Blackbird Flies

Paul Sutherland, Canadian-British poet/writer, in UK, since 1973, has fifteen collections published, editing seven others. He’s founding editor of Dream Catcher a national-international journal in its 38th issue. He runs creative writing workshops and widely performs his poetry in many different venues and locations. Recently he has performed at the Bradford Literature Festival, the Cellar Bards (Wales), The Keep (Guildford), Mansion of the Future (Lincoln), Poetry Society Café (London), Wolds Words Festival (Lincolnshire) and Willowbrook Festival (Oxford) etc. Due to his Islamic connections he often reads at large Sufi events, recently in Tooting. He attends fairs with selling opportunities including Poetry book Fair, York Literature Festival and Wolds Words Festival to name a few. He leads seminars; mentors, runs Writers Retreats and collaborates with musicians, visual artists and calligraphers. Lectures on e.g. Sufi poets and English Literature. He appears in anthologies and journals. Spires and Minarets was published by Sunk Island Publishing and Journeying from Valley Press 2012. He converted to a Sufi Muslim 2004; two poetry books have followed, Poems on the Life of the Prophet Muhammad (saws) 2014, A Sufi Novice in Shaykh Efendi’s Realm, (first pub. In Romania in a bi-lingual book 2014; re-printed in UK 2015) describing his adventures in North Cyprus. He’s won literary awards; a poem of his helped promote Olympics 2012. He has won grants and participated in many projects. He turned freelance 2004. A New and Selected Poems, was re-launched from Valley Press 2017: 384 pages of 45 years of his writing a ‘unique …an unflinching and forensic exploration of a life through language.’ The book was list by PBS for winter 2017 and selected as a choice for The Morning Stars’ books of 2017. The University of Lincoln archives his poetry, prose and criticism. A new collection of PS’s love poems, called Amoretti, has just been published by Dempsey and Windle. And Red Streamers a bilingual book is due this year from PIM. More information see www.valleypressuk.com