Angela Topping

Angela is a poet. She is also an experienced teacher and holds Masters degrees in English Literature and in Arts in Education. She leads workshops with all ages from nursery to elders, building confidence in their ability to write, tell stories and make books. She enjoys performing, both her own work and themed programmes.  Widely published, she has read her work in a wide range of venues, such as schools, libraries, bookshops and hospices. In October 2013, she took up a residency in Gladstone’s Library, Hawarden. In 2014, she took an exhibition to StAnza, of poems and art work based on re-discovered family letters, a collaboration with artist Maria Walker. That exhibition also featured at The Brindley, Runcorn, and Waterside Art Gallery at Sale, and the last one was at Salford Museum and Art gallery.

In 2011, a quotation from one of her poems appeared on the National Poetry Day poem cards and the same poem featured in the athletics area of the Olympic stadium during the Games. In 2014, one of her poems, ‘Little Houses’ was featured on the National Poetry Day website. A commissioned poem for StAnza, in conjunction with St Andrews University, featured on a postcard handed out at the festival, in 2018.

She was Highly Commended in the Cheshire High Sherriff’s Prize for Children’s Literature, with the only poem to be placed in the top five entries. In 2011, she was shortlisted for The Bridport Poetry Competition. In 2013, she won first prize in the Buzzwords Poetry Competition, judged by David Morley. She won First Prize in the 2018 Crewe and Nantwich competition, judged by Roger Elkin. Poems have appeared in a range of journals including Poetry Review, The Dark Horse, The North, Stand and London Magazine.

Angela can be booked independently, or though NAWE. She has judged several competitions, including one run by a leading examination board for all GCSE students, and several adult competitions, including two pamphlet competitions. For three years she was an adjudicator for the Silver medal verse-speaking awards for The Poetry Society.

Angela also writes student guides and articles. She co-authored a range of GCSE textbooks published by OUP and several critical monographs published by Greenwich Exchange. She has also contributed chapters to books on Creative Writing at Masters Level.

Angela is an former teacher, examiner, and moderator. She is qualified to teach both Secondary and Adult Education. She holds an annually updated DBS/ CRB registration.

In addition to working as a freelance poet, Angela is also an inset English Literature lecturer for Sovereign Education, has led residential poetry courses.

Her poetry is published

• In eight solo collections and five pamphlets
• by Macmillan, OUP, Hodder, Collins and Wayland in over 100 anthologies,
• poetry magazines/journals including Poetry Review, London Magazine, Critical Survey, Smoke, The North, The Dark Horse, The Interpreter’s House, Magma  and The Reader.

Media

• BSB TV
• interviewed on BBC Radio
• Three appearances so far on BBC Radio’s Poetry Please

Publications

• Her first solo children’s collection is published by Salt, entitled The New Generation.
• Her solo adult poetry collections are Dandelions for Mothers’ Day and The Fiddle, both from Stride, and The Way We Came from bluechrome. Angela’s latest collections are Paper Patterns (Lapwing 2012) and Letting Go (Mother’s Milk Books 2013).
• In 2011, four chapbooks were published. I Sing of Bricks is in the Salt Modern Voices series, Catching On is a ten poem elegy for Matt Simpson published by Rack Press, Kids’ Stuff is a further children’s book and The Lightfoot Letters was compiled to accompany an exhibition with textile artist Maria Walker, based on a 1923 bundle of letters, which were purchased by Maria before she met Angela, but turned out to have been written by Angela’s father’s family. The latter two chapbooks were published by Erbacce.
• Her most recent chapbook, Hearth,  was a collaboration with poet Sarah James. It was published by Mother’s Milk Books in 2015. It was launched at Cheltenham Poetry Festival, and one of the poems, ‘Crow Lines’, was commended in their Compound Poem competition.
• Her eighth collection is The Five Petals of Elderflower (Red Squirrel Press 2016).