Sophie Mayer

I published my first poem in 1984, when I was six. It was about a butterfly (first line: "I'm an Adonis Blue, happy and gay"), and considered radical for its linguistic innovations: it was clearly queer-positive, the final couplet didn't rhyme, and it ended with the words "homeward bound" (learnt from the Simon & Garfunkel song). I've pursued the same path since, exploring the limits of lyric as an erotic form, revelling in language as it names the world of the senses, referentially (but never reverentially) celebrating and confusing pop and high culture, and participating in literary community around small press magazines. I've been privileged to be an editor as well as a writer, and have self-published chapbooks as well as being included in magazines and anthologies.

Books (solo)

• kaolin (Lark Books, 2015)
• (O) (Arc, 2015)
• signs of the sistership (KFS, 2013, with Sarah Crewe)
• The Private Parts of Girls (Salt, 2011) -- read a sample (pdf download)
• Her Various Scalpels (Shearsman, 2009)
• Marsh Fear/Fen Tiger (Salt, 2002)

Books (anthologies)

• Out of Everywhere II, ed. Emily Critchley (Reality Street, 2015)
• Catechism: Poems for Pussy Riot, ed. Markie Burnhope, Sarah Crewe and Sophie Mayer (English PEN, 2012)
• Sea Pie: A Shearsman Anthology of Oystercatcher Poetry (Shearsman, 2012)
• Adventures in Form, ed. Tom Chivers (Penned in the Margins, 2012)
• Birdbook II, eds. Kirsten Irving and Jon Stone (Sidekick, 2012)
• Lung Jazz: Young British Poets for Oxfam, eds. Kim Lockwood and Todd Swift (Cinnamon Press, 2012)
• The Best British Poetry 2011, ed. Roddy Lumsden (Salt, 2011)
• Collective Brightness: LGBTIQ Poets on Faith, Religion and Spirituality, ed. Kevin Simmons (Sibling Rivalry, 2011)
• Pocket Spellbook, eds. Kirsten Irving and Jon Stone (Sidekick, 2010)
• Infinite Difference, ed. Carrie Etter (Shearsman, 2010) - events and reviews on Carrie's website
• The Allotment, ed. Andy Brown (Stride, 2006)
• Girls Who Bite Back, ed. Emily Pohl-Weary (Sumach, 2004)
• Long Journey Home, ed. Caeia Marsh (Women's Press, 2001)

Audio

• Archive of the Now
• Poetcasting 

Chapbooks

• Kiss Off (Oystercatcher, 2011) -- read about it on the PBS Poetry Portal
• Incarnadine (Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards, 2011)
• junkmaildays (above/ground, 2005)
• These Are the Licks (Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards, 2003)
• Found Objects (Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards, 2002 [limited edition])

Magazines (offline)

• Wolf 26 (Spring 2012)
• Cimarron Review 178 (Winter 2012)
• Staple 73: The Film Issue (Autumn/Winter 2010)
• Agenda 45:2 (Summer 2010)
• Brand 6 (Spring/Summer 2010)
• London Magazine (April/May 2010)
• Under the Radar 5 (Winter 2010)
• Brittle Star 24 (Autumn 2009)
• Stand 9 (2) (Autumn 2009)
• Staple 71: The Art Issue (Summer 2009)
• Chroma 8: The Pose Issue (Winter 2008)
• Brand 3 (Spring/Summer 2008)
• The Rialto 

Magazines (online)

• Wordgathering 22 (June 2012)
• Great Works
• Hand+Star
• Horizon Review 3 (October 2009)
• nth position (July 2008)
• Blackbox Manifold 1 (Spring/Summer 2008)
• Stride
• Masthead: Issue 5, Issue 7, Issue 9, Issue 10
• HOW(2) 1:8 (2002)

Please support publishers and independent bookstores (and writers!) by purchasing books and magazines if you are able, and encouraging your school, college and/or local library to buy copies of these titles. The Links section offers further connections to venues for publication and literary organisations.