Primers Volume Two

Ben Bransfield, Cynthia Miller & Marvin Thompson

Edited by Jacob Sam-La Rose and Jane Commane

Primers is a project with The Poetry School

In 2016, The Poetry School and Nine Arches Press launched their nationwide Primers scheme for a second time, in search of exciting new voices in poetry, with Jacob Sam-La Rose and Jane Commane as selecting editors. After reading through hundreds of anonymous entries, and narrowing down the choices from longlist to shortlist, three poets emerged as clear choices: Ben Bransfield, Cynthia Miller and Marvin Thompson.

Primers Volume Two now collects together a snapshot of poems from each of the three new poets. We take a voyage through captivating narratives with a cast of memorable characters, find themes intimately entangled with place, identity and family, and discover poems that are alive to the pertinent issues of our present day experiences. Here are bold voices, splashes of bright colours and rich sensations that are impossible to leave behind. We hope you enjoy the trip

Ben Bransfield is from Shropshire. His poems have appeared in The North, Obsessed with Pipework, ASH, and have been placed in Peterloo and Wenlock competitions. He was named a Poetry Society Teacher Trailblazer in 2015, and he lives and teaches in London.

Cynthia Miller is a brand strategist and Co-Director of Verve, Birmingham’s inaugural Poetry and Spoken Word Festival 2017. She was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize in 2013 and has a poem forthcoming in The Emma Press Anthology of Love.

Marvin Thompson was born in London to Jamaican parents, and now lives in mountainous South Wales. As well as having an MA in Creative Writing, his poems have appeared in numerous journals. These include Stand Magazine and The Poetry Review.    

The Nine Arches Press blog features poems from many of our poets, as well as interviews and articles.

Join us here.