Andrew Forster-Holland
Poet, Non-fiction writer
About
Andrew Forster-Holland is a poet and occasional critic and prose writer. He is driven to make literature and writing accessible to people who need it. He has published four full-length collections of poems, most recently Field Book (Red Squirrel Press 2022). Fear of Thunder (Flambard 2007) was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, and poems from it were included on the AQA GCSE syllabus. Homecoming (Smith|Doorstop, 2014) was shortlisted for the Lakeland book of the year and selected as a New Writing North Read regional title. He was a Hawthornden Fellow in 2012 and awarded a Northern Writers’ award in 2015.
His poetry mainly focuses on nature and place and our relationship with it. He holds a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing (Manchester Metropolitan University), which explored how poetry can engage with the environmental crisis. His reviews and prose writing have appeared in journals including the Times Literary Supplement and The Dark Horse.
He is currently working on a book-length sequence of poems arising from a three-year pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain, and a series of prose pieces about the personal significance of music.
He has supported and promoted literature in a range of capacities: developing projects, running events and festivals, and supporting and mentoring writers and readers. His many projects included managing the Michael Marks awards for poetry pamphlets and the Wigtown Poetry competition, which he started. He has taught creative writing in settings ranging from schools and community centres to universities.