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Tom Branfoot

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British poet and critic

Tom Branfoot
Branfoot in 2024Branfoot in 2024
BornWest Yorkshire, England
OccupationPoet, critic
LanguageEnglish
NationalityBritish
EducationBA (Hons), 2021
MA, 2022
Alma materManchester Metropolitan University
University College London
GenrePoetry
Criticism
Notable worksThis Is Not an Epiphany
boar
Notable awardsThe Poetry Business New Poets Prize 2022
Northern Debut Award for Poetry in 2024

Tom Branfoot is a poet and critic from Bradford, England. His pamphlet This Is Not an Epiphany earned him the 2022 Poetry Business New Poets Prize. Branfoot is currently the writer-in-residence at the Manchester Cathedral, and was awarded a Northern Debut Award for Poetry in 2024.

Life and education

Branfoot is an English poet from Bradford, now mostly residing in London. He has a BA (Hons) in English and American Literature from the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University, awarded in 2021. He later studied for an MA in Issues in Modern Culture at UCL.

In 2020, he expressed disagreement on X (then Twitter) about the name of Manchester-based The Hollow Cow Hotel's bar, which was called 'Plantation Bar' at that time. After the phrase "colonial vibes" was questioned, the hotel apologised for "an ill-advised choice of naming" the bar.

Career

Branfoot is a widely published poet, with work, including book reviews, appearing in such journals as The Poetry Review, Magma, Washington Square Review, The London Magazine, berlin lit and bath magg. For Magma, he reviewed work by poets Hannah Sullivan (Was It For This, Faber, 2022), Jacob Polley (Material Properties, Picador, 2023) and Degna Stone (Proof of Life on Earth, Nine Arches Press, 2022), and work by Edwina Attlee and Joyelle McSweeney for The Poetry Review. For The London Magazine, he wrote about John Burnside, whose "death was particularly unexpected".

In 2020, he was highly commended in the "Twitter-based" Creative Manchester Poetry Competition, judged by the poets Lemn Sissay, John McAuliffe and Maryam Hessavi.

Called one of "Manchester’s finest young poets", his debut pamphlet, I’ll Splinter, was published by Pariah Press as part of their Infernal Editions series in 2021. In 2022, he was awarded the Poetry Business New Poets Prize for his second pamphlet This Is Not an Epiphany, selected by Anthony Anaxagorou. It was published in 2023, and was followed by Branfoot's third, boar, from Broken Sleep Books.

He was praised for a "sharp eye" in a review of I'll Splinter, noting that he could notice "the poetic in the pebbledash and tarmac of the in-between places." Green says that Branfoot writes about "all fathers", and deftly mingles "the epic and the everyday". This Is Not an Epiphany was one of the Broken Sleep authors' book of the year 2023. The poet Charlie Baylis called it full of "parkle and heartbeat". Nathaniel King included Branfoot's boar in his best books of the year. In a review, boar has been noted as "an exercise in poetic exploration". Writing for The Mancunion, Phedra Broch called Branfoot's pieces "real and raw" in their approach and expression. In a 2024 article, KLOF Mag looked at another Bradford artist Dean McPhee's track 'The Bradford Boar' as a companion piece to Branfoot's boar.

At present, he holds the position of the writer-in-residence at Manchester Cathedral. As part of this residency at the Cathedral, a position he took up in 2023, Branfoot has organised several events, including the Manchester Cathedral Poetry Competition, judged by Rogers Govender, poets Ella Duffy and Emily Oldfield, and himself, and a series of workshops titled 'Doubt Wisely' over six weeks in May and June 2023. With poet Andrew McMillan, he also organised a ‘Christianity in Poetry’ event featuring poets Camille Ralphs, Michael Symmons Roberts and Malika Booker.

In 2023, Branfoot founded the poetry reading series 'More Song', running out of the Record Café in Bradford on a monthly basis. The series has hosted acclaimed poets as well as poets of growing fame, including such as Zaffar Kunial, Fran Lock, and Hannah Copley, the T.S. Eliot Prize shortlistee. More Song has also collaborated with publishers such as Pavilion Poetry, And Other Stories and The 87 Press.

