Alice Stainer
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alicestainer.bsky.social
Alice Stainer
@alicestainer.bsky.social
780 followers 220 following 190 posts
Poet; lecturer; Victorianist; singer; Scottish dancer; nature lover; wine or tea, that is the question; the sea, the sea; land of the mountain & the flood.
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Reposted by Alice Stainer
theemmapress.bsky.social
📣 NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT📣 We are delighted to announce the acquisition of THE WAY THE WATER HELD ME by @catherineredford.bsky.social, a heart-wrenching debut about young widowhood

THE WAY THE WATER HELD ME is available to pre-order now

Publishing March 2026 ~ Pre-order here: buff.ly/i1HAi3Y
November 14, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Alice Stainer
thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social
Hear me read the following poem plus two others at the launch of this wonderful Crooked Spire Press anthology in the Unitarian Church, Doncaster, this Saturday from 13.00pm onwards:
Harsh Light Gentle light should enter these open eyes, slow. Sat on slagheap blue sky midday see flit white clouds pass shadows over pit, ply and flow girded redbrick coal washery over bright puddles, empty slurry tanks cross concrete bunkers of unused sand, lime, gravel. Recall days ago nightshift rank veins freeze blood heat, ice encrusted hands rimed, ground concrete hurt all when I fell one snowed winter day heavy weight hauls postal bag down, I slip on an iced drift to unload post bottom of door number eight. I rag, open sprung letterbox, sharp fringed brush put letter pull out quick metal lid slams shut. Paul Brookes
November 10, 2025 at 12:59 PM
alicestainer.bsky.social
The building in which I teach recently had to change all the lights to LED ones, which are too bright for my eyes, so I've been teaching in semi-gloom. Today an uplighter was installed, so now everyone is super-jealous of my cosily lit tutorial space 😅💡🤩
November 10, 2025 at 12:21 PM
alicestainer.bsky.social
This was such a lovely evening. Great company, varied and accomplished poetry and just the right length. Do support @paulwritespoems.bsky.social if/when he holds another session.
paulwritespoems.bsky.social Paul @paulwritespoems.bsky.social · 5d
Thank you to all who made tonight’s first Book Bag Open Mic Session. Absolutely stellar poetry throughout with incredible support and encouragement 🙏.

@gillbarr.bsky.social
@alanparrywriter.co.uk
@helenlaycock.bsky.social
@jahshabby.bsky.social
@markantonyowen.com
@victoriaspires.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Reposted by Alice Stainer
thebrokenspine.co.uk
Mark it down: Dec 20th @ 20.00 — #PoemsAbout #OpenMic + #ChristmasParty returns! Poets, readers, friends — one final night to lift your words before the year ends. 🎤✨

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1967176915...
A Christmas tree made of soft, out-of-focus lights glows against a dark blue background. The blurred bulbs form a tapering triangle of reds, greens, yellows, and oranges. White text on the left reads: “#POEMSABOUT VIRTUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY & OPEN MIC 20.12.25 @ 20.00 — Hosted by Alan Parry.” The Broken Spine logo, shaped like a black fountain pen nib, appears at the top right.
November 9, 2025 at 8:56 PM
alicestainer.bsky.social
This was such a lovely surprise!Thank you to @catherineredford.bsky.social & @tarawheeler.bsky.social for this vote of confidence 🤩
November 8, 2025 at 12:20 PM
alicestainer.bsky.social
Well, this is fun! Fine company to keep @pdevonald.bsky.social @thepaulconnolly.bsky.social @eleanorholmes.bsky.social @sarahraybould.bsky.social Well done all!
November 6, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Reposted by Alice Stainer
racheldeering.bsky.social
Please review my collection on Amazon or Goodreads if you have been lovely enough to buy it. It really helps. www.goodreads.com/book/show/21... In the Shadow of Gods amzn.eu/d/gRaCt0j
December 23, 2024 at 11:53 PM
Reposted by Alice Stainer
bethbpoet.bsky.social
So the UN agrees it’s genocide. Time to give this another airing. We are all complicit I fear.
Nakba We are already deep into that night where the unspeakable creeps out; we sense the tapping of its spindle fingers as it feels it way along the walls, crawls to meet the rhythm of our hurrying feet; we are anxious to reach the safety of home where the lamps are lit and there are, we think, no shadows to disquiet us. We walk, try to keep ourselves from running, but the monsters of our unfinished business wait just ahead. Wraithlike, they slip in behind us as we open the front door, sit in our favourite chairs; their rictus smiles greet us when we enter the sanctuary of our living room and turn on the light.
September 16, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Reposted by Alice Stainer
vespertine4.bsky.social
After a year and a half of trying, I finally got an acceptance from a poetry journal I’ve been aiming for — and on my twentieth submission, they took not one, not two, but three poems! Never give up! #persistence #poetry
August 15, 2025 at 1:05 PM
alicestainer.bsky.social
On the lighter end of my poetic output today, but I have a soft spot for this poem & am so gratified that @clairewalkerpoetry.bsky.social & @hollyannepoet.bsky.social saw something in it. Have a read & let me know what you think 🥰 #poetsofbluesky
August 12, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Reposted by Alice Stainer
bloodaxebooks.bsky.social
We're delighted that @niallpoetry.bsky.social and Vidyan Ravinthiran have been shortlisted for the @forwardprizes.bsky.social Prize for Best Collection for their third collections The Island in the Sound and #Avidyā. Many congratulations both! #ForwardPrizes
www.bloodaxebooks.com/news?article...
July 17, 2025 at 10:51 AM
alicestainer.bsky.social
I so enjoyed @cheltpoetfest.bsky.social reading tonight with guests the luminous @johnglenday.bsky.social & deceptively light @jonathandavidson.bsky.social. A wonderfully resonant pairing, supported by fine mic maestros. Heartfelt thanks as ever @annasaund.bsky.social & @zoebrooks.bsky.social 😍
July 1, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Reposted by Alice Stainer
rburrows.bsky.social
Can’t make it this time I’m afraid.
July 1, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Reposted by Alice Stainer
blackboughpoetry.bsky.social
JOIN US and book your free ticket NOW for Louise Machen's online launch of 'I Am Not Light' on Saturday 12th July, 6pm, with special guests. Unmissable! @louloumach.bsky.social

