Lily Blacksell Readings
‘The collection won me over with its unique imagination that takes the everyday and gives it a fresh inside-out. The mundane can be astonishing or even more mundane, if that’s possible, in a poetry that’s hilarious and complex, witty and wise, understated and extravagant. A rare talent brimming with charm and mischief!’ – Daljit Nagra
Lily Blacksell's dynamic debut collection Life Immediately was published by Bloodaxe Books in March 2026. Lily Blacksell’s writing showcases the expansiveness of language, but also its failures. In Life Immediatey communication builds up and breaks down, geese honk, hangovers linger in poems where observation is balanced with insouciance.
‘Riotous, creatively quixotic, both funny and deadly serious, Lily Blacksell's poetry is the result of a hyperintelligent imagination striving to find a voice that is as various and playful as the self. A voice 'presenting the play of my skull, intact', which has the marvellous effect of relighting the known world.' – Richard Scott
Born in London in 1993, Lily Blacksell' grew up there and on the Isle of Wight. She studied English with Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham and has an MFA in poetry from Columbia University, where she was a teaching fellow. Lily was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best New Poets 2017 whilst living in the US. In 2022, she was shortlisted for the Bridport Poetry Prize and the Oxford Poetry Prize. She was longlisted for the 2024 National Poetry Competition. Her poems have appeared in The Poetry Review, Poetry Wales, BOMB Magazine, Boston Review, Bath Magg, Magma, and elsewhere. She runs a poetry and music night called Canon Fodder which she hosts at The Social in London and at Glastonbury Festival.
‘Life Immediately, the debut from Lily Blacksell introduces an … unusual and dynamic voice. From the opening line’s internal rhyme of “hay-husk” and “eye once”, to the last poem’s self-mocking effusions (“a witty woman in a whirlpool world”) this collection is full of fun […] Set in mostly rural settings, shaggy dog stories unspool with bewildering vigour, jokes are made and pop songs fade in and out. Just occasionally, behind the manic chatter, we get a glimpse of real, unironic, poetic power’ – Graeme Richardson, The Sunday Times (The Best New Poetry)
‘The best new poetry – by writers of every age’: available online in The Sunday Times by subscription here.
PAST EVENTS
Tuesday 24 March 2026, 7pm - YouTube
Joint online launch reading by Lily Blacksell, Rita Ann Higgins and John McCullough
Lily Blacksell, Rita Ann Higgins and John McCullough celebrated the publication of their new books by reading live and discussing their work with the host, Bloodaxe editor Neil Astley.
This free Bloodaxe launch event was streamed on YouTube Live and is now available on this YouTube page: https://youtube.com/live/p_0hOeoZUtE
Brilliant readings from all three poets followed by an excellent discussion. Lily read first in each set.
[16 April 2026]
