With just 15 days until Minx is published and takes her first steps into the world alone I’m sharing some words about her by the lovely Romalyn Ante. ‘Minx is a forceful collection that examines the intricacies of personhood, grief, and memory. These poems convey what’s it like to live between languages and histories. With striking imaginative power, the collection deftly portrays how we navigate the territories of longing, while also finding moments of beauty and solace in the most unexpected places’. Romalyn Ante Many thanks Romalyn for such a lovely endorsement.
Karen Downs-Barton is an award winning poet. Minx, her first collection, is published by Chatto and Windus, Penguin Random House in March 2025. Her pamphlet, Didicoy, won the 2022 International Book and Pamphlet Competition and was the Poetry Book Society recommended pamphlet 2023. Her writing incorporates experimental form and multilingualism alongside lyric pieces exploring an Angloromani heritage, times in state child care, and in diverse occupations including a magician's assistant. Karen has appeared on BBC Radio 4's The Verb, Ledbury Literature Festival, and is currently touring, promoting Minx. Karen gained a Doctorate in Creative Writing from King's College, London and is a regular workshop facilitator for Creative Future UK. Follow her on social media at: @downsbarton Instagram, @karendownsbarton.bsky.social
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Karen Downs-Barton 