Leatrice

Yearbook Signing is now available in the US and WORLDWIDE! Get it now! /book/ybs/ The idea behind this was to find every pic or video of me that didn’t fully reveal my face; something something “memory never tells the whole story” 🤷🏻‍♀️ Thank you @cailin.in.character for filming the first clip and all your love over the years, @reconnectpress for your continuous support throughout this process, and everyone who signed my yearbook. Look closely; you might have made the cut. 😉 📻: “Sojourn” by Joji . . . . . . (CW: interpersonal abuse, mental health) This video was a labor of love, much like the book itself. The quote at the beginning is from “Apocalypse Year (2006)”, a poem about a string of ab*se from a close friend that coincided with a blip in which everyone in the US thought the Devil would return to end the world. What she did to me catalysed four years of arrested development, repression/denial of my sexuality, as well as much of the mental illness and interpersonal issues that I spent the ensuing 16ish years recovering from. No, it’s not all her fault; plenty of the relationships in the collection set me back in some way, but they also dragged me into a new, necessary life stage. Every clip in this video is from that period of time, starting with a shot of me at the figure skating competition where, after several horrible moments with her, I had my first panic attack. Like the collection, these clips are in chronological order. #poetry #booklaunch #bookstagram #worldwiderelease #memory

I am overjoyed to announce my debut poetry collection with @reconnectpress , Yearbook Signing, is available for pre-order now! (Link in bio) This collection is all about memory, the people we hold onto and how relationships change with distance and time. Some poems rhyme and try to follow a meter, some are total messes. I’m proud of them all. Launch date is in early January. If you’re near Oxford or London, keep your eyes out for a launch event! Thanks a million to @cailin.in.character for designing this cover, to @garretandbasement for being a fantastic editor, to everyone at Reconnecting Rainbows for believing in these poems, and to everyone who’s signed my yearbook. #poetrycollection #poetrybook #poet #poetrylaunch

I recently gathered a group of people who didn’t know each other to sing karaoke at the request of @paperclipbadger and the results sure did happen. #karaoke

The past few weeks have been a whirl, but I finally have a second to appreciate the time I spent at @thepoetrysociety ‘s Free Verse Book Fair! What was meant to be a little visit to @reconnectpress and a couple friends turned into spotting loads of people from the London poetry scene, buying way more books than intended, and even signing a couple copies of my own book. This was such a wonderful day, and I can’t wait for next year. 💙 #poetry #authorsofinstagram #bookfair #londonpoetry

Bealtaine/May Day post 2/2: I’m not a morning person, but May Day in Oxford is so magical. This was my third time standing by Magdalen Tower and hearing this beautiful choir welcome the sun. First time was on my year abroad, second time I got to listen from INSIDE Magdalen College, and this time I spent it with the poets that have helped me redefine Oxford beyond the university. No, we didn’t write anything during the festival (everyone brought notebooks just in case 😅), but we were moved to tears during “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, and we did party with the many musicians and artists dotted around the city center. #mayday #maydayoxford #bealtaine #somewhereovertherainbow

Bealtaine/May Day post 1/2: Summer is here! Figured I’d do a little celebration of Bealtaine, as it fits in perfectly with Oxford’s legendary May Day celebrations. 🌼 As my job and pace of life is about to change, my writing career is chugging along, and my spirituality has veered more towards Irish Paganism (in no small part thanks to @irish.pagan.school and @morgandaimler ‘s book on Brigid), I’m trying to pay more attention to the seasons changing and what I can do to engage with them. That focus is growing every year, from attending the 2023 fire festival in Edinburgh to various solstice and seasonal parties with dear friends. There’s a whole mess of misinterpretations and misconceptions out there that I’m trying to sift through, but I think for cultures and faiths that were nearly wiped out by colonialism, that’s a necessary part of the process. I can only hope I have a right relationship with the places and people I call home. #bealtaine #maydayoxford #summertime #irishpaganschool

Behind the Signatures returns with a little promo for my Drafting Table workshop @oxfordpoetrylibrary tomorrow! Come by at 1pm and rework a poem from your childhood, adolescence, or any other time in your life you cringe to remember. “Late February” really laid on the message, whereas it’s finished version, “First Year” is a bit clearer on the emotion and easier on the rhyme. 🤭 Wanna know what became of the poet? Grab a copy of Yearbook Signing now! Filmed on the steps on St. Columbas church after @thepoetrysociety Free Verse Poetry Book Fair. 📚 #poetry #writinglife #poetryworkshop #heartbreakcringe

Very belated announcement that my response to @everyoneisagirl ‘s call for work about Love Letters was published! If you wanna know what a degree in Social Science of the Internet does to someone, here’s your answer. 🤓 You can read it here (link also in bio) /pub/everyoneisagirl/p/modern-love-letters-revisited?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web This piece is a sort of companion to Yearbook Signing; for both projects, I didn’t just unearth old writing and the memories within, but reflected on and forgave my younger self. Yes, that includes unsent Facebook messages I’d drafted while binge-listening to “Time to Pretend”. Thank you to @jessisonline333 for accepting this, and to the E1IAG team for publishing writing about girlblogging, cyberpoetics, cyberfeminisim, and the murky search for identity in the digital realm. 💙 #loveletter #facebookchat #digitalarchive #cyberfeminism

Introducing Leatrice, another of our Writers-in-Residence - - #poets #writers #poetry

April’s This is Just to Say @oxfordpoetrylibrary really was an unofficial All Stars night. 🔥 Here’s to some incredible poets I’m glad to call my friends, collaborators, people to rant about faith and the fallibility of language with. Also enjoy a glimpse of my furious note-taking. 😅 #poetry #poetryopenmic #oxfordpoetrylibrary #poetrycommunity

Yearbook Signing by @leatrice_write is now available for sale in the United States!! This collection of poetry covers heartbreak, yearning, and love from teenhood all the way to engagement! #booksrecs #poetrycollection #poetry

Last night was a wonderful return to @oxfordpoetrylibrary ‘s This is Just to Say stage! The theme was “Learning to See” (from @leejjcampbell ) and I think this new poem (which will inevitably change) was both appropos of the theme and recent events. It mostly reflects the bits of “home” I cherish, what I hope survives, despite how treacherous our country is to everything it purported to stand for. Thanks as always to my friends for cheering me on and creating an environment where I can bring new scraps like this for testing. 😋 Also thanks @garretandbasement for filming. I’ll be back at OPL on April 26th to host Drafting Table! See you then! #apoemaday #poetryopenmic #oxfordpoetrylibrary #poetry #endofamerica