Annie Clarkson is a poet and fiction writer living in Manchester.

Winter Hands, her first collection of poems and short prose was published in Autumn 2007 by Shadow Train Books.

She also has work published in The Big Picture (an anthology of collaborative writing published by Litfest),  various anthologies and print and online magazines including Transmission, Sleepingfish, Mslexia, Stride. 

Watch her read the poem 'Fairground Man' here

Break Time

He takes me into the back of a wagon, a container he calls it, parked on the wasteland next to the mill. He says he wants me to hear the sounds inside, the echo of our voices, the clang clang.

Here, he says, offering his hands for me to stand on. There's a rough-burn rope tied to a handle and I pull myself up

metal box with its corrugated walls
no rolls of cloth or stuffing for mattresses or raw cotton, nothing but sheets of polythene we can lie down and roll in.

Close your eyes, he says putting his damp cotton hands over my face. Now listen.

I hear nothing - no wagons outside, no shuttle bang looms, no shouts as the shift changes.

Come closer, he says, wrapping his overall arms round my waist. He prickle-kisses my neck and his mouth is the warm of a steam pipe.


Listen to Annie read her short story 'Lindy'.

Website : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGm1aqP0D5Y

Titles by Annie Clarkson

Winter Hands

Shadowtrain books are pleased to announce the forthcoming publication of Winter Hands by Annie Clarkson in September/October 2007.

Winter Hands crosses boundaries between poetry and prose, inner and outer landscapes, intimacy and being alone. In a series of portraits, this collection explores the vulnerabilities and distress of people who seem to be outside the worlds they survive in.

Their relationships are fractured and ambivalent, their voices complex. Annie Clarkson’s rich, evocative images delve into the multi-layered emotions of her characters. As readers, we are invited to identify with these individuals and the situations they create and find themselves in. At the same time, we can delight in Clarkson’s lyrical and energetic use of language.

This book is now available from www.shadowtrain.com

‘Annie Clarkson’s versets – shapes where poetry and prose meet, declare a truce and mingle – generate so much heat and tenderness in equal turns; they read like reports from a twilit, overlooked world, writ in vinegar on chip paper that will stay news.’

–Paul Farley


'Clarkson composes her poetry from tenderness, sexuality and courage, exploring taboo places in the human psyche. That she does so and does so fearlessly is a testament to her compassion and understanding of the everyday fears and uncertainties we experience as humans.’

– Geraldine Green

Price £5.95

Details

• ISBN 9780905127132
• Publisher Shadowtrain
• Genre Poetry
• Setting Lancashire