This race of meltwater,
sweet talker, springs growth
from the winter
bed of the wood

‘Atkin is one of the most original and rewarding poets that we have in the literary landscape at the moment’
R V Bailey, reviewing in ‘Envoi’

I’m a Cumbrian/Scottish poet, writer and experienced educator, based in Shropshire. Since 2011 I’ve worked on a variety of residencies in both England and Scotland and provide workshops and readings to schools, festivals and community and national organisations. I often work in collaboration with arts and community projects. You can read more about these on the Blog.

‘Crossing Paths’, my new collaboration with poet Richard Skinner, is about poetry and walking. It was published by Black Cat Press in early 2026, and we’ll be reading from it in ten different venues during the summer.

I’ve published three full poetry collections, eight poetry pamphlets/artist’s books and a children’s novel. More information about them is on the Blog and under Books.

I’ve organised, and co-organised poetry readings and open mics in Scotland, Ludlow, and now Shrewsbury, where Liz Lefroy and I very enjoyably steer Shrewsbury Poetry once a month.