Clare Shaw (poet)

Clare Shaw
Born	1972 Burnley, Lancashire, Great Britain
Occupation	Poet
Genre	poetry
Subject	ecopoetry, self-harm, neurodiversity, relationships, human psychology

Clare Elaine Shaw (born 30 December 1972) is a British poet, author, educator, disability advocate, and environmental activist. They are the author of four poetry collections published by Bloodaxe Books: Straight Ahead (2006), Head On (2012), Flood (2018), and Towards a General Theory of Love (2022).

Early life and education

Shaw was born in Burnley, Lancashire on 30 December 1972, ^[1] the youngest of six. They attended St Hilda's Roman Catholic School and the University of Liverpool. ^[2]

Career

Prior to publication, Shaw was a regular guest poet at Carol Ann Duffy and Friends at the Manchester Royal Exchange.^{[ citation needed ][ citation needed ]} They were awarded the Arvon Jerwood Young Poets' Award in 2002,^{[ citation needed ]} and mentored by George Szirtes as part of this scheme.^{[ citation needed ]}

Their first book, Straight Ahead, was published in 2006. One reviewer noted the emergence of a "raw, new poetic voice," but called for better editing. ^[3] An in-depth article in Magma analysed a poem from this collection alongside other breakup poems that metaphorically explore relationships as living and dying bodies. ^[4]

Shaw's second collection, Head On, was published in 2012.

Their third collection, Flood (2018), includes poems about the 2015–16 Great Britain and Ireland floods, ^[5] which destroyed Shaw's adopted home of Hebden Bridge. ^[6] With poems like "Catastrophic Devastation; Damage Complete", Shaw became part of a growing ecopoetry movement. ^[5] The collection also touches upon child abuse and sexual abuse framed through folk tales, and upon survival, whether in psychiatric wards or relationships, and here the floods are often used as metaphors. ^[6]

Shaw's fourth collection, Towards a General Theory of Love (2022) was a Poetry Society Book of the Year as nominated by Carole Bromley. ^[7] In this collection, Shaw continues their exploration of themes of neurodiversity and human psychology. The title of the collection references the well-known book on human emotions, A General Theory of Love, and unusually for a poetry collection, the book has been reviewed in scholarly psychology journals. ^{[8] [9]} One reviewer praises Shaw's use of Harry Harlow's study of attachment in baby monkeys, which is woven into many of the poems in the collection, "viscerally conjuring up the larger-than-life character of Monkey, who is the subject and/or narrator of many of the poems." ^[8]

Their fifth collection, I Know What I Saw, is forthcoming, also with Bloodaxe Books.^{[ citation needed ]}

Shaw is currently collaborating with other creatives on The Book of Bogs, a forthcoming anthology on climate change and the rewilding of wetlands, which will be published by Little Toller Books and Bluemoose Books. ^[10]

Shaw co-authors a Substack with the poet Kim Moore entitled Shaw & Moore, which features content including 'poetry, essays, writing tips and exercises', as well as privileged information on the poetry industry in the United Kingdom. ^[11]

Awards and recognition

Shaw has won and been nominated for prizes, including the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem ^[12] and a Northern Writer's Award. ^[13] Their work has been set to music, illustrated and staged. They wrote the libretto for community opera Daylighting, which premiered at the Royal Academy of Music and won an Ivor Novello Award for Community and Engagement. ^[14] Their work has also been broadcast on BBC Radio 4's The Verb ^[15] and Poetry Please.

In 2021, they were appointed Carbon Landscape Poet in Residence by Manchester Literature Festival and Lancashire Wildlife Trust, and commissioned to write poems connected to the landscape. ^[16] Shaw judged the Manchester Poetry Prize in 2023, ^[17] the Winchester Poetry Prize in 2024, ^[18] and the Ted Hughes Award in 2019. ^[19] Shaw was co-director of the Kendal Poetry Festival from 2019 to 2022, ^[20] and founder of the Wonky Animals poetry collective and the Lost Things Project. They tutor at the Arvon Foundation. ^[21]

Activism and advocacy

Shaw is a mental health advocate ^[22] having published resources on mental health ^[23] and worked to deliver training, through their own business and through organisations including London-based homeless charity St Mungo's. ^[24] They also advocate for accessibility in writing, working with the Royal Literary Fund to deliver literacy training. ^[25] They work in schools as a visiting tutor for organisations including Wordsworth Grasmere, ^[26] and with members of the wider community, including asylum seekers. ^[27]

