Lorna Thorpe

Lorna Thorpe’s first book Dancing to Motown (Pighog, 2005) was a Poetry Book Society pamphlet choice. The book marked a turning point in her writing life. Until its publication she’d largely thought of herself as a prose writer, studying fiction on the MA in creative writing at the University of East Anglia. But the success of the pamphlet and the backing of other poets encouraged her to focus on writing poetry. She has since gone on to publish two collections — A Ghost in My House (Arc, 2008) and Sweet Torture of Breathing (Arc, 2011) — and she is currently working on her third collection, provisionally titled ‘True North’.

Her poems have been published in literary magazines and anthologies, including the Wolf, the Warwick Review, the Echo Room and the Frogmore Papers. She sat on the board of Pighog Press between 2006 and 2008, and has been a filter judge for the Hippocrates Prize for poetry and medicine.

As well as writing poetry, Lorna has published short stories and written features for the Guardian. As a freelance copywriter she writes content for websites and reports, ghost-writes speeches and articles, and has produced in-house style and writing guidelines for businesses. She has taught creative writing for writers at all levels and run writing workshops for several firms, including Marks & Spencer. In 2011, Lorna moved from Brighton to Cornwall where she now lives.