Ann Sansom | Poet, tutor


About 

“compelling . . . skilful” – Poetry Review


Ann Sansom is a poet, playwright, and tutor.


She has published six collections of poetry; had work published in several Forward/Faber anthologies, Russian Vogue, and a range of other publications; and has written and directed plays for stage and radio.


She has also worked with The British Film Institute on a series of commissioned film-related poems and written a screenplay for a series of short films.


Ann is currently a regular tutor for the WEA, the Poetry Society, and the Arvon Foundation and has taught at Oxford, Leeds, and Sheffield Hallam universities. She regularly works in schools and tutors writing residentials, teaching children of all ages and abilities, and she ran a weekly writers' workshop at Doncaster YWCA for 30 years.


Ann is also a director of The Poetry Business, which publishes The North magazine and Smith/Doorstop books.


Literary Awards


 • 2003 – Author’s Foundation Award from the Society of Authors

 • 1998 – Arts Council Literature Award

 • 1994 – YHA bursary for Irish poetry translation

Get in touch

It's a hundred and six miles to Chicago

"It's a hundred and six miles to Chicago. We've a full tank of gas and half a pack of cigarettes. It's dark and we're wearing sunglasses." "Hit it." – The Blues Brothers


Tomorrow you'll sit back and contemplate this spread of drizzling fields.

Not now, not you; your hat well down, your pallid elbow at the window

of a pale green Buick on a freeway in the 60s.


And not this viaduct dear god and not this catalogue of sheds and barns,

the earnest cyclist in the mac, that harmless roaming dog. Not here

above a place you never thought to love and don't quite hate enough.


You'd sooner wake unshaven to a different day; a slow train west,

a festive smokers only carriage loaded up with crates. Hard luck.

You own this battered face, the passengers who wince from your O Christ.


Collect yourself. Somewhere you fell asleep, backed in. This train

is ready to set out again to where you've been. It's almost dusk.

Step down. Above you there's a blurred board ticking off


the twenty-four hour clock, a Wakefield afternoon.

A fast train eases in. It's yours. You could get on.

Voice


Call, by all means, but just once

don’t use the broken heart again voice;

the I’m sick to death of life and women

and romance voice but with a little help

I’ll try to struggle on voice


Spare me the promise and the curse

voice, the ansafoney Call me, please

when you get in voice, the nobody knows

the trouble I’ve seen voice; the I’d value

your advice voice.


I want the how it was voice;

the call me irresponsible but aren’t I nice voice;

the such a bastard but I warn them in advance voice.

The We all have weaknesses

and mine is being wicked voice


the life’s short and wasting time’s

the only vice voice, the stay in touch,

but out of reach voice. I want to hear

the things it’s better not to broach voice

the things it’s wiser not to voice voice.


From Romance (1994)

(Reproduced in the first issue of Russian Vogue 1999)

Reviews

In Praise of Men…

(Bloodaxe 2003)

"This is the writer’s ingenuity... : each part of the narrative is correlative, none is objective, and the balance between them reveals an improvisation that is both physical and emotional … this compelling volume of conflicting advice, conflicting loyalties, and skilful ventriloquy ends unambiguously on Sansom’s own voice: momentarily, something solid, perhaps." – Poetry Review


"Ann Sansom's new collection is a welcome return for a quietly authoritative, resiliently gritty poet whose debut collection. Romance, won her many admirers. These are poems that overturn readers' expectations. They often present human dramas in which people are seen as acting out their versions of themselves in their own fictions. They are set in curiously deracinated urban landscapes, homing in on chance encounters and missed connections, and balanced by a brisk authenticity and affectionate generosity." – TLS, Neil Powell

"Much of the best poetry in any age starts off with the local and then moves beyond it to the wider application of what is seen and experienced. Ann Sansom does that widening with skill and imagination." – Ambit 175, Jim Burns


"The disparate poems in the collection capture the poignancy of the everyday, with a quiet and measured voice, that is the more powerful for its restraint." – Dazed and Confused


"She’s brill." – Artscene, Vic Allen





Opening the Ice


(Smith|Doorstop 1990)


"A clear sense of narrative illuminated by accurate observation … with a sharp edge of personal involvement, of love and love lost that gives her poems an intimate feel. Warm, direct and delicately phrased." – David Harmer

Romance

(Bloodaxe 1994)

