Polly Atkin

Polly Atkin is a poet and non-fiction writer, whose work focuses on nature, place and disability. Her two poetry collections are ‘Basic Nest Architecture’ (Seren Books, 2017) and ‘Much With Body’ (Seren Books, 2021). Her non-fiction books include Recovering Dorothy: The Hidden Life of Dorothy Wordsworth’ (Saraband, 2021), ‘Some Of Us Just Fall: On Nature and Not Getting Better’ (Sceptre, 2023) (Lakeland Book of the Year 2024, longlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing 2024) and The Company of Owls’ (Elliott and Thompson, 2024) (longlisted for Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing 2025). Her poetry and prose appears in various anthologies and academic editions.

She grew up in Nottingham then lived in East London for seven years before moving north to Cumbria. She has a PhD from Lancaster University and has taught English and Creative Writing at QMUL, Lancaster University, and the Universities of Strathclyde and Cumbria. She now works as a freelancer from her home in the English Lake District, where she co-owns historic Grasmere bookshop Sam Read Bookseller.