Julie Leoni, London Independent Story Prize 2024 2nd Competition Poetry Finalist 'Man Versus Great Birnam Wood'

London Independent Story Prize 2024 2nd Competition Poetry Finalist 'Man Versus Great Birnam Wood' by Julie Leoni

- Can you please tell us about you and your daily life?

I’m a mum, a psychology, English and yoga teacher, a life coach and a facilitator, as well as working for a couple of universities, so life is busy.  I love walking, gardening, dancing, and hanging out with friends and loved ones.

- When and how did you get into writing?

I wrote as a child and loved books but never thought you could make a living from writing so went off and did an English degree and forgot all about writing.  In times of anguish I would write and I have notebooks and journals piled in corners, but it wasn’t until I did the viva for my PhD when one of the examiners complimented my writing style, and that really stuck, it mattered more than anything anyone said.  On the back of the research, I wrote a peer review journal article on meditation in schools and a chapter in a book on conflict in schools.

Fast forward to a messy divorce and single parenting with two small children, and I started a blog in 2012, which got me writing like no one was reading because, to start with, no one was. Then I wrote Love Being Me and Relationship Recovery and Stress Less which I self-published on Kindle. They were the books I needed to read to help me move on. 

Then, I interviewed women who had been in abusive relationships and I wrote Into the Woods (MiddleFarm Press).  In the end, I turned the stories into fairy stories which were more fictional and could therefore be more honest.  My lovely friend Anita Wyatt illustrated them beautifully and we had a sold out launch on International Women’s Day in 2018 and raised money for our local domestic abuse charity.

In the meantime, I was a regular blogger for Psychologies Magazine when Suzy Walker was the editor and wrote the occasional piece for Dumbo Feather, Elephant Journal and Women’s Running.

In 2022, I started a Masters Degree in Creative Writing with The Open University.  In my first year, I focused on Creative Non Fiction, which is what I feel I usually write. Then, I took a huge risk and did poetry for my final year.  I put together a pamphlet called Famotherlands about farming, the land and my mum’s family, which got a distinction and is now a full collection due to be published in Spring 2025 with Hedgehog Press.

The collection has done really well to attract publication and recognition, such as LISP has given

'January in Waen Field After You Died' and also 'Soar' is due out in an anthology – Thin and Sacred Places Anthology to be launched in September 24

‘Present’ – was published in Amethyst Review  this summer. https://amethystmagazine.org/2024/08/03/present-a-poem-by-julie-leoni/ 

‘Foreshadowing’, ‘Hares at 42 Acres Regenerative Farm’ and ‘Confluence’ were published by Hazel press in January 2024

‘2001’ – was Shortlisted and Published by Mslexia in March 2024

‘Ecclesiastes 3:1-8’ – was the winner of the Bournemouth Poetry Prize April 2024 and will be published in their anthology.

Vulpes Vulpes – was long listed for the Canterbury Prize and will be published in their anthology

‘Shipwrecked’ – was shortlisted for the Bridport prize 2024

LISP have chosen ‘Man Versus Birnam Wood’ to be a finalist in their competition.

- How often do you write? Do you have a writing routine? And what inspires you to write?

I seem to publish in 6 year gaps!  It seem to come in a rush and then goes dry which freaks me out a bit but then I go back to blogging which drops off a bit when I’m into a project.  Writing comes from obsessions, passions, needs to I can’t fake it, it has to be something that really matters to me at that time.

- How does it feel to have your work recognised?

Honestly, just exquisite, it moves me more than getting my PhD because I gave poetry up for dead when I was a kid because I was told it was ‘silly’ and ‘didn’t make any sense’, so this kind of recognition speaks right back to that little girl and says ‘it's not silly, you can write, write more’ and even writing this now makes me emotional. Thank you so much for the recognition.

- What's the best and most challenging thing about writing Poetry? 

Honestly, writing poems is all joy…I love gathering the words and the MA really helped me love the editing and re-shaping process

-  How did you develop the idea for your LISP-selected poem? Is there a story behind your poem? And, how long have you been working on it?

They cut down the trees in a carpark not too far from me and I was so crossed, I posted on Facebook about it and some of the words in the poem are taken from responses.  I despair at how wantonly we destroy trees and other habitat without consideration of the impact for the more than human world.  The Macbeth lines just came to me, I can’t explain how but I know that play well.  I think I’d had to Google ‘corrigendum’ in an academic text I was reading which is how that slipped into the poem. Writing the poem felt like a way of creatively raging.

- Can you please give us a few tips about writing Poetry?

Capture thoughts, images, ideas. I use the voice recorder on my phone and email myself ideas.  Then paste them onto a word doc and save them.  It may be that you just use one or two words, but they might be crucial.

If the poem doesn’t feel right, it isn’t. Put it on one side and come at it from a different angle, cut words out, take away the line breaks, mess around with word order, and keep playing with it until it feels right. 

Listen to poetry podcasts, there are loads out there, listen to poems being read and poets talking about poetry, it helps you feel part of the gang and I found they gave me real permission to experiment!

- What's the best thing and the most challenging thing about competitions? 

Honestly, the cost. Some competitions charge large entrance fees which add up if you are entering two or three and there are definitely times in my life when I couldn’t have afforded it.

- Lastly, do you recommend the writers submit to LISP?

Absolutely. There is nothing to lose.  I’ve entered work into competitions for years and nothing has come back and you have to understand it isn’t personal. Just keep writing and improving and entering.  Thank you much for selecting my poem.