Personal life

Shaw is non-binary and neurodivergent. ^[28] They live in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. ^[29]

Bibliography

Poetry collections

• Straight Ahead. (Bloodaxe Books, 2006). ISBN   978-1-85224-750-8 ^[30]
• Head On (Bloodaxe Books, 2012). ISBN   978-1-85224-951-9 ^[31]
• Flood (Bloodaxe Books, 2018). ISBN   978-1-78037-420-8 ^[32]
• Towards a General Theory of Love (Bloodaxe Books, 2018). ISBN   978-1-78037-604-2 ^[31]

Poetry anthologies and collaborative works

Shaw's writing features in the following publications.

• Out of Fashion: An Anthology of Poems, ed. Carol Ann Duffy (Faber & Faber, 2005). ISBN   978-0-571-21994-0
• Forward Prize Book of Poetry 2007 (Faber & Faber, 2006). ISBN   978-0-571-23448-6
• A Twist of Malice: Uncomfortable Poems by Older Women, ed. Joy Howard (Grey Hen Press, 2008). ISBN   978-1-64547-237-7
• Jubilee Lines: 60 Poets for 60 Years, ed. Carol Ann Duffy (Faber & Faber, 2012). ISBN   978-0-571-27705-6
• Seeing Poetry, with illustrator Louise Crosby ^[33]
• Twenty Poems to Bless Your Marriage: And One to Save It, ed. Roger Housdon (Shambhala Publications Inc, 2012). ISBN   978-1-64547-237-7
• Project Boast, ed. Rachel Bentham, Alyson Hallett (Triarchy Press, 2018). ISBN   978-1-911193-41-8
• When All This is Over, ed. Bob Horne (Calder Valley Poetry, 2020). ISBN   979-8-5189-0677-8
• We Are the Change-Makers: Poems Supporting Drop The Disorder!, ed. Jo Watson (PCCS Books, 2020). ISBN   978-1-910919-64-4
• 100 Queer Poems, ed. Mary Jean Chan, Andrew McMillan (Vintage Books, 2022). ISBN   978-1-5291-1532-1
• The Meeting: Reading and Writing Through John Clare, ed. Simon Kövesi (John Clare Society, 2022). ISBN   978-1-9161355-2-9
• The National Trust Book of Nature Poems, ed. Deborah Alma, (National Trust Books, 2023). ISBN   978-0-00-859602-6
• Ten Poems for a Wedding, ed. Kathryn Bevis (Candlestick Press, 2023). ISBN   978-1-913627-23-2
• Festival in a Book: A Celebration of Wenlock Poetry Festival, ed. Lisa Lefroy (904 Press, 2023). ISBN   978-1-7393787-0-7

Literary criticism and pedagogy

Shaw's writing features in the following publications.

• Writing Your Self, ed. John Killick, Myra Schneider (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009). ISBN   978-1-84706-251-2
• In Their Own Words: Contemporary Poets on Their Poetry, ed. George Szirtes and Helen Ivory (Salt Publishing, 2012). ISBN   978-1-907773-21-1
• Why I Write Poetry, ed. Ian Humphreys (Nine Arches Press, 2012). ISBN   978-1-913437-29-9
• Poetry Projects to Make and Do, ed. Deborah Alma (Nine Arches Press, 2023). ISBN   978-1-913437-62-6

On mental health: books and resources

Shaw's writing features in the following publications.

• Encountering Feminism: Intersections Between Feminism and the Person-Centred Approach, ed. Gillian Proctor, Mary Beth Napier (PCCS Books, 2004). ISBN   978-1-898059-65-3
• New Approaches to Preventing Suicide: A Manual for Practitioners, ed. David Duffy, Tony Ryan (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2004). ISBN   978-1-84642-010-8
• Our Encounters with Self-Harm, with Charley Baker, Frank Biley (PCCS Books, 2013). ISBN   978-1-906254-96-4
• Otis Doesn't Scratch, with Tamsin Walker (PCCS Books, 2014). ISBN   978-1-906254-56-8
• Searching for a Rose Garden: Challenging psychiatry, Fostering Mad Studies, ed. Jasna Russo, Angela Sweeney (PCCS Books, 2016). ISBN   978-1-910919-30-9
• Supporting the Mental Health of Children in Care, ed. Jeune Guishard Pine OBE, Gail Coleman-Oluwabusola, Suzanne McCall (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2017). ISBN   978-1-78450-172-3
• Drop the Disorder! Challenging the culture of psychiatric diagnosis, ed. Jo Watson (PCCS Books, 2019). ISBN   978-1-910919-46-0
• #MeToo: Counsellors and psychotherapists speak about sexual violence and abuse, ed. Deborah A. Lee, Emma Palmer (PCCS Books, 2020). ISBN   978-1-910919-53-8
• First Steps in Counselling (5th Edition): An Introductory Companion, Pete Sanders, Paula J Williams, Andy Rogers (PCCS Books, 2021) ISBN   978-1-910919-38-5

