Well, here we are again and I am so pleased to be able to introduce you to the 2022 Hedgehoggy Pushcart Nominations.
I have to say, that trying to decide on six poets – never mind six poems – that we have published in 2022, hasn’t been a pleasure.
It did mean that I got to sit down with piles of our books and pamphlets and work my way through them all, which is a joy to be sure, but choosing between your children leaves a dark stained patch on your soul and nobody should have to endure such a thing. But it is what it is, and I followed a vibe in the end and went with fragments of notes that originally caught me and I hope that you’ll feel the same.
This year’s Hedgehog Pushcart nominations then, are from six collections by poets I admire, am in awe of and I hope will become friends to you too.
As usual, you can download a wee Stickleback containing the poems and I hope that you enjoy it…
[download id=”17224″]
| Poet | Poem | Order the Collection |
| Damien B Donnelly | Au Canal Saint Martin | Enough! |
| Ellie Rees | My Mother’s Curtains | Ticking |
| Karen Mooney | Kintsugi | Missing Pieces |
| Kerry Darbishire | Guide to Winter | Jardinière |
| Oz Hardwick | Border Control | Reports Come In |
| Gaynor Kane | Belfast Hedgers | Eight Types of Love |
About Damien B Donnelly
Damien B. Donnelly returned to Ireland in Dec 2019 after 23 years exploring the lights and shadows of Paris, London and Amsterdam. He began writing as a child, mostly poetry questioning identity, fragility, sexuality and connection to what was around him and all that he wanted to reach out to. He dreamed of becoming a fashion designer and spent 23 years working as a pattern maker for various fashion brands but was never far from a pen and a notebook. His interests now revolve around falling over (and over) and learning how to get up again while making delicious cakes (carrot cake supreme). He is finishing his first fictional novel and dreams of opening a Writers’ Retreat one Covid-free day in Ireland.
He’s been featured in numerous books and magazines including ‘Second Chance’ from Original Writing, ‘Body Horror Anthology’ from Gehenna & Hinnom, ‘Nous Sommes Paris’ from Eyewear Publishing commemorating the Paris attacks 2015, The Runt Magazine, Impspired, Fever of the Mind Press, Deep Time Vol II from Black Bough Poetry, Coffin Bell, Firefly Zine, Scribe Base, Barren Magazine, Anti Heroin Chic and the inaugural issue of Fahmidan Journal. In 2020 won the Holding It Together Apart Creative Writing Competition and had his winning poem narrated by Anne Doyle for a YouTube video and his Aldi short story appeared in the Ray Darcy RTE Anthology ‘A Page from your Life’ in December 2020, published by Harper Collins Ireland.
Eat the Storms was his debut poetry pamphlet published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press in September 2020 which was followed by the Stickleback Considering Canvases with Boys, a micro collection published in January 2021, also by The Hedgehog Poetry Press.
About Ellie Rees
Ellie Rees is an internationally-minded, award-winning writer who writes across many genres including poetry, creative non-fiction and memoir. Her work is widely published in various journals including: New Welsh Review, Poetry Wales, Trestle Ties, The Lonely Crowd, Cabinet of Heed, and Black Bough Poems. She has an MA and a PhD in Creative Writing, both from Swansea University. Before becoming a writer, Ellie taught for many years at the United World College of the Atlantic, the first of the United World Colleges, situated in Wales. She was Head of Languages there and taught hundreds of idealistic, bright young people, many of whom have gone on to significant careers in literature.
About Karen Mooney
Karen started writing poetry in 2016 following her father’s death, and her work has been published in the USA, UK, and Ireland. Her work first appeared with Hedgehog Poetry Press in The Road to Clevedon Pier, and she co-authored Penned In with Gaynor Kane in 2020.
Follow Karen on Twitter @1karenmooney or Facebook @observationsbykaren
About Kerry Darbishire
Kerry Darbishire songwriter, author and poet lives in remote farmhouse in Cumbria where most of her poetry is rooted. Her first collection A Lift of Wings, 2014, her second, Distance Sweet on my Tongue, 2018, both with Indigo Dreams Publishing. Kay’s Ark, the story of her mother, published by Handstand Press in 2016. Her pamphlet A Window of Passing Light published by Dempsey and Windle in 2021, also Glory Days, a collaboration with poet Kelly Davis was published in 2021 by Grey Hen Press.
Her poems appear widely in magazines and anthologies including: Artemis, Mslexia, Birmingham Journal, Finished Creatures, The Alchemy Spoon, Envoi, Atrium. She has won or been shortlisted in several prizes including Bridport 2017.
About Oz Hardwick
Oz Hardwick has published nine full poetry collections and chapbooks, most recently Wolf Planet (Hedgehog, 2020), as well as countless individual poems in international journals and anthologies. He has performed and held residencies in the UK, US, Europe and Australia. With Anne Caldwell, he has edited The Valley Press Anthology of Prose Poetry (Valley Press, 2019) and Prose Poetry in Theory and Practice (Routledge, 2022).
Oz is Professor of Creative Writing at Leeds Trinity University and has also published widely on medieval art and literature, and on medievalism.
About Gaynor Kane
Gaynor Kane lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She came to writing late in life, after finishing her Open University BA(Hons) degree with a creative writing module in 2015. Mainly a writer of poetry, she has had work published in journals and anthologies in the UK, Europe and America. In 2018, Hedgehog Poetry Press launched their Stickleback series with her micro-collection ‘Circling the Sun’, which is about some of the early women pilots. Gaynor released her chapbook ‘Memory Forest’, in December 2019. It is a thematically tight collection about burial rituals and last wishes. She released her debut full collection, ‘Venus in Pink Marble’, in September and is co-author of ‘Penned In’ a poetry pamphlet released in November 2020, also from the Hedgehog Poetry Press.
She was awarded funding from the Arts Council of NI in 2018/19 and 2020/21 which allowed her writing time and professional development, including mentoring.
Gaynor is chairperson of Ballyhackamore Writers’ Group, a member of Holywood Writers’ Group, The Irish Writers Centre and Women Aloud NI. She also volunteers for EastSide Arts during their summer festival and the CS Lewis festival in November. Gaynor is a keen amateur artist and photographer and has had some of her work published in journals and anthologies, also.
You can contact Gaynor on Facebook here and Twitter here and read some poems on her website www.gaynorkane.com