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/louise-mac...
June 30, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Reposted by Alice Stainer
thebrokenspine.co.uk
Want your book visible with our platforms the week #PIL launches?
Submit on the 30th.
Circa 20 platforms will be watching.
Be on their radar — not lost in the scroll.
#PromoteIndieLit #BookRelease #PoetsOfBlueSky
Promotional graphic for Promote Indie Lit (PIL), a free community network launching Monday, June 30th. Text reads: "Promote Indie Lit (PIL) – Connecting Poets, Presses & Platforms. A free community network for indie poets, publishers, reviewers, & podcast hosts. Supporting authentic, independent literature, together. Launching Monday, June 30th. Free to use. No sign-up. Just connection. Designed to boost book launches & indie visibility." The background is a muted teal colour with white serif text.
June 26, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Reposted by Alice Stainer
louisepoetical.bsky.social
Next Saturday is Last Saturday! What a treat it will be to be with these poets and hear them read their amazing poems! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/last-satur... - online Zoom and free!
June 22, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Reposted by Alice Stainer
barbmilne.bsky.social
‘When the teacher read out ‘Ode to a Nightingale’, I think I was sixteen then, I instantly knew I wanted to be a poet…’ the wonderful @pascalepetit.bsky.social . Samuel West reading #Keats = a brilliant half hour of #poetry
#PoetryPlease

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Poetry Please - Pascale Petit - BBC Sounds
Roger McGough talks to French British poet Pascale Petit.
www.bbc.co.uk
June 24, 2025 at 8:27 PM
alicestainer.bsky.social
Yesterday morning I was teaching Radcliffe's The Romance of the Forest, & as I travelled in on the bus I did a quick Gaelic lesson on Duolingo. What did I have to translate? (never had this sentence before): 'They were hidden in an ancient abbey' 😱 Spooky, eh???
June 24, 2025 at 1:21 PM
alicestainer.bsky.social
I played my creative writing students a recording of Yeats reading The Lake Isle of Innisfree this morning, & one of them said he sounded like a ghost from The Christmas Carol 🤣😍
June 24, 2025 at 1:17 PM
alicestainer.bsky.social
After reading at an outside poetry event & then waiting for the bus, I am actually COLD 🥶& it's quite delicious! ❄️⛄💙
June 23, 2025 at 9:51 PM
alicestainer.bsky.social
Have realised that even in this heat, I'm incapable of travelling about without 54 cardigans 'just in case' 🙄😂
June 20, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Reposted by Alice Stainer
rosannamcglone.bsky.social
I really like this poem and would like to use it for a poetry class, obviously acknowledging the poet! Can someone recognise this? If so, please dm me? The Last Light It did not fall with thunder,/ but with silence #Isthisyours
June 17, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Reposted by Alice Stainer
channel-lit.bsky.social
We're open for submissions! We'll be welcoming work in all forms, in English and Irish, for Issue 13 until 30 June ✨️

Full submissions guidelines at channelmag.org/submissions/
June 5, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Reposted by Alice Stainer
blackboughpoetry.bsky.social
Next week’s host of TopTweetTuesday on Twitter - Paul Short, poet and blogger at The Book Bag @paulwritespoems.bsky.social

👉 paulwritespoems.com/category/the...

#poetry #poetrycommunity #writing #poetic #poetryprompt
June 4, 2025 at 8:43 PM