Marie is a former member of Identity writers’ group and co-editor of Crocus’s collection: Healing Strategies for Women at War. She has just completed her novel Hum set in Manchester. A Mancunian by birth, she has spent the last decade in London where she has taught English, Literature and Creative Writing. Her work has been anthologised by The Woman’s Press (Stranger at my Table), Penguin (IC3: New Writing), Crocus (Healing Strategies for Women at War), and most recently Out of Bounds, Bloodaxe. Her eclectic influences include Sharon Olds, June Jordan, Jayne Cortez, Billy Collins and Jack Gilbert. She describes the creation of each poem as a unique negotiation with form and language to articulate pain or pleasures.