Helen Ivory 🪠🐈‍⬛
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helenivory.bsky.social
Helen Ivory 🪠🐈‍⬛
@helenivory.bsky.social
Poet, artist. Cholmondeley Award winner. Sixth Bloodaxe collection, 'Constructing a Witch' is a PBS Winter Recommendation. I make collage and shadowboxes from broken things. I shout poems at the moon about the dark.
Pinned
If you would like to follow me on Substack, it's free! I've been sharing some research notes for Constructing a Witch (Bloodaxe 2024). I researched the book for about four years so it's been good to actually document this. Like many poets, I do so much research just to write a few stanzas!
Helen Ivory | poet | artist | Substack
Here are some writings about making my book 'Constructing a Witch' (Bloodaxe 2024). Click to read Helen Ivory | poet | artist, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
helenivory.substack.com
Reposted by Helen Ivory 🪠🐈‍⬛
And while we're here... a reminder that this year's #WolvesLitFest poetry competition is now open. Judges @helenivory.bsky.social and @martinfigura.bsky.social. £400 first prize. All the info you need is here: pandemonialists.co.uk/wolves-lit-f...
November 10, 2025 at 1:27 PM
I'm doing a short course on writing the menopause. . .
Our Spring Term is now live & we’ve got a whole host of brilliant tutors & poetry courses lined up, so be sure to book promptly to avoid disappointment. Our handy Quick Course Guide is linked in bio, where you’ll find everything you’ll need to know…

poetryschool.com/new-courses/... 🪻🌜
Spring 2026 – Quick Course Guide • Poetry School
Check out our Quick Course Guide for the Spring 2026 term which will help you pick a course to take at the Poetry School.
poetryschool.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Reposted by Helen Ivory 🪠🐈‍⬛
If you're a poet looking for a top-quality competition, judged by the impeccably wonderful @helenivory.bsky.social and @martinfigura.bsky.social, then you're in luck! The #WolvesLitFest poetry competition is now open!! 😊 All the info's here: pandemonialists.co.uk/wolves-lit-f...
November 2, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Hey sorry I've been away. What do you mean you didn't notice!? Anyway, it's #worldmenopauseday ! Let's celebrate! ( from Constructing a Witch @bloodaxebooks.bsky.social )
October 18, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Reposted by Helen Ivory 🪠🐈‍⬛
Online Courses — STUDIOS: Short, intensive poetry courses focusing on writing & inspiration, w/ tutors: Helen Ivory (@helenivory.bsky.social‬), ​​Cat Woodward, Isabelle Baafi, Matt Bryden.
July 7, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Join me for a dash of * Magic * in the darker months!
July 7, 2025 at 11:28 AM
A new Substack post about the film behind this poem from my Witch book. This is free to read - all my posts are free, so please do subscribe if you want to read some of my (four years of!) research for Constructing a Witch @bloodaxebooks.bsky.social #witch #constructingawitch #poetrycommunity
Häxan (1921)
some notes about my ekphrastic poem
open.substack.com
July 3, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Looking forward to performing a collaborative piece with @martinfigura.bsky.social at Dragon Hall tomorrow night. These @europeanpoetryfest.bsky.social events are always wild and brilliant. Do come! www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/norwich25
Norwich 2025 - July 3rd — European Poetry Festival
www.europeanpoetryfestival.com
July 2, 2025 at 11:00 AM
For anyone else with Dad Envy today in the UK! It's from my semi autobiographical @bloodaxebooks.bsky.social collection Waiting for Bluebeard. Sorry to be such a downer!
June 15, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Over to you! Vote vote vote!
What will be your Pick of the Month for May 2025? Will it be a poem from @wooperark.bsky.social, Jo Farrant, @martinfigura.bsky.social, Marissa Glover, Mofiyinfoluwa O. or Jennie E. Owen? Vote now at inksweatandtears.co.uk/may-2025-pic...!

#InkSweatandTears #PickoftheMonth
June 15, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Reposted by Helen Ivory 🪠🐈‍⬛
For National Flash Fiction Day, Louella Lester / @louellalester.bsky.social delivers a darkly comic poem about the chaos unleashed by one ill-advised siesta.

Read now!
inksweatandtears.co.uk/louella-lest...

#InkSweatandTears #Submission #FlashFiction @louellalester.bsky.social
June 14, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Reposted by Helen Ivory 🪠🐈‍⬛
'We Were Seeds' is a riveting poem by Tom Nutting, drawn from the trans rights protests and counter-protests in Bristol, April 2025.

