Verity Spott Explained

Verity Spott
Nationality:	British
Education:	University of Sussex
Occupation:	Poet

Verity Spott (born in 1987) is an English neo-modernist poet. Spott was born and raised in the central region of England, and moved to Brighton in 2006.^[1] Since then Spott has been teaching poetry in local institutions, as well as co-running a monthly poetry and musical performance event called "Horseplay".^[2]

Spott is an alumnus of the University of Sussex.^[3]

Reception

Spott's work has been described in the New York Times as, "mesmerizing, oneiric, enchanted, with language that surprises". An analysis of their poetry in the Chicago Review alludes to critical correlations between political situations and escapism, calling in to question the "very binaries of political engagement and escapist withdrawal, the idea that hope is the foundation for action...and the relationship between imagined actions and real ones."^[4] Spott's work has been discussed in the Cordite Poetry Review,^[5] and critiqued in the book, Wound Building: Dispatches from the Latest Disasters in UK Poetry,^[6] among other publications. One of Spott's poems, "from Coronelles – Set 2", is included in 100 Queer Poems, which The Guardian described as 2022's "most notable anthology".^[7]

Selected works

• Three Poems. (Broadside) London: Sender Broken, 2013.
• Effort to No. Brighton: Iodine, 2013.
• (with Jonny Liron) Dear Nothing and No One in It. Brighton: Iodine, 2013.
• Gideon. London: Barque Press, 2014.
• (with Megan Alan) Three Poems, Edinburgh Sad Press, 2014.
• Balconette. Guildford: Veer Books, 2014.
• 9 11 16. Brighton: Iodine, 2016.
• Trans* Manifestos, 2016.^{[8] [9]}
• We Will Bury You. Guildford: Veer Books, 2017.
• Click Away Close Door Say. Contraband Books, 2017.
• Kate's Dream Diamond Anti Fatigue Matting Surface. Crater, 2017.
• (with Timothy Thornton) Poems. Face Press, 2017.
• The Mutiny Aboard the RV Felicity. Tipped Press, 2018.
• Prayers, Manifestos, Bravery. London: Pilot Press, 2018.
• Caterpillars. TL:DR Press, 2019.
• Poems of Sappho. Face Press, 2019.
• Prayers, Manifestos, Bravery. London: Pilot Press, (second edition), 2020.
• Hopelessness. London: The 87 Press, 2020.
• Coronelles Set 1. London: Veer Books, 2020.
• 70 Sonnets. Brighton: Hove Space Program, 2021.
• Désolation (French translation of Hopelessness). Lyon, Même pas l'hiver, 2022.
• Woodvale (written collaboratively by "The Beam-Eye Babies"). Brighton, The Minutes Press, 2022.
• Songs of the Morning. London: Slub Press, 2023.
• The North Road Songbook. London: Pilot Press, 2024.

External links

• Two Torn Halves, poet's blog

Notes and References

1. Web site: Verity Spott . 2023-05-14 . Cordite Poetry Review . en-US.
2. News: Spott . Verity . Boyer . Anne . 2023-04-13 . Poem: On Jasmine . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-05-14 . 0362-4331.
3. Web site: Cowie . Robyn . 2021-03-20 . Interview: Verity Spott . 2023-05-14 . The Badger . en-GB.
4. Soong . Jennifer . Escapist Poetry . Chicago Review . 10 February 2023 . 15 May 2023.
5. Thiessen . Charlotte . Spott . Verity . Spott . Joel . A Discussion on Verity Spott with 6 Poems . Cordite Poetry Review . 1 May 2020 .
6. Book: Hayward . Danny . Wound Building: Dispatches from the Latest Disasters in UK Poetry . 2021 . Punctum Books . 978-1-68571-000-2 . 15 May 2023.
7. News: Dastidar . Rishi . The best poetry books of 2022 . 15 May 2023 . The Guardian . 3 December 2022.
8. Freeman . Lucy . A 'Beautiful half hour of being a mere woman': The Feminist Subject and Temporary Solidarity . . June 1, 2018 . 26 . 2 . 225–226. Academic Search Complete.
9. Carbery . Matthew James . Contemporary Poetry: Thinking and Feeling . Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry . 13 December 2016 . 8 . 1 . 12 . 10.16995/biip.31. free .