Elvire Roberts
Elvire Roberts
I am an older emerging poet from the LGBTQ+ community who came late to poetry after many years working as an interpreter between British Sign Language and English. My background in visual and spoken languages informs my approach to the use of form, space, phonics and how emotion inhabits the page. My poetry incorporates gender identities, feminism, mental health and crossing the gap between self, mineral, vegetable and animal.
I completed a part-time MA in Creative Writing at Nottingham Trent University in 2014-2016.
Elvire's mentee journey
The 2018 mentorship gave me a year of five meetings with the poet, academic and lecturer Professor Harriet Tarlo. I loved experimental forms, but some of my poems lacked coherence and expansion. With Harriet as my guide, I learned a huge amount about working with form, lineation, sonic patterning, and handling of space and sentences so that meanings work in multiple ways. She opened up a whole new world of experimental women writers to act as my role models and inspiration.
I worked with her on old and new drafts, shaping the body of what became my pamphlet. My editing skills grew sharper, and I became more confident about getting my work out there. I cannot recommend the process of being mentored enough, especially if, like me, you get to choose your mentor!
What happened next?
I was lucky enough to be performing at a Five Leaves Bookshop poetry event when I was invited to submit a draft pamphlet to their editor Pippa Hennessy. In 2023, my pamphlet North by Northnorth was published.
During Covid, I began collaborating with the poet Rachel Goodman on a set of poems interrogating and rewriting our womanhood. We had a co-written poem published in Magma magazine and in 2024 our pamphlet Knee to Knee was published by Dialect Press.
I now perform most of my own poetry from memory, and have continue to develop that over the years.
Publications
North by Northnorth (2023) Five Leaves Press
Knee to Knee (2024) Dialect Press – a collaborative poetry pamphlet, co-written with the poet Rachel Goodman
Individual poems have appeared in multiple poetry magazines and anthologies, including Ten Poems about Getting Older, Apocalyptic Landscape and More Song 2025. See Elvire’s website for more details.
Competitions
Candlestick Press 2020 competition for publication in Ten Poems about Getting Older – ‘Kintsugi’ chosen by John McCullough
Kent and Sussex 2020 poetry competition – poems placed fourth and highly commended.
Links to websites or projects
Website www.elvireroberts.co.uk