 'The Psychogeography of The Mumbles' (2023), The Arts and Humanities Post Graduate Research Conference on 'Liminality Within Poetry on Motherhood' (2021) and The Postgraduate Research Festival - Creative Writing Showcase (2022). Her first academic paper is in Demeter Press in the Wild with Child issue - 'Journeys into Liberation: Re-writing the Maternal 'I' in Poetry on Domestic Abuse' (2024). She currently holds a co-editing post at Demeter Press on the Celebrity Mothers issue and is researching the benefits of creative writing in prison and secure settings, in particular,the work of the UK's most prominent prison charity Koestler Arts.
Other Creative and Community Poetry Projects:
Arts Care Charity (2023) - offering creative writing workshops to the Ukranian community in Pembrokeshire's HaverHub in collaboration with Pembrokeshire Action for Voluntary Services.
Writer's Development Programme (2022-2023) - leading a 9-month Books Council of Wales and MIND Cymru project for the BAME mental health support organisation -'BMHS'- inspiring and supporting participants to create poetry, novels, blogs, short stories and hybrid writing into publication.
Taliesin Community (2022-present) - leading a series of poetry and short story creative writing workshops at The Taliesin Arts Centre.
Scandal '63 Revisited (2023) - forming new comissioned poetry for a symposium on the evolving Dear Christine gallery arts project covering the sexual politics surroundng the life of Christine Keeler and the 'Profumo Affair' narrative.
Creative Writing Symposium for Nurses: Writing the Pandemic (2022) - delivering creative writing workshops to a cohort of participant nurses exploring their clinical and personal perspectives during the Covid-19 pandemic with Professor Owen Sheers and Molly Case.
Mother's Ruin (2022-2023) - poetry included in the feminist gallery exhibition on the destitution of motherood with her work being translated into German for the international leg of the show.
Dad's Ammonite's (2021) - a film Poem Creative Fusion Lockdown Project with musician Stefanos Andreas.
Jaipur Festival (2020) - reading at the British Library event via Swansea University's Cultural Institute.
Dear Christine (2019) - touring feminist gallery exhibition, writing on the life and themes around 1960's icon, Christine Keeler, reading at London's ARTHOUSE1 and Swansea's Elysium gallery.
Poetry Wales (2019) - Spells & Sanctums Poetry Reading.
Fusion Project (2019) - Poetry workshops at The Dylan Thomas Centre and Taliesin Arts Centre, run through Swansea County Council.
Swansea Coast: My One and All project (2016), working alongside Professor Owen Sheers, tutoring, writing and performing on the theme of the Gower and the Swansea city-coast relationship in a National Trust and Swansea University Cultural Institute project.
Give me Wings & The Friday Project (2012-2014) - delivering creative writing workshops for women with dance, art and music, run through the Arts Care Charity.
Guinevere also reads on the Cardiff's Lyrical Miracles and Swansea Live Poets open mic events and has co-produced the recent Taliesin Arts Centre Poetry Reading and Open Mic events and group anthologies 2023 -2024. She will be a guest judge for the Swansea & District Writer's Circle poetry competition in 2024 and reads on subversive poetry for the group on Feb 7th.
Currently, Guinevere is submittting chapbook and full-sized poetry collections to publishers. If you are interested in publishing her poetry, readings, workshops, inviting her to judge, creative collaborations or seeing more poetry samples, please contact Guinevere
Belly Dance
Guinevere's other passion is belly dance, which she has been practicing and teaching for over 20 years. In 2011, she launched The Belly Dancer's Treasure Pack, an illustrated guidance book and empowering card set that she wrote, co-produced and self published, with marketing support from The Bellydance Superstars. Her writing and work on belly dance has been included in Dancing in the UK, Nafoura and Take it Easy magazines, and on BBC Radio Wales, Radio Pembrokeshire and Radio Ceredigion. You can find out more on her dance classes and retreats here www.baubo.co.uk