Read here
inksweatandtears.co.uk/tom-nutting/

#InkSweatandTears #Submission #PoetryCommunity
June 3, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Reposted by Helen Ivory 🪠🐈‍⬛
Very grateful to Helen Ivory for publishing this poem that means a lot to me.
In 'Homeland,' Rachael Clyne / @rachaelclyne.bsky.social asks us to consider the ties between land, people, and memory—what is lost, what remains, and what might return.

Read now!
inksweatandtears.co.uk/rachael-clyn...

#InkSweatandTears #Submission #PoetryCommunity
June 4, 2025 at 12:26 PM
If you would like to follow me on Substack, it's free! I've been sharing some research notes for Constructing a Witch (Bloodaxe 2024). I researched the book for about four years so it's been good to actually document this. Like many poets, I do so much research just to write a few stanzas!
Helen Ivory | poet | artist | Substack
Here are some writings about making my book 'Constructing a Witch' (Bloodaxe 2024). Click to read Helen Ivory | poet | artist, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
helenivory.substack.com
May 30, 2025 at 9:22 AM
I've made a little Substack post about the mutability of milk. I've been sharing some of the (four years of!) research for my @bloodaxebooks.bsky.social collection Constructing a Witch. It's free to read! #constructingawitch #witch #poem #feministwitch

helenivory.substack.com/p/dairying
Hexed Milk
Some notes about my poem 'Dairying'
helenivory.substack.com
May 28, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Reposted by Helen Ivory 🪠🐈‍⬛
Inspired by Van Gogh's 'Starry Night Over the Rhône', Denise Bundred’s poem captures a moment of tension and beauty, tethered in light and shadow.

Read now
inksweatandtears.co.uk/denise-bundr...

#InkSweatandTears #PoetryCommunity
May 26, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Reposted by Helen Ivory 🪠🐈‍⬛
Chris Emery’s 'Truer' is a meditation on memory and grief—on the things we don’t fully remember but still carry. @chrisemery.me

Read now!
inksweatandtears.co.uk/chris-emery-2/

#InkSweatandTears #Submission #PoetryCommunity
May 24, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Reposted by Helen Ivory 🪠🐈‍⬛
A hand, a map, a memory. Tracing the weathered lines of history and healing in 'O What That Hand Could Tell' by Jonathan Edis.

View here
inksweatandtears.co.uk/jonathan-edi...

#InkSweatandTears #Submission #WordandImage #PoetryCommunity
May 24, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Reposted by Helen Ivory 🪠🐈‍⬛
In this tender, evocative meditation on loss and departure, Mofiyinfoluwa O. explores the delicate rituals we create to cope with endings.

Read 'Palm Trees on the Edge of Farewell' here
inksweatandtears.co.uk/mofiyinfoluw...

#InkSweatandTears #PoetryCommunity
May 25, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Reposted by Helen Ivory 🪠🐈‍⬛
Samuel A. Adeyemi’s 'Without Blood' is a powerful reckoning with pain, identity, and the myth of the tortured artist.

Read now
inksweatandtears.co.uk/samuel-a-ade...

#InkSweatandTears #PoetryCommunity
May 25, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Reposted by Helen Ivory 🪠🐈‍⬛
In two weeks time, we welcome the incredible and hard-working @martinfigura.bsky.social and @helenivory.bsky.social to Yes We Cant. Open-mic spots available in advance (and on the door on the night) so get in touch if you want one. 😊
May 18, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Reposted by Helen Ivory 🪠🐈‍⬛
Whose work will you choose for your April 2025 Pick of the Month: Paul Bavister, Elena Chamberlain, @vaikuspg.bsky.social, Opeyemi Oluwayomi, @philvernon.bsky.social or @heathercwalker.bsky.social? Go to inksweatandtears.co.uk/april-2025-p... for details.
May 16, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Helen Ivory 🪠🐈‍⬛
In this searing piece, Martin Figura / @martinfigura.bsky.social reflects on the silent struggles of Looked After Children, the profit-driven care system, and the lifelong impact it leaves.

Read now!
inksweatandtears.co.uk/martin-figur...

#InkSweatandTears #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek #Poetry
May 17, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Reposted by Helen Ivory 🪠🐈‍⬛
In 'Why Words Help,' @drsteffiaspinphd.bsky.social reminds us that writing isn’t just expression—it’s healing, discovery, & the making of meaning. This #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek, we honour the transformative power of language.

inksweatandtears.co.uk/stephanie-as...

#InkSweatandTears #Prose
May 13, 2025 at 2:29 PM