Clare Pollard's Lives of the Female Poets: Reviews & Interviews
Clare Pollard's sixth poetry collection Lives of the Female Poets was published by Bloodaxe in September 2025. It was launched online on 30 September - scroll down for details.
In Lives of the Female Poets, Clare Pollard cocks a snook at Dr Johnson’s all-male Lives of the Poets in chronicling her own life and theirs. These portraits and self portraits offer glimpses into the poet’s own everyday life – from nit-combing and laundry to pollen counts and cocktails, watching school plays to shopping on Rye Lane – all whilst in conversation with female poets through the ages.
Clare Pollard has published five previous poetry collections, most recently Incarnation (2017), and two translations with Bloodaxe, as well as co-editing the anthology Voice Recognition: 21 poets for the 21st century (Bloodaxe Books, 2009) with James Byrne. Translations include a new version of Ovid's Heroines (Bloodaxe, 2013) which she toured as a one-woman show, and Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf's The Sea-Migrations (Somali title: Tahriib), published by Bloodaxe and the Poetry Translation Centre in 2017. Her non-fiction book Fierce Bad Rabbits: The Tales Behind our Picture Books was published by Fig Tree in 2019. Her novels for adults, Delphi (2022) and The Modern Fairies (2024), have been published by Fig Tree in the UK and Avid Reader in the US. Her book for children,The Untameables, illustrated by Reena Makwana, was published by The Emma Press in 2024. She won the Tadeusz Bradecki Prize in 2025 for The Modern Fairies, an award given to works that combine storytelling fiction and non-fiction in original ways, encompassing a range of artistic genres, disciplines, cultures and subjects.
Clare Pollard was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem in 2022 for her poem ‘Pollen’, first published in Bad Lilies. The poem is included in her sixth collection Lives of the Female Poets. Read 'Pollen' as it originally appeared in Bad Lilies here.
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Clare Pollard's poem 'Poetry (after Marianne Moore)' from Lives of the Female Poets was featured in Issue 3 of the online contemporary poetry magazine Basket. Read here.
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PODCAST INTERVIEWS WITH CLARE POLLARD
The Wee Sparrow Poetry Podcast: Clare Pollard, Episode 66, 14 November 2025
An hour-long interview with Clare Pollard featured on Episode 66 of The Wee Sparrow Poetry Podcast. She was speaking to host Claire Thom, founder of The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press, about her sixth poetry collection, Lives of the Female Poets, and also talked briefly about her work in other genres.
‘Your collection really shines a light on female poets who were often silenced or overshadowed. […] It very much feels like you’re in conversation, and also that you invite the reader to sit in the room as well to listen to this conversation, because you’re talking about your own life as a female poet, but then also in conversation with these poets over the centuries who have influenced you and your own writing…’ – Claire Thom, on Lives of the Female Poets
Clare Pollard read and introduced the first of her ‘Two Sonnets for Anne Locke’, ‘Sestina for Elizabeth Bishop’, ‘Poetess’, ‘Rye Lane’, and ended by reading her Forward Prize for Best Single Poem-shortlisted poem ‘Pollen’.
‘In this episode, Claire chats to acclaimed poet, novelist, playwright, translator and editor Clare Pollard about her fantastic sixth collection of poetry Lives of the Female Poets published by Bloodaxe Books.’
https://theweesparrowpoetrypress.substack.com/p/episode-66-clare-pollard
The Poems We Made Along The Way: Clare Pollard, Episode 32, 3 November 2025
Clare Pollard was Gregory Kearns guest on Episode 32 of his podcast The Poems We Made Along The Way. In this hour-long interview, Clare spoke in depth about her new poetry collection, Lives of the Female Poets, and also talked about her writing more broadly.
'The book Lives of the Female Poets has a broad scope of feeling, all delivered with sensitivity and force.' – Gregory Kearns, introducing Clare Pollard on his podcast
‘On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along the Way Gregory Kearns speaks to Clare Pollard about breaking your own rules, poems being like haunted houses, and the word poetess. Clare Pollard is a poet, novelist, children’s author, translator non-fiction writer and editor. She wrote her first poetry collection The Heavy-Petting Zoo (published by Bloodaxe) was written while she was still in school. Her other books include The Modern Fairies, The Untameables, Delphi and her most recent collection of poetry Lives of the Female Poets is published by Bloodaxe.’
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0rMpq34NiNbucJA4x089nB
INTERVIEW ON SOHO RADIO
The Sweetest Taboo, Rough Trade Books, Soho Radio, 20 October 2025
Poet, novelist, playwright, translator, children’s and non-fiction writer Clare Pollard was interviewed on The Sweetest Taboo on Soho Radio. She was speaking to guest presenter Lara Howarth about her novel The Modern Fairies, winner of the Tadeusz Bradecki Prize 2025, and her sixth poetry collection Lives of the Female Poets, with music chosen by Clare.