References

1. "Clare Shaw". The Poetry Foundation.
2. Guy, Darren. "A Pot of Tea in the Egg with a Poet". Nerve: Promoting Grassroots Arts & Culture on Merseyside.
3. van Winkle, Ryan. "Straight Ahead by Clare Shaw | The Skinny". www.theskinny.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-06-07.
4. Marina, Lorraine. "Cleaning Our Bones". Magma (59).
5. Editorial (2024-11-10). "The Guardian view on the rise of eco-poetry: writing cannot ignore global heating". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2025-06-07.
6. Foggin, John (2019-10-06). "A collection that matters: Clare Shaw's 'Flood' | Write Out Loud". www.writeoutloud.net. Retrieved 2025-06-07.
7. "The Poetry Society's Books of the Year – the Poetry Society".
8. Burton, Charlotte (2022-09-02). "Towards a general theory of love: by Clare Shaw, Northumberland, Bloodaxe Books, 2022, 80 pp., £10.99 (paperback), ISBN: 978-1-78037-604-2" . Journal of Child Psychotherapy. 48 (3): 441–445. doi:10.1080/0075417X.2022.2137558. ISSN   0075-417X.
9. Levitt, Brian E. (2023-04-03). "Towards a general theory of love: by Clare Shaw, Hexham, UK: Bloodaxe Books, 2022, 80 pp., £10.99 (paperback), ISBN 9781780376042" . Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies. 22 (2): 228–229. doi:10.1080/14779757.2022.2151931. ISSN   1477-9757.
10. "The Book of Bogs".
11. Shaw, Kim Moore and Clare. "Shaw and Moore | Kim Moore and Clare Shaw | Substack". kimmoore30.substack.com.
12. Rounce, Shane (May 25, 2015). "Keep On: an Interview with Clare Shaw • Poetry School". Poetry School.
13. "'Most competitive ever' Northern Writers' Awards revealed". The Bookseller.
14. Taylor, Mark (October 18, 2022). "The Ivors Composer Awards 2022 Nominations Announced". The Ivors Academy.
15. "BBC Radio 4 - The Verb, Landscape & Language: Experiments in Living". BBC.
16. Field. "Clare Shaw Carbon Landscape Poems". Manchester Literature Festival. Retrieved 2025-06-07.
17. "Manchester Writing Competition 2023 shortlists announced". Manchester Metropolitan University. November 28, 2023.
18. "Winchester Poetry Prize 2024 anthology". Poetry-Festival.
19. "POETRY SOCIETY'S TED HUGHES AWARD SHORTLIST". The Poetry Book Society. February 27, 2019.
20. "poetry festival Archives". Kendal Town.
21. "Clare Shaw". Arvon.
22. Chaney, Sarah; Copperman, Jeanette (2023-04-01). "Women Listening to Women: Radical Reflections on Self-Injury Support". The British Journal of Social Work. 53 (3): 1742–1750. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcad041 . ISSN   0045-3102.
23. "Authors - Clare Shaw". www.pccs-books.co.uk.
24. "what survives…and a Gem Revisited: Clare Shaw". June 11, 2017.
25. "Clare Shaw". Royal Literary Fund.
26. "June 5th 2025- CLARE SHAW – Fire River Poets". May 8, 2025.
27. "WRITER'S REFUGE". Northern Broadsides.
28. "@clareshawpoet.bsky.social on Bluesky".
29. "A collection that matters: Clare Shaw's 'Flood' | Write Out Loud". www.writeoutloud.net. October 6, 2019.
30. "Straight Ahead | Bloodaxe Books". www.bloodaxebooks.com.
31. "Head On | Bloodaxe Books". www.bloodaxebooks.com.
32. "Flood | Bloodaxe Books". www.bloodaxebooks.com.
33. "About - Seeing Poetry".