Poet

“A nice, natural style and a real feel for language and rhythm”
​- Tony Bradman, poet, anthologist, reviewer & author

About John's poetry

I've always loved messing around with words. And poetry is one way of doing that.

I'd been writing poems for several years, and had been working as an author for more than a decade, when Otter-Barry Books told me they'd like to publish a whole book of my poetry. They've published two now - details below - and are going to publish another one which I'm co-authoring with my poetry pals Sarah Ziman and Attie Lime.

On this page you can find out about my published poetry books, as well as some of the anthologies my work's been included in.

Zooming the Zoo
​iIllustrated by Tom Morgan-Jones
​

• "Superb. Mostly hilarious but also very powerful poems"​ - Jon Biddle, teacher and Reading for Pleasure expert
• "A treasure trove of poetic delight" - Through the Bookshelf 
• "A fabulously imaginative poetry collection" - Books for Topics
• ​"Clever, witty and thought-provoking... reluctant readers of poetry are likely to be engaged and entertained" - Children's Books Ireland​

Longlisted for the KPMG Children's Books Ireland Awards 2025

Dinosaurs & Dinner-Ladies
​also iIllustrated by Tom Morgan-Jones
​

• "Rather wonderful... each and every one of [the poems] needs to be read" - The Poetry Zone
• "A collection of sheer brilliance with all the wit and charm we’ve come to expect from this popular fiction writer" - Lovereading4kids
• "has appeal for both children and adults... would be a great addition to a poetry library or classroom collection" - Books for Keeps​

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​It's always nice when someone else - an editor or another poet - wants to publish one of your poems in an anthology they're putting together.
Here are some books my poems have been included in.

Video performances

Here are three of my poems - Pink and Next Door's Cat from Dinosaurs & Dinner-Ladies, and I Am A Man of Naughtiness from ​Zooming the Zoo - performed by me and filmed by the wonderful Pete Brownlee. Thanks, Pete!

Of course there's quite a lot of crossover between stories, poetry and songs. All these books are told in rhyming verse - so I suppose that they're poems, as well!