Simon Maddrell
LightNews LightNews
banner
simonmaddrell.bsky.social
Simon Maddrell
@simonmaddrell.bsky.social
630 followers 430 following 86 posts
Poet, Editor, Educator & Performer.
Sixth pamphlet ‘Patient L1’ out Feb 2025.
Debut collection with Out-Spoken Press, Feb 2026.
https://linkin.bio/simonmaddrell
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Simon Maddrell
outspokenpress.bsky.social
We’re delighted to share with you the cover for LAMPING WILD RABBITS, the debut collection by @simonmaddrell.bsky.social forthcoming 12 February 2026.

PRE-ORDERS are up now / outspokenldn.com/rabbits
Cover of lamping wild rabbits by Simon Maddrell: title in off white block condensed sans serif caps, over a sketched black rabbit, on blue In Simon Maddrell's wide and bracing world, childhood orbits the voice of a distant and sometimes dangerous parent. Memories of sex parties, dead friends and estranged lovers straddle the spaces between feeling and thought, loss and fatalism. lamping wild rabbits is a brave and expansive multiverse, exploring sexuality, queer desire, memory recall and testimony. With poems that pay homage to the late Derek Jarman, to verses which situate themselves in and around the Isle of Man, exploring Britain's colonial presence through the subverted interplay of English and the Manx language. A poly-vocal and multifaceted debut which is unafraid to confront the shame and stigma of HIV, while never allowing the poems to lose shape or pace, altering the lens to bring the reader's attention to birdsong and the queer body in nature. Maddrell has achieved a distinct and totally convincing sound through the literary geography of lamping wild rabbits, one that gives the impression it's been everywhere and returned because it survived.
November 3, 2025 at 12:50 PM
simonmaddrell.bsky.social
Delighted to share the cover and publisher blurb for my debut poetry collection – out Feb 12th but available for pre-order from @outspokenpress.bsky.social

www.outspokenldn.com/shop/rabbits
In Simon Maddrell’s wide and bracing world, childhood orbits the voice of a distant and sometimes dangerous parent. Memories of sex parties, dead friends and estranged lovers straddle the spaces between feeling and thought, loss and fatalism. lamping wild rabbits is a brave and expansive multiverse, exploring sexuality, queer desire, memory recall and testimony. With poems that pay homage to the late Derek Jarman, to verses which situate themselves in and around the Isle of Man, exploring Britain’s colonial presence through the subverted interplay of English and the Manx language. A poly-vocal and multifaceted debut which is unafraid to confront the shame and stigma of HIV, while never allowing the poems to lose shape or pace, altering the lens to bring the reader’s attention to birdsong and the queer body in nature. Maddrell has achieved a distinct and totally convincing sound through the literary geography of lamping wild rabbits, one that gives the impression it’s been everywhere and returned because it survived.
November 3, 2025 at 4:35 PM
simonmaddrell.bsky.social
Delighted to have another poem in La Piccioletta Barca #gaza #palestineaction #freepalestine
October 30, 2025 at 12:34 AM
simonmaddrell.bsky.social
Wonderfully kind blog about my performance at Poetry Cafe Eastbourne on Tuesday 9th. It was a pleasure to perform to such an attentive and appreciative audience.

poetrycafeeastbourne.wixsite.com/home/post/si...
Simon's September Eloquence
Simon Maddrell as September's Guest Poet was a joy to behold, to hear and to learn from. Stunning in its content and beautifully rhythmic in its heart beat paced delivery, Simon's set was sharply focu...
poetrycafeeastbourne.wixsite.com
September 12, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Reposted by Simon Maddrell
inksweatandtears.co.uk
In 'Bringing Pilates to Attention', Simon Maddrell / @simonmaddrell.bsky.social highlights the development of Pilates while exploring the idea of correction and repair.

Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/simon-maddre...

#InkSweatandTears #PoetryCommunity #Submission
Image: Man doing pilates, legs raised in the air Text: Bringing Pilates to Attention Four years in Knockaloe was a living inspiration for inventor Joseph Pilates. Simon Maddrell©
September 4, 2025 at 8:33 AM
simonmaddrell.bsky.social
You only need to read the first poem of Natalie Shapero‘s Stay Dead to know how good her new collection from @outspokenpress.bsky.social is going to be.
August 21, 2025 at 1:11 PM
simonmaddrell.bsky.social
I’m very proud to have had three pamphlets published by @polari.press
I stand “full square behind” Peter Collins and their commitment to platforming LGBTQ+ voices.
polari.press Polari Press @polari.press · Aug 18
Polari Press statement on the unaffiliated Polari Prize.

As director of Polari Press, a queer-focused independent publishing house and design practice, I've been watching the developments of this year’s Polari Prize.

1 / 6
Polari Press statement on the unaffiliated Polari Prize. As director of Polari Press, a queer-focused independent publishing house and design practice, I've been watching the developments of this year's Polari Prize. I hadn't wanted to comment because I feared this would add, rather than reduce, any possible confusion. As time has gone on, however, I feel it necessary to clarify things, as well as reassert my values. Polari Press was founded in 2020 by me, Peter Collins, and has no association or affiliation with the Polari Prize or Polari Literary Salon. 1/2 Defending the rights of trans people is vital to me. As a gay man who grew up under the cloud of Section 28, I see today's transphobia for what it is: an all-too-loud echo of the homophobia that weighed heavily on my younger self, regurgitated and repackaged for a new era of bigotry. For the record, l'd never knowingly publish a book by an author with transphobic views. Polari-the queer language made necessary due to discrimination and criminalisation against us-holds an important place in our shared history, and it means a great deal to me personally. I plan to continue using it as the name for my practice. Peter Collins Founder & director Polari Press 2/2
August 18, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Reposted by Simon Maddrell
simonmaddrell.bsky.social
#gaza #freepalestine #stopthegenocide #endwarcrimes #permanentceasefire #stopstarvation #endtheoccupation #endapartheid #endarmssalestoisrael #nospyplanes
June 1, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Simon Maddrell
eatthestorms.com
This weekend, our final two returning guests for our annual Pride Poetry Party 🏳️‍🌈 on Eat the Storms are @simonmaddrell.bsky.social from the Isle of Man and m, from Wales, David Hanlon

