Candlestick Press – 'Instead of a card' poetry pamphlets | UK based independent publisher

Candlestick Press

Biographies

Here you can find out more about the huge range of poets we feature in our pamphlets and the artists whose work appears on our beautiful covers.

We’ve now published poems by over 850 historical and contemporary poets. In our pages you’ll find old favourites alongside twenty-first century voices – everyone from WH Auden to Belinda Zhawi. Although our emphasis is on British poetry, you’ll also find Irish, American and Australian writers. We hope these pages will encourage you to explore further the work of a poet you’ve enjoyed in one of our pamphlets.

  • Noel Williams

    Noel Williams (1952 – 2021) was a short story writer and poet whose first collection Out of Breath was published by Cinnamon Press in 2014. A pamphlet Point me at the stars followed from Indigo Dreams in 2017. His work has been published widely in numerous magazines. Noel was also Professor Emeritus at Sheffield Hallam University where he was Professor of Communication for several years.

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  • Tony Williams

    Tony Williams is a British poet and novelist. His latest poetry collection Hawthorn City (Salt, 2019) explores medieval material while reflecting his interest in landscape and the contemporary pastoral. A flash fiction collection All the Bananas I’ve Never Eaten (2012) won Best Short Story Collection in the 2013 Saboteur Awards.

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  • Claire Williamson

    Claire Williamson has published four collections of poetry, most recently Visiting the Minotaur (Seren, 2018). She has worked extensively with Welsh National Opera, and on other musical collaborations. She has also contributed essays about creative writing and health to a number of academic journals.

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  • Emily Wills

    Emily Wills lives in Gloucestershire where she works as a GP. She won the Frogmore prize in 2012 and 2013. She is the author of two collections, Diverting the Sea (2000) and Developing the Negative (2008), and a pamphlet, Unmapped (2014), all published by The Rialto.

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  • Jackie Wills

    Jackie Wills is a British poet. She has published seven collections, the most recent being Making the Wedding Dress (Salt, 2026). She lives in Brighton and received a Cholmondeley Award in 2023. Judge Moniza Alvi wrote: “She has been writing explorative, compassionate and often mesmerising poetry for many years”.

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  • David Wilson

    David Wilson is a British poet and novelist living in North Yorkshire. He has climbed extensively in the UK, in the Alps and further afield. His debut poetry pamphlet Slope was published by SmithDoorstop in 2016 and The Equilibrium Line appeared in 2019.

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