Phoenix Ruddock

Neuroanthemic

OUT NOW!! Get your copy here

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“Neuroanthemic, Ruddock’s second poetry collection, is a reflection on their disabled and queer identity that pushes back against society’s ableism and LGBTQIA+ hatred. Will they fight, fly, freeze or fawn? This is a poetic journey of survival, evolution and self-acceptance. The road to self-awareness and self-love is never easy, and they do not shy away from facing it. At times raw and traumatic, they work their way through it all. Self-analysis and understanding the science of the psyche is key for this powerhouse of a poet, as they take you along a path of exploring their own unique, neurodivergent mind, disabled body and queer soul.”

The ONLINE LAUNCH for this powerful collection will take place on Tuesday 14th July. You can get your FREE ticket here.

It’s time for another brilliant book launch folks. To celebrate the release of NEUROANTHEMIC by our brilliant and emotive poet, PHOENIX CASEY RUDDOCK, we are bringing you an online evening of powerful, poignant poetry. A celebration of their queer and disabled self, full of raw honesty about the fight it takes to live in their skin, you are in for an emotional treat, with a buffet of equally emotion-hitting special guests!

Hosted by Ashley Edge and Kate Jenkinson, you are in for a spectacular night. Our main poet, Phoenix Casey Ruddock, will be reading from their collection, Neuroanthemic. And, alongside them, we will be joined by FAY ROBERTS, SANDRA BOND and CHARLOTTE FAULCONBRIDGE. Each will bring you a feature set that compliments Phoenix in different ways. This eclectic night is sure to be electric!

Bio:

Phoenix (they/them) is a transmasc, agender and queer, neurodivergent, disabled, published poet born and raised in York. They have been around the ‘poetry scene’ for what feels like a long time now (at least to them!) but only began writing poetry in 2020!

Often found appearing at York Spoken Word, Prickly Pear, and various other online open mics, Phoenix has additionally co-hosted and performed at open mic events for York Ending Stigma and been a supporting poet at Poetry for All.

Phoenix authored the poem used in the national video campaign produced by several Time to Change hubs in Mental Health Awareness Week 2020.

They have had various pieces of work published in a variety of publications, including in the ‘WHY’ book (produced by York Ending Stigma’s lived experience suicide prevention project WHY), were featured in Creative Expressions (a book produced by members of the Time to Talk Mental Health UK Facebook group in 2020), and had poems featured in PTSD UK’s ‘Broken Crayons Still Colour’ Art Book, published in 2021. Their work centres around their experiences of neurodivergence, gender and sexuality, disability, discrimination, and mental health/illness.

A maths hater and science lover, they have a real affinity with animals, and an expanding collection of LEGO™. Phoenix had a brief amateur rugby league career, which their body reminds them about on regular occasions, though it hasn’t deterred them from maintaining a lifelong passion for rugby league, and a love of both York Knights and York Valkyrie. They are also a lover of musical theatre, with their favourites including Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of The Worlds, RENT, EPIC, Heathers: The Musical, and Operation Mincemeat (not necessarily in that order!)

Phoenix’s passions and autistic special interests include, but are not limited to: trains, LEGO, Star Wars, Pokémon, science, SIX the Musical, EPIC The Musical, and is available to infodump about these at any time! Outside of poetry, Phoenix creates art through mediums of pyrography, sketching and painting, amongst other crafts, and occasionally decorating shoes with shiny things.

You can follow Phoenix here:

Instagram: @ruddock5394

Threads: @ruddock5394

Praise for Neuroanthemic

In Neuroanthemic (what an amazing title!), Phoenix Ruddock takes us on a journey fuelled by a fierce need for justice and equity. Unflinchingly first person throughout, Ruddock’s collection immerses us in bafflement and pain, insisting we step outside our own experiences, even if it means joining them in profound discomfort. It’s more than worth it – not only are they an impassioned truth-speaker, but they have a rare gift for sly humour, a litany of absurdities glittering with finely honed sarcasm. And furthermore, following them on their journey, we find ourselves breathing easier further down the road, as the doors to their cage are unlocked by an anonymous benefactor who has clearly listened, done the all-important step of doing what Ruddock begs everyone to do and stand in another’s shoes for long enough to understand their humanity and their limitations (and divergent skills).

Unconstrained, the vistas open, and Ruddock is more frequently plural, having gained community, support, recognition, and accommodation with their physical and mental health challenges. The humour comes faster, the skies turn brighter, the phoenix still burns, but it’s hearthfire and sunrise now, not the urge to immolate the system held back only by a strong conscience and a deep compassion for humanity.

If you want poetry that takes you further than the author’s commute, deeper than their convictions, and fiercer than the righteous ire that fuels them, look no further. And, if you want a set of accessible messages to pin to your boss’s desk (or chant in your one-to-ones) until they finally Get It, Neuroanthemic is definitely the book for you.

~Fay Roberts, director of Allographic Press; author of Spectral (Burning Eye, 2022)

Phoenixes rise from their ashes, and to read this splendid collection is to understand that Nix has not so much risen from theirs as burst upward from them like a child’s toy on a spring, using past struggles and strife as both a springboard and as inspirational material for poetry.

The book is divided into four sections, “Fight, flight, fawn, freeze”. They might equally have been called “Fury, freedom, forward, flame”; Nix is not about to wallow in self-pity or dreams of might-have-been. They are on the move, heading for better things and inviting you to either join that journey or be bowled over and flattened as Nix strides onward.

Me, I’m tagging along with them.

This book of verse is full of delightful positivity and the belief that it is still possible to forge a kinder, more inclusive world. Next time I’m feeling beaten down by modern politics and trends, I know where I can look for a refreshing tonic.

~Sandra Bond; author of novels The Psychopath Club (2021), The Devil’s Finger (2023), Three Men in Orbit (2024) and poetry collections Poetry: Poetry Slum (2023) and The Goblin Muse (2025); all published by Canal Press.

The visceral realities of this poetry collection will leave you gasping in awe and admiration for its raw honesty, you cannot read these truths without feeling the power of the experiences etched in words. Phoenix tells us how it is to live a neurodivergent, non-binary existence with fibro in a way we have to listen. To witness how work really feels in their nervous system, their body, their mind. Their experiences are lessons in self awareness for everybody.

The tender personal reflections of people loved and lost bring moments of pathos and sadness in sharp relief – grief is given a gentle touch. This collection is an education and a triumph of self-expression and awareness, leading to a wonderful release of acceptance and true empathy. Joining all their dots we celebrate their euphoric rise in this ace, electric, poetic flight of transformation.

~ Kate Jenkinson, CEO of Association