"Ann Sansom’s naturally accomplished and instinctively organised poems come as a breath of fresh air … There is a maturity to her work, a sureness of hand associated with only the most established poets, but there is a freshness too, and a bareknuckle confidence that seems to sing of the author’s realisation of poetry as a first language and a mother tongue." – Simon Armitage


"Ann Sansom has found her territory and speaks from it with eloquence and power." – Helen Dunmore


"An authentic Northern mix of realism and imagination [that demonstrates] her eye for detail, the pure phrasing of a largely unfigurative language and the range of her imagination." – Stanley Cook


Publications & Performance

Collections

In Praise of Men and Other People, Bloodaxe 2003

 

Vehicle, Slow Dancer Press 1999

 

Romance, Bloodaxe 1994

 

Opening the Ice, Smith|Doorstop 1990

 

Painting From Memory, Smith|Doorstop 1989

Anthologies

Signs and Humours: The Poetry of Medicine, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation 2007

 

Images of Women (ed. Myra Schneider and Dilys Wood), Arrowhead Press 2006

 

Poems of the Decade, Forward/Faber 2001

 

New Blood (ed. Neil Astley), Bloodaxe 1999

 

Making for Planet Alice (ed. Maura Dooley), Bloodaxe 1997

 

The Long Pale Corridor, Bloodaxe 1996

 

The Forward Book of Poetry, Forward/Faber 1996

 

Poetry with an Edge (ed. Neil Astley), Bloodaxe 1995

 

The Forward Book of Poetry, Forward/Faber 1995

 

The Red Deer Anthology, Red Deer 1992

 

The Virago Book of Wicked Verse (ed. Jill Dawson), Virago Press 1992

Magazines & Newspapers

Poetry Review (various editions)

Times Literary Supplement (various editions)

Vogue (Russia), 1999

Purple Magazine (France), 1999

Attitude (USA), 1999

Art and the Artist, 2001

Guardian

Independent

Atlanta Review

Carapace (South Africa)

Horisont (Finland/Sweden)

London Magazine

Pennine Platform

The Rialto

Second Light

The Wide Skirt

Writing Women

Dazed and Confused

Editor

Ann is co-director of The Poetry Business and editor of Smith|Doorstop and The North.


She has edited a number of poetry collections:

Poetry in Motion, Penistone Line Project (2000)

Guest poet at the Times Educational Supplement (1999)

Leeds University Poetry in Education (1998, 99)

Oakwell Hall anthology (1997)

Doncaster Women’s Centre group anthologies (1992, 94, 99)

Script

Stage, Radio and Screen

Ann has written and directed two stage plays for Yorkshire Women Theatre and a play for BBC Radio 4 and worked with a director on a short film script based on one of her poems.


Ann was commissioned by the British Film Institute to write two poems based on films screened at the BFI South Bank in London.


Art Installation

"Oh great one, to restore my power, tell me what I am like. I will ask questions so that you can tell my story … Every idea is a good idea, however simple or odd or rushed, because it is yours."


Ann co-wrote the script for the 'Genie' exhibition at the Magna Science Adventure Centre. The exhibition allowed children to access a 'genie spirit' inside exhibits, using a 'magic mirror' (a tablet PC). The children interacted with the genie and produced poems that became its 'memory stories'. The exhibition was piloted in late 2006, and received excellent feedback.

Commissions

British Film Institute

In 2007, Ann was commissioned by the British Film Institute to write two poems; the first inspired by the word 'Seacoal' (the title of a BFI film) and the second after watching the film. She later read the poems at a public reading at BFI South Bank, London.


Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

In 2007, Ann was one of twenty-two poets commissioned by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to shadow a doctor and write a poem on the subject of the body and contemporary biomedical practises. The anthology contains 100 poems, and includes work by Thomas Hardy, DH Lawrence, Shakespeare and Chaucer.


Year of the Artist Residency

In 2000, Ann began working with the sculptor Victoria Brailsford as part of the Year of the Artist residency with Sheffield ‘Off the Shelf’ Festival. The project involved writing poetry inspired by Glen Howe Park (a sculpture park) and leading workshops for schools groups to do the same.


Oakwell Hall Country Park

Ann was commissioned by Oakwell Hall Country Park to write poetry inspired by the park. The extended residency took place between 1997 and 2000, and included working alone and leading schools workshops.


Houghton Hall Park

In collaboration with the Poetry Society and the Urban Parks Regeneration Programme, Ann spent ten days working with people from the Houghton Hall Park local community. She led writing workshops, exploring through poetry what the park and its history meant to local people. The commission was intended as a cornerstone of a sustained programme of poetry work in the area.

