Gill Learner grew up in Birmingham, moved first to London and later Reading where she has lived for many years.
Poetry took over her life in 2001 since when her poems have appeared in numerous anthologies and journals and also been read on Radio 3 and BBC South Today. She has won a number of awards including the Poetry Society's Hamish Canham Prize 2008, and she came second in the Keats-Shelley poetry competition 2010. Her first collection, The agister's experiment, was published by Two Rivers Press in January 2011. The Poetry Book Society Bulletin said of it: 'The poems here fizz and crackle while exploring the vast range of humanity - they are by turns funny, chilling and angry, but are all diverse in form and content. …[they] leave a lasting impression on the reader in this excellent debut.'
She values feedback from workshops such as Reading's Thin Raft and goes to hear poets read whenever possible, particularly at Reading's Poets' Café where she was guest poet in May 2007 and also when her book was launched in February 2011. |
