{"product_id":"backalong-winner-of-the-mslexia-womens-poetry-pamphlet-competition-9781780377162","title":"Backalong: Winner of the Mslexia Women's Poetry Pamphlet Competition","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBackalong\u003c\/i\u003e, a dialect word from Nia Broomhall's native Somerset, describes any point in the past - it could be this March, last March, or 1979.\u003c\/b\u003e True to its title, her impressive debut collection observes the distant past and recent past with the same eyes: the distant past through poems of place and origin; the recent through poems that track the process of grieving for someone who was right there, not so long ago. Through its musicality of language, \u003ci\u003eBackalong\u003c\/i\u003e searches for joy, finding what persists - and finding the words to pick out what shines, despite everything.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNia Broomhall \u003c\/b\u003ewon the 2023 \u003ci\u003eMslexia\u003c\/i\u003e Women's Poetry Pamphlet Competition judged by Imtiaz Dharker for her debut collection \u003ci\u003eBackalong\u003c\/i\u003e (Bloodaxe Books\/Mslexia, 2024). She received an MA with distinction in Creative Writing from Lancaster University in 2023, and is Poet in Residence at Painshill Park in Surrey for 2024, funded by an Arts Council DYCP grant. She won the Poetry Society's Hamish Canham Prize for 2023\/2024, and was Highly Commended in the Winchester Poetry Prize in 2022 and 2023. Her poems have been published in \u003ci\u003eMagma\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBad Lilies\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eInk, Sweat and Tears\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Alchemy Spoon\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Interpreter's House\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Friday Poem\u003c\/i\u003e, and anthologised by Sidhe Press and Black Bough Poetry. Currently co-Head of English at a comprehensive school in Surrey, the best hour of her week is Poetry Club on a Friday afternoon. Originally from rural Somerset, she comes from a long line of West Country women who talk to strangers and embarrass their children.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Bloodaxe Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50911873958162,"sku":"9781780377162","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_55b3d664-ef93-4ea0-b46b-ade83073853d.jpg?v=1738759010","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/backalong-winner-of-the-mslexia-womens-poetry-pamphlet-competition-9781780377162","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}