Readings

Ann has read at a variety of poetry events and literature festivals in Europe over the last 30 years.


Her past readings include:

BFI South Bank, London (2007)

Vaasa Poetry Festival, Finland (2002)

Ledbury Festival (1997 and 1998)

Poetry Society 'Poets-on-Poets' lecture on Robert Browning

Aldeburgh Poetry Trust and Suffolk Arts reading tour

'Voice Box', Festival Hall in London

Numerous Arvon courses as a guest reader (1989-2007)

Writing Workshops

Ann has led writing workshops in schools, in hospitals, in prisons, in art galleries, and on trains. She has worked with singing groups, artists, and travellers – and with primary school children, people in their 90s, and every age group in between. More than anything, she enjoys working with beginning writers and watching them grow in confidence and ability.

The Poetry Society


Ann has been a regular tutor for the Poetry Society for 20 years, and is a tutor for the Poetry Society’s masterclass, poetryclass, where she works with teachers to improve the teaching of creative writing in schools and universities. She established a flagship project at Exeter University, working with newly qualified teachers and their mentors to encourage and enable teachers of creative writing.


Ann's analysis of this residency is included in the Poetry Society’s online teaching resource, 'Poetry Class' and used as a model for poetry tutoring. The resource is intended for use by teachers and PGCE students to inspire an interest in poetry in their younger pupils.


Ann also taught the ‘Poetry Places: Heartbeat’ songwriting group in 2000.



Arvon Foundation


Ann is a regular tutor for the Arvon Foundation and has run courses in all four centres over the last eighteen years. She has worked with a variety of other tutors, and attended as a guest reader on numerous occasions.


Ann has taught school groups and open courses, working with students of all ages and levels of ability.


Schools


Ann has led workshops in hundreds of schools over the last 30 years. She taught in schools in collaboration with the Aldeburgh Poetry Trust in 1994, 1995, 1998 and 2000, and in Bedford schools with the Poetry Society in 1999. She also worked in Birmingham schools in 2002 in collaboration with the Jubilee Trust.


Ann co-tutored 'The School Train Project' in 1998, 1999 and 2001, taking classes of school children on train journeys and leading workshops along the way. The finished poems were co-edited by Ann and published in a small press anthology.


Ann worked with the sculptor Victoria Brailsford during 2000-01 as part of the Year of the Artist residency with Sheffield ‘Off the Shelf’ Festival. The project involved working with school students in Glen Howe Park (a sculpture park) and writing poetry inspired by the grounds.

In 2006, Ann taught staff and students at Lambra High School, Punjab, India, as part of the Manchester Literary Festival. The finished poems have been published in a special text messaging service, Anywhereblogs.



Universities


Ann has been a visiting lecturer at the University of Oxford since 2002, and has taught and given occasional readings and talks at the Leeds University School of Education since 1992. Ann has also taught at The University of Exeter and supervised poetry and short story undergraduates at Sheffield Hallam University.


The Workers' Educational Association (WEA)


Ann was the Doncaster Women's Centre librarian for many years, and ran a weekly writers' workshop there between 1988 and 2018. The group was WEA-funded and published three anthologies, edited by Ann.



Prisons


As part of the 2002 CityPoems project, Ann held workshops in Leeds for hearing-impaired students at Allerton Grange, staff and men at HMP Armley, members of Burmantofts Senior Action and staff at First Direct and the city art gallery.


The finished poems formed a 'biography of the city' and were presented at various 'Poetry Points' around Leeds city centre and made accessible to the public by text message.



Other


Ann led a weekly writers' workshop in the Huddersfield City Library between 1991 and 1995 as a part of Kirklees Community Writing Programme. She also held workshops in Derbyshire libraries, hospitals and residential homes during October 1999 (in collaboration with the Poetry Society) and in Bury Museum & Art Gallery in June 2000.


During 2002, Ann tutored a weekly writers' workshop for women in Sheffield Women’s Cultural Club.



Get in Touch

Ann is available for readings, workshops, tutoring (all age groups), and arts consultancy. She is based in Sheffield and regularly hosts online workshops.


Most of her back catalogue is available from Bloodaxe and Amazon.


To make a booking, email ann@annsansom.co.uk or use the form opposite. You can also contact Ann via The Poetry Business.

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