Tune in on most platforms to ensure you Stay Bloody Poetic and damn Proud 🏳️‍🌈
June 26, 2025 at 7:43 PM
simonmaddrell.bsky.social
New Pamphlet Alert!!!!
Out July.
20% Off pre-orders.

Jo & Ni Go Cruising
Limited Edition of 100

This wonderful stitched pamphlet contains 'found poems' from the holiday journal of teacher, poet, playwright and activist Nigel Young (1946-2022).

simonmaddrell.sumupstore.com/product/jo-a...
June 28, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Simon Maddrell
echepoetry.bsky.social
From ‘Burial Plots’ by Simon Maddrell @simonmaddrell.bsky.social

read the full poem at www.echepoetry.co.uk/one
June 17, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Reposted by Simon Maddrell
nblascsok.bsky.social
Lovely to have a new poem out in this brand new mag alongside my friend @simonmaddrell.bsky.social & other fab poets

read my piece here:
www.echepoetry.co.uk/one/blascsok
June 1, 2025 at 4:51 PM
simonmaddrell.bsky.social
#gaza #freepalestine #stopthegenocide #endwarcrimes #permanentceasefire #stopstarvation #endtheoccupation #endapartheid #endarmssalestoisrael #nospyplanes
June 1, 2025 at 3:02 PM
simonmaddrell.bsky.social
For those who love my garden pics — I have four ‘garden themed’ poems featured in the latest episode of Poetry Worth Hearing

Read here:
www.poetryworthhearing.biz/post/poetry-...

Listen here:
creators.spotify.com/pod/show/kat...
Poetry Worth Hearing: Episode 33
This episode opens with a selection of poems from David Constantine's A Bird Called Elaeus, introduced and read by the author. Many thanks to Bloodaxe for allowing us to usse these poems. The prompt f...
www.poetryworthhearing.biz
May 29, 2025 at 5:48 PM
simonmaddrell.bsky.social
Delighted to be in this Sídhe Press anthology available from here: www.sidhe-press.eu/books/to-lay...
@sidhepress.bsky.social
Proceeds to Gaza
Cover of To Lay Sun Into A Forest - Poems About Grief by Sídhe Press. There is a swirl of a painting, red, yellow, orange, you can see the brushstrokes. On it is the title in a handwriting font.
April 21, 2025 at 8:26 PM
simonmaddrell.bsky.social
They should be significantly ‘Water Positive’ in the areas they site these places. By their very nature they are in semi-arid areas where water stress is a problem already.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Revealed: Big tech’s new datacentres will take water from the world’s driest areas
Amazon, Google and Microsoft are building datacentres in water-scarce parts of five continents
www.theguardian.com
April 11, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Reposted by Simon Maddrell
aanaxagorou.bsky.social
I did a small interview for the Southbank Centre's How I Create magazine series where I spoke about the various plates I spin and the difference between art and creativity.

www.southbankcentre.co.uk/magazine/how...
How I create… with poet Anthony Anaxagorou | Southbank Centre
From the need for music to thriving on feedback, get an understanding of how the award-winning poet crafts his lines.
www.southbankcentre.co.uk
March 20, 2025 at 9:45 AM
simonmaddrell.bsky.social
From 18-25 March, #BigGive is doubling every donation made to @creativefutureuk.bsky.social 📣
The Writers’ Award is the only free to enter national writing competition for ALL underrepresented writers. Your donation will help keep it free!
Donate: donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

#ArtsForImpact
March 18, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by Simon Maddrell
jay.bsky.team
Ozymandias
Ozymandias I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: ‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’ Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
March 18, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Reposted by Simon Maddrell
atriumpoetry.bsky.social
Thanks for reading and sharing today's poem - Strings & Whistles by @simonmaddrell.bsky.social
March 7, 2025 at 10:15 PM
simonmaddrell.bsky.social
Interview on Manx Radio Spotlight programme about my verse memoir in the voice of Jonathan Blake ‘Patient L1’ from Polari Press.

@polari.press @jonb-2149.bsky.social @manxradio.bsky.social
SPOTLIGHT 05 FEBRUARY 2025
YouTube video by Manx Radio
youtu.be
March 18, 2025 at 2:59 PM
simonmaddrell.bsky.social
Delighted to appear as a TLC Showcase talking about the two Free Reads I received thanks to @newwritingsouth.bsky.social and @arvonfoundation.bsky.social for my new — but yet to be finalised — debut collection with @outspokenpress.bsky.social

literaryconsultancy.co.uk/resources/sh...
March 7, 2025 at 8:53 PM
simonmaddrell.bsky.social
Thanks so much to @hollyannepoet.bsky.social and @clairewalkerpoetry.bsky.social fir publishing this poem
March 7, 2025 at 8:50 PM
simonmaddrell.bsky.social
I now have a website — supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England

Thanks @artscouncilengland.bsky.social

Link in bio
www.simonmaddrell.com
March 2, 2025 at 12:30 AM