Helen Calcutt

Helen is an award-winning poet, and the author of three collections. Her debut, 'Sudden rainfall' was published by British publishing house Perdika Press when she was just 23 years old. It was a PBS Choice on publication and became Waterstone's best-selling pamphlet in 2016. Her second pamphlet 'Somehow' was published by Verve Poetry Press in September 2020. It was a PBS Winter Bulletin Pamphlet, and Poetry School Book of the Year (2020, shortlist). Her full-length collection 'Feeling all the kills' will be published by Pavilion Poetry in April 2024.

Helen was one of the six poets selected to perform at the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony 2022, hosted in Birmingham. Her poem 'Mother, the city', written for the ceremony, was performed as part of its major opening scene 'Everything to Everybody', and was heard by over one and half billion people around the globe.

Helen also writes for the Guardian, the Huffington Post, Poetry London, and the Wales Arts Review.

Calcutt is also a professional dancer, performer, and choreographer. She has directed movement for theatre, site-specific productions, and independent film, working with a specialism in the conversation between text and movement. She is Artistic Director of new dance-theatre company 'Beyond Words',[2] specialising imn text-to-movement translation. They are currently researching a dance adaptation of Max Porter's text, 'Grief Is the Thing with Feathers', supported by the Birmingham REP, One Dance UK and Arts Council England.

Helen originally trained in jazz and commercial dance, before studying contemporary movement and later moving into dance-theatre and movement direction. She has performed, and co-created with acclaimed organisations including The Birmingham Royal Ballet, Autin Dance Theatre, Sonia Sabri Company, Dundu, ME Dance Company, The Place (London) Apple & Made in LND, Midland’s Actors Theatre, Def Motion, Vamos Cuba, and The Birmingham Int. Dance Festival. She is also a Latin and Cuban salsa[3] dancer.

Calcutt is an activist for mental health awareness, and male suicide prevention. She is the creator and editor of the acclaimed poetry anthology, 'Eighty Four'[4] The title stands for the number of men who take their lives every week in the U.K.

The book was published by Verve Poetry Press (2019) was shortlisted for the Saboteur Best Anthology Award, 2019, and was a Poetry Wales Book of The Year 2019.

Helen lost her own brother to suicide in September 2017.

• 2013: Sudden rainfall, Perdika Press, ISBN 978-1-905649-17-4
• 2018: Unable Mother, V.Press, ISBN 978-1-9998444-0-0
• 2019: Anthology Eighty Four Verve Poetry Press ISBN 978-1-91256513-9
• 2020: Somehow Verve Poetry Press, ISBN 978-1-912565-42-9
• 2024: Feeling all the kills Pavilion Poetry, ISBN 978-1-802074-72-7

• Official website
• The Guardian, author page
• The Huffington Post, author page
• The Lampeter Review, Issue 6 2012
• Perdika Press