Hollie McNish is a poet and author based between Cambridge and Glasgow. She has published four collections of poetry: ''Papers'' (2012), ''Cherry Pie'' (2015), ''Why I Ride'' (2015), ''Plum'' (2017) and one poetic memoir on politics and parenthood, ''Nobody Told Me'' (2016), of which the Scotsman suggested “The world needs this book...and so does every new parent” and for which she won the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry. The latter has been translated into German, French and Spanish. McNish's sixth publication - a second cross-genre collection of poetry, memoir and short stories - ''Slug, and other things I've been told to hate,'' was published in May 2021 with Hachette with a further collection ''Lobster,'' due to come out in 2022, also with Hachette. In 2016, she co-wrote a play with fellow poet

Sabrina Mahfouz Sabrina Mahfouz is a British-Egyptian poet, playwright, performer and writer from South London, England. Her published work includes poetry, plays and contributions to several anthologies. Education Mahfouz earned a BA in English Literature a ...

, ''Offside,'' relating the history of British women in football. This was published as a book in 2017. McNish has also released an album of poetry and music, ''Versus'' (2014), which made her the first poet to record an album at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...

, London. As well as her own publications, McNish has written and performed poems for various campaigns and organisations, including The Economist Education Foundation,

Durex Durex is a brand of condoms and personal lubricants owned by the British company Reckitt Benckiser. It was initially developed in London under the purview of the London Rubber Company and British Latex Products Ltd, where it was manufactured bet ...

's campaign for orgasm equality, and The Eve Appeal.

Early life

Born in Reading in 1983 to

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

parents, McNish attended the local

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

, Bucklebury Primary with a brief two year scholarship to Prior's Court School for the final years of this primary education. For secondary school, she attended St Bartholomew's Comprehensive School, Newbury, during which time she worked part-time at Little Chef, Chieveley Services and Boots the Chemist, Newbury, both of which she has written about in her fourth collection, Plum. She studied Modern and Medieval Languages at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

, with a third year abroad teaching English in Guadeloupe, French West Indies, where she learnt Guadeloupian Creole to English translation. She went on to take a part-time master's degree in

international development International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic or human development on an international scale. It is the basis for international classifications ...

and

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

at the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

Career

Before becoming a full-time writer in 2014, McNish worked in Boots the Chemist, Soul Tree nightclub, Little Chef services, Mayhem Clothing Store and for five years as Administrative Assistant and later Education Officer with the East of England Urban Design Centre, Shape East. Her first live poetry reading was at basement open mic night Poetry Unplugged,

Poetry Café The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...

, Covent Garden, London. She has since performed worldwide at a number of UK and international events, alongside a variety of artists at Edinburgh's Neu!Reekie! events including

Charlotte Church Charlotte Maria Church (born Charlotte Maria Reed, 21 February 1986) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress, television presenter and political activist from Cardiff. Church rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching i ...

Young Fathers Young Fathers are a Scottish band based in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2014, they won the Mercury Prize for their album ''Dead''. History Formed in Edinburgh in 2008 by Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and Graham 'G' Hastings, the group starte ...

Jackie Kay Jacqueline Margaret Kay, (born 9 November 1961), is a Scottish poet, playwright, and novelist, known for her works ''Other Lovers'' (1993), ''Trumpet'' (1998) and ''Red Dust Road'' (2011). Kay has won many awards, including the Guardian Fictio ...

and

Kae Tempest Kae Tempest (formerly Kate Tempest; born 22 December 1985) is an English spoken word performer, poet, recording artist, novelist and playwright. At the age of 16, Tempest was accepted into the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in ...

. She tours most regularly with poets Vanessa Kisuule and Michael Pedersen. In 2014 McNish adopted the pseudonym Hollie Poetry after online abuse led her to fear using her surname. She released one album, ''Versus'', in September 2014 under this pseudonym, recorded it at

and making her the first poet to do so. A second album ''Poetry versus Orchestra'' (2016) was later released, featuring McNish's poetry "in combination with music written by composer and conductor

Jules Buckley Jules Buckley (born 8 January 1980) is an English conductor, composer, and arranger. Personal Buckley was born and grew up in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire in the UK. He is the son of Keith Buckley (a doctor) and Joan Buckley, and attended Ayles ...

and played by the

Metropole Orkest The Metropole Orkest (Metropole Orchestra) is a jazz and pop orchestra based in the Netherlands, and is the largest full-time ensemble of its kind in the world. A hybrid orchestra, it is a combination of jazz, big band and symphony orchestra. Com ...

." which was performed in a one of live concert at

Cadogan Hall Cadogan Hall is a 950-seat capacity concert hall in Sloane Terrace in Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. The resident music ensemble at Cadogan Hall is the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), the first ...

, London. In 2017 McNish returned to the use of her surname for all published works. In 2016 BBC Radio 4 ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by A ...