In 2024, he was awarded a Northern Debut Award for Poetry, for his collection on "crisis, birdwatching, class, environment, and dwelling" revolving around West Yorkshire landscapes. The book is tentatively titled Volatile. He was also highly commended in the Solstice Nature Prize for Young Writers 2024, for his poem 'Box', praised by the judge, Gill Lewis, for a powerful imagery.

Pamphlets

Awards

  • 2020: Highly Commended, Creative Manchester Poetry Competition
  • 2022: The Poetry Business New Poets Prize, for This Is Not an Epiphany
  • 2024: Northern Debut Award for Poetry
  • 2024: Highly Commended, The Solstice Nature Prize for Young Writers, for 'Box'

References

  1. ^ Bennett, Jasmine (7 November 2020). "Nocturnal – Tom Branfoot". The Mancunion. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  2. ^ "University alumnus appointed as Writer-In-Residence at Manchester Cathedral". Manchester Metropolitan University. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  3. "Tom's Workshop: Poetry in Crisis". Brag Writers. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  4. ^ "News: Tom Branfoot wins the New Poets Prize 2022". UCL News. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  5. Flanagan, Tom (27 August 2020). "'We're sorry': Hotel forced to change 'disgusting' bar name". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  6. "Tom Branfoot reviews Hannah Sullivan, Jacob Polley and Degna Stone". Magma Poetry. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  7. "Tom Branfoot reviews Hannah Sullivan, Jacob Polley and Degna Stone" (PDF). Magma Poetry. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  8. "Tom Branfoot on Edwina Attlee and Joyelle McSweeney". The Poetry Review. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  9. Branfoot, Tom. "'Everything Shapes What It Encounters': On the Life and Work of John Burnside". The London Magazine. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  10. "Winners of Creative Manchester Poetry Competition 2020 announced". The University of Manchester. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  11. ^ "Creative Manchester Poetry Competition 2020". Centre for New Writing, The University of Manchester. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  12. "Rory Waterman & Hive New Poets Prize Winners Reading". Hive South Yorkshire. 13 August 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  13. Green, Hannah (12 August 2021). "I'll Splinter by Tom Branfoot (Infernal Editions)". Tears in the Fence. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  14. Kent, Aaron (2 January 2024). "Books of the Year 2023". Broken Sleep Books. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  15. ^ Bennett, Brandon (1 February 2024). "Poetry Corner: Branfoot's Tongueless Brute". Brag Writers. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  16. Broch, Phedra (30 January 2020). "Art in Mancunia: Tom Branfoot". The Mancunion. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  17. Blake, Thomas (22 July 2024). "Pefkin/Dean McPhee - Ceremonial County Series Vol.V - Norfolk/West Yorkshire". KLOF Mag. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  18. Harper, Sally (16 January 2025). "'Finally shall come the poet, worthy that name': exploring the role of a cathedral poet-in-residence". Journal of Beliefs & Values: 1–18. doi:10.1080/13617672.2024.2448037.
  19. "Meet the judges of our poetry competition". Manchester Cathedral. 27 September 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  20. "Manchester Cathedral Poetry Competition 2024". Young Poets Network. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  21. "'Doubt Wisely': Poetry Workshops on Doubt with Tom Branfoot". PAHC Online, MMU. 25 April 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  22. "Doubt Wisely – Poetry Workshop Series with Manchester Cathedral Writer-in-Residence Tom Branfoot". Manchester Metropolitan University. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  23. "'Doubt Wisely': Poetry Workshops on Doubt with Tom Branfoot". Manchester City of Literature. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  24. Conlon, Sarah-Clare (12 March 2024). "Camille Ralphs, Michael Symmons Roberts and Malika Booker at Manchester Cathedral". creativetourist.com. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  25. Pearson, Georgia (2 July 2024). "Graduate Stories: Manchester Cathedral Writer in Residence Tom Branfoot talks about his poetically charged career after leaving university". aAh! Magazine. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  26. "About: More Song is an innovative and experimental poetry reading series in Bradford". More Song. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  27. "Winners - 2024 Northern Writers' Awards". New Writing North. 25 June 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  28. "Northern Writers' Awards 2024 announced". Northumbria University. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  29. ^ "The Solstice Prize 2024 for Young Writers". Writing East Midlands CIC. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  30. "Winners of the Northern Writers' Awards 2024 unveiled". The Bookseller. 25 June 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2025.

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