The poem ‘St Cuthbert’s School’ was written in a workshop. I enjoy poetry workshops as you have the collective feel of poets writing together. I have a chronic pain disability so I especially love the online workshops where I can attend from the comfort of my home. Going back to the poem, I attended a primary school where most of the teachers were nuns. Sister Francis in the poem was the headteacher and feared by everyone, children and adults alike. The incident with the frog experiment and the girl who fell off the chair happened at secondary school but somehow in the quick writing response the two memories collided. I recall the teacher shouting very dramatically, don’t let that child swallow her tongue!

The poem, ‘Moonlight Flit’ is based on experience of teenage motherhood living in social housing on benefits. A time where the rent man would knock and walk straight in. It was very intimidating. The area I lived in was deprived and not a good place to bring up a child. I moved house fairly often, looking for escape. 

Rachel Burns lives in County Durham. Her debut collection, My Last Address, Horses, Horses, Horses, is published with Broken Sleep Books. She was awarded a DYCP Arts Council Grant in 2023. She won the Classical Association Poetry Prize in 2026. She was placed second in The Julian Lennon Prize for Poetry 2021 and second in the Disabled Poets Prize 2024. Her poetry has been widely anthologised, including COAL Smith/Doorstop and North Country, Saraband. Rachel has facilitated poetry workshops for The Ginkgo Prize, Tees Women Poets, The Writing School and Creative Future. Her pamphlet, A Girl in a Blue Dress, is published by Vane Women Press.

Main image by Maeve O’Sullivan