'' broadcast a seven-part radio short documentary series hosted by McNish entitled ''Becoming a Mother: A Hot Cup of Tea with Hollie McNish'' which explored motherhood from many angles, including poverty, linguistic barriers, mothering as migrants and teenage parenting. In 2018, she was artist in residence at Chester's

Storyhouse Storyhouse is a large, mixed-use cultural building in Chester, England, which opened in May 2017. The complex includes a theatre, cinema, restaurant and the city library. It is housed in the remodelled 1936 Odeon Cinema, a grade-II-listed buildin ...

. As well as live events, McNish is also an advocate for online poetry readings and a number of McNish's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

videos have gone viral. By 2015 her youtube account had had over 4.1 million views. In 2020, during the coronavirus lockdown, McNish began her regular online event: Poems in Pyjamas, streamed each Sunday night between 9.30-10pm for free on her instagram and facebook channels. She is a patron of Baby Milk Action, a network of over 270 citizens groups in more than 160 countries whose aim is 'to stop misleading marketing by the baby feeding industry... protect breastfeeding and babies fed on formula to prevent unnecessary death and suffering'.

Critical response

McNish's work has divided critics, with

P. N. Review Launched as ''Poetry Nation'', a twice-yearly hardback, in 1973, ''PN Review'' - now an A4 paperback - began quarterly publication in 1976 and has appeared six times a year since 1981 (PN Review 21). Two hundred and twenty-five issues of the magaz ...

going so far as to refuse to review her 2018

Picador A ''picador'' (; pl. ''picadores'') is one of the pair of horse-mounted bullfighters in a Spanish-style bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. They perform in the ''tercio de varas'', which is the first of the three stages in a stylized bullf ...

publication Plum, because 'to do so for a poetry journal would imply that it deserves to be taken seriously as poetry'. Following an online response from McNish, this article received coverage in several national news outlets such as ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' and the BBC. In the same year, Emma Watson named McNish, alongside other poets

Rupi Kaur Rupi Kaur (born 4 October 1992) is a Canadian poet, illustrator, photographer, and author. Born in Punjab, India, Kaur emigrated to Canada at a young age with her family. She began performing poetry in 2009 and rose to fame on Instagram, eventua ...

and

, as having reignited her love for poetry. Commentary on her work has included: "''But even by the standards of the defiantly lawless world of performance poetry, McNish, the English-raised daughter of Scottish parents, must seem – to some, at least – like a bewildering law unto herself."'' -

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

"...''abundant in expletives and unintimidating to anyone who considers ignorance a virtue."'' -

PN Review Launched as ''Poetry Nation'', a twice-yearly hardback, in 1973, ''PN Review'' - now an A4 paperback - began quarterly publication in 1976 and has appeared six times a year since 1981 (PN Review 21). Two hundred and twenty-five issues of the magaz ...

Publications

Poetry

*''Papers.'' London: Greenwich Exchange, 2012. . *''Cherry Pie.'' Burning Eye, 2015. . Illustrated by various artists and illustrators. *''Why I Ride: Because a Bike Pedal Lasts Longer Than a Gas Tank.'' Brattleboro, VT: Green Writers Press, 2015. . *''Nobody Told Me: Poetry and Parenthood.'' London:

Blackfriars Blackfriars, derived from Black Friars, a common name for the Dominican Order of friars, may refer to: England * Blackfriars, Bristol, a former priory in Bristol * Blackfriars, Canterbury, a former monastery in Kent * Blackfriars, Gloucester, a f ...

, 2016. . *''Plum.'' UK:

, 2017. . *''Slug''...''and other things i'm told to hate''. London: Fleet Publishing, 2021.

Play

*''Offside.'' Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2017. With

. .

Albums

*''Push Kick: A Journey Through the Beauty, Brilliance and Bollocks of Having a Baby'' (2010
Push Kick on Spotify
*''Touch'' (2010
Touch on Spotify
*''Versus'' (2014, Yup! Records) – Double album as Hollie Poetry *''Poetry versus Orchestra'' (Mo Black, 2016) – with

and

Awards

*2009: Winner, ''UK Slam Poetry Competition'' and went on to finish third in the global ''Slam Du Monde'' contest. *2015: Winner, Fellowships 2015, The Arts FoundationShortlisted Artists of the Fellowships 2015
, The Arts Foundation. Accessed 23 January 2018. *2016:

Ted Hughes Award The Ted Hughes Award is an annual prize given to a living UK poet for new work in poetry. It is awarded each spring in recognition of a work from the previous year. Background The award was established in 2009 with the permission of Carol Hughes i ...

for New Work in Poetry, for ''Nobody Told Me'' *2019: K Blundell Trust Award from Royal Society of Authors

References

External links

* * * – as Hollie Poetry
Hollie McNish - Recorded live at Abbey Road StudiosBecoming a Mother: A Hot Cup of Tea with Hollie McNish
– BBC Radio 4 ''Woman's Hour'' documentary series hosted by McNish {{DEFAULTSORT:McNish, Hollie Living people Writers from Reading, Berkshire 21st-century English poets Alumni of King's College, Cambridge English women poets 21st-century English women writers Slam poets Writers from Berkshire Alumni of SOAS University of London English people of Scottish descent 1984 births 20th-century English women 20th-century English people