Full name/age/job title:

Helen Mort, 26, Writer.

What does your job involve?

People sometimes imagine my job involves plenty of staring out of the window and sighing, but days when I’m just writing poems are very rare! I spend a lot of time doing readings around the country (at festivals for example, or local poetry nights), teaching creative writing (either one-off workshops, or online courses) and, of course, sometimes I get offered exciting opportunities, like the chance to be a judge in the Foyle Young Poets of the Year competition, looking at exciting new work by young writers. I’m also studying for a PhD full-time, so the academic books keep me occupied too.

Five things you couldn’t work without... 

1. Dogs

I have two placid, sleepy whippets who love to curl up at my feet while I’m working. But they sometimes help me write poems too: I like to compose new work while I’m out and about, so walking or running around the fields with my hounds is the perfect opportunity. Usually, I hear a single line first and I develop it while I’m out, adding new lines to the first until (if I’m lucky) the poem starts to cohere in my head. When I get home, I can scribble it down fully formed.

2. Richard Hawley

Sheffield born and bred, Richard Hawley’s music has always been a real inspiration to me – his albums are all named after different places in Sheffield and I think that shows just how interesting and amazing even familiar places can be. Listening to him always makes me want to step up my game and be a better writer! 

3. My book collection

Good writing begins with wide reading. There are other ways to “read” apart from getting lost in a book (I’d consider listening to something interesting or exploring a new landscape as a form of “reading”, for example) but for me, by poetry collection is indispensible. Favourites are Paul Muldoon, Richard Wilbur, Norman MacCaig and John Burnside. I keep my books on a shelf that’s seen better days and I’m sad enough to have arranged them in alphabetical order.

4. My car

Poets are notoriously bad drivers. I think that’s because we’re usually thinking of everything except the road. I do a lot of driving – it’s the easiest way to get to readings, workshops and other events – and my mind often wanders to poetry on long journeys. Sometimes I even repeat lines over to myself aloud, much to the bemusement of the other drivers waiting at the traffic lights. 

5. Whisky

A tiny dram is great for those late nights when inspiration strikes. I was introduced to whisky about 5 years ago and ever since then, people have be kind enough to fuel my appreciation by getting me bottles of Ardbeg, Balvenie, Lagavulin and others for Christmas and birthdays. Sometimes, whisky tasting notes are like poems in themselves; I remember reading one description of a single malt that was “like a big brute in a ballet dress”.

The Foyle Young Poets Award is open to poets aged 11 to 17. The deadline is 31 July 2012 – apply now. IdeasTap is also running a competition for poets aged 16-19 based in the West Midlands, in association with the Future Poets Festival.

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