Hollie has written her diaries in poems since she was seven, a little obsessively. Now a full time poet, she has received huge acclaim with Benjamin Zephaniah saying ‘I can’t take my ears off her’. She is the first poet to have performed and recorded an album at London’s Abbey Road Studios.

I’ve worked with WCN [now the National Centre for Writing] through gigging a number of times, they put on cracking events which are always exciting to be part of. Most recently a sell-out show at Norwich Arts Centre as part of the City of Literature programme for Norfolk & Norwich Festival.

The response to my poetry still seems a little surreal, like it’s someone else’s job and as soon as I get home it’s back to the school run and parks and washing up! It’s a bloody privilege though – I really love the job and hope it lasts for a while longer!

‘WCN put on cracking events’

A close friend of mine described my poems as being like Ronseal quick dry and wood stain (does exactly what it says on the tin. Another said they were ‘short and easy to understand’. I think they’ve both got a point. I don’t think I think differently to lots and lots of people so anything personal to me is very likely I feel to be felt by others too. And the fact that I don’t think in very rich metaphors or complicated similes and wordplay possibly also helps my poetry have a wider appeal!

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