For those who find solace in the gentle cadence of poetry and the warm embrace of a well-loved book, the second episode of The Broken Spine Coffeehouse Poetry Podcast is your perfect retreat. Guided by Alan Parry, Editor-in-Chief of The Broken Spine, this podcast creates an inviting space for poetry enthusiasts, blending the intimate atmosphere of a traditional coffeehouse with the accessibility of a modern podcast.
Unlike the edgier offerings typically associated with The Broken Spine, this podcast takes a different route, focusing on comforting, domestic poetry that soothes and relaxes. With each episode, Alan Parry curates a selection of poems rich in musicality and reflective of everyday experiences, offering listeners a moment of peace and contemplation.
In this second episode, we are introduced to a selection of poets whose work exemplifies this gentle, melodic quality:
The Broken Spine Coffeehouse Poetry Podcast operates on a rolling submission basis, continually seeking new voices to feature. When ten fitting poems are gathered, Alan Parry sets about recording the next episode. This ongoing search for new work provides an excellent opportunity for poets to have their work showcased in a welcoming and respected setting.
Produced, recorded, and mixed by Alan Parry himself, the podcast ensures high-quality audio that enhances the listener’s experience. The soothing background music by Kevin MacLeod, specifically Modern Jazz Samba, complements the poetic readings, adding a rhythmic and melodic layer that enriches the overall ambiance.
For those poets looking for a platform to promote their work, The Broken Spine Coffeehouse Poetry Podcast offers an ideal venue. By participating, poets can share their comforting, musical poetry with an appreciative audience, contrasting with the edgier content that The Broken Spine also embraces.
The second episode of The Broken Spine Coffeehouse Poetry Podcast promises a comforting and enriching experience for literature lovers, continuing the tradition set by the pilot. Whether you’re a listener seeking solace in words or a poet looking to share your voice, The Broken Spine Coffeehouse Poetry Podcast welcomes you.
Discover the beauty of everyday moments and the soothing power of poetry with us. Tune in, relax, and let the gentle rhythms of verse carry you away.
A.R. Williams is a poet from Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley (USA), and has been published in Black Bough Poetry, iamb, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Neologism Poetry, tiny wren lit, among many others. He is the author Funeral in the Wild (Kelsay Books, 2024) and Time in Shenandoah (Bottlecap Press, 2024). He can be found on twitter and instagram @arw_poetry
George Sandifer-Smith is a Welsh poet. He has published two collections, Nights Travel at the Right Speed (Infinity Books) and Empty Trains (Broken Sleep Books).
Marcelle Newbold writing explores place, self and inheritance. Bridport Prize shortlisted, her poems have been published online and in print by Propel, Ink Sweat & Tears, iamb, Fly on the Wall Press, Black Bough Poetry, Indigo Dreams and others. She lives in Cardiff, Wales.
Carolyn Thomas has published poems in various magazines, including Dreich, Impossible Archetype and The Ekphrastic Review and stories, including her account of life as a gay woman in the 1970s, in anthologies by Honno Press. Originally from South Wales, she now lives in glorious retirement on Tyneside with a misanthropic cat.
Beverly M. Collins author of the books, Quiet Observations: Diary thought, Whimsy and Rhyme and Mud in Magic. Her poems and short stories have appeared in publications based in USA, England, Ireland, Australia, India, Berlin, Mauritius, and Canada. Winner of a Naji Naaman Literary Prize in Creativity (Lebanon).
Karen Pierce Gonzalez is n award-winning writer artist, Karen Pierce Gonzalez is a Whiskey Tree poet. Her chapbooks: Coyote in the Basket of My Ribs (Kelsay Books), Sightings from a Star Wheel (Origami Poems Project). Forthcoming: Down River with Li Po (Black Cat Poetry Press), Moon kissed, Earth Wrought, Vision Drunk (North American publisher).
Helen Openshaw is a Drama teacher from Cumbria. Poems in Green Ink Poetry, Black Bough, Eat the Storms, Dust Poetry and Acropolis Magazine. Her first chapbook, ‘A Revolution in the Sky’ is published by Alien Buddha Press. Helen has just had a pamphlet published with Hedgehog poetry.
Lesley Curwen is a broadcaster and poet from Plymouth. She writes about sailing, the sea, consumerism, loss and recovery. ‘Rescue Lines’ is her pamphlet from Hedgehog Press, and ‘Sticky with Miles’ is an eco-chapbook from Dreich. She won the Molecules Unlimited Prize and was a finalist in the Wales Poetry Award.
Paul Robert Mullen is a poet, writer, musician, radio presenter, podcast host, lecturer, and traveller from Southport, near Liverpool, England. He describes himself as a sociable loner – young at heart and old in mind. Paul has had four collections of poetry published, including “Curse This Blue Raincoat” (2017) and “disintegration” (2020). His collected works of the last 25 years, “it’s all come down to this,” are due out with The Broken Spine in October. He enjoys playing in bands around Liverpool and has a boxer dog named Rocky, who loves to run on the beach. His work appears in The Interpreter’s House, Barren, and Dreamcatcher.
Jen Feroze lives by the sea in Essex with her husband, two young children. A former Foyle Young Poet, her work has been featured in Under the Radar, Butcher’s Dog, and Magma. Her work can also be found in Poetry Wales and Spelt.
Nature poetry. For too long, it’s been the domain of soft-focus sentimentality: predictable scenes of meadows, rivers, and, yes, even gliding gulls.
As 2024 draws to a close, it’s impossible not to marvel at how much has been accomplished in just one year. This
Call for Submissions: Glow: City at Night Poems The Broken Spine is excited to announce that submissions for our latest slimline anthology,
The Broken Spine is a poetry and arts collective proudly published on the coastal edge of North-West England. Founded in 2019 by Alan Parry and Paul Robert Mullen – two school friends reunited after twenty years through a mutual love of poetry.