Clare spoke about how her new poetry book had come together over eight years, partly prompted by the BBC Radio 3 commission to present a Sunday Feature about the poet Anne Locke (see link to this below). Clare read and introduced her poem ‘Negroni’.
‘Lara Howarth guest presents in place of Annie Frost Nicholson for a literary takeover of the show featuring esteemed writer guests Clare Pollard and Sam Reid!’
Clare is introduced at 6:00 and discusses her novel and other writing first. Lives of the Female Poets features from 31:00. Clare talks about her fifth collection Incarnation from 51:20.
ONLINE REVIEW COVERAGE
Moore & Shaw, September Reads, online 5 October 2025
Clare Pollard’s sixth collection Lives of the Female Poets was recommended and reviewed in poet Kim Moore’s September Reads feature on the Moore & Shaw Substack.
'This book takes us on a dizzying journey from the grand heights of Inana - an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love and fertility to a battle between a mother and the head-lice that infest her children’s hair. [...] I enjoyed every single poem in this collection, and enjoyed the feeling of meeting my literary ancestors - some of whom I knew - Sappho, Emily Bronte, Elizabeth Bishop - but there were plenty I didn’t. I’d not heard of Praxilla for example, and the beautiful fragment of her writing that we are left with.' – Kim Moore, Moore & Shaw (September Reads)
https://kimmoore30.substack.com/p/september-reads
REVIEW COVERAGE FOR LIVES OF THE FEMALE POETS
Mslexia, Issue 107, September-November 2025
Clare Pollard’s sixth collection Lives of the Female Poets was given an excellent review in Ellora Sutton’s poetry feature in the Autumn issue of Mslexia, the magazine for women who write. The review covered Subject, Style, Signature and Summing Up.
'Taking its name – and project – from Samuel Johnson’s 1781 all-male Lives of the Poets, Pollard’s Lives of the Female Poets pays tribute to the likes of Elizabeth Bishop, Forough Farrokhzād, Praxilla, Emily Brontë and Wanda Coleman, juxtaposing poetic history with scenes from her own contemporary life as a female poet.[...] In establishing a tradition of women and women’s (written) work, Pollard elevates women’s work and lives (embodied, messy, meaty, boozy) to being worthy of poetry.' – Ellora Sutton, Mslexia
In print. Available online to subscribers.
https://mslexia.co.uk/magazine/latest-issue/
Clare Pollard's Lives of the Female Poets was also very well reviewed in brief in the Poetry Book Society Autumn 2025 Bulletin.
'Pollard’s latest collection spans the breadth of human creativity and creation. It’s at once a joyous tribute to some of history’s greatest female poets and to the smaller things that make a life – like cocktails, and head lice. These poems are physical and playful, bold yet delicate as we’re swept along by references and allusions that dance off the page. It’s poetry at its most confident. In the crescendoing titular poem Pollard’s “saintly Poetess” deservedly finds her place in the canon she’s honouring.' – Nasim Rebecca Asl, Poetry Book Society Autumn Bulletin 2025
In print only. Sent to members of the Poetry Book Society.
Still available on BBC Sounds:
BBC RADIO 3’s SUNDAY FEATURE PRESENTED BY CLARE POLLARD
Sunday Feature: Unlocking Anne, BBC Radio 3, Sunday 8 January 2023, 6.45pm
Poet Clare Pollard wrote and presented the BBC Radio 3 Sunday Feature: Unlocking Anne which was broadcast on 8 January 2023. The programme explored the life and work of the 16th-century poet Anne Locke, who is thought to have written the first sonnet sequence in English.
The programme ended with Clare Pollard reading a sonnet that she had written for Anne Locke. This is the second of ‘Two Sonnets for Anne Locke’ which is now published in her sixth collection Lives of the Female Poets.
‘Anne Locke, a woman living in 16th-century England, wrote the first ever sonnet sequence in the English language? Impossible, thought Clare Pollard. As a celebrated playwright and poet, with much of her work focused on giving a voice to forgotten women, how could she not have known about Anne Locke? In this Sunday Feature, Pollard takes listeners into Anne's world and time, as she pieces together the fascinating life and work of a forgotten female sonneteer.’
Available via BBC Sounds. Clare reads her sonnet for Anne Locke at 42:28.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001gtrt
ONLINE LAUNCH EVENT
Tuesday 30th September 2025, 7pm, online Bloodaxe joint launch event
Clare Pollard read alongside Jessica Traynor and the winner of the Mslexia Women's Poetry Pamphlet Competition, Emilie Jelinek. They were celebrating the publication of their new collections and discussing them with each other and with the host, Bloodaxe editor Neil Astley. Wonderful readings by all three poets, followed by a wide-ranging discussion.
Available to watch via YouTube.
[04 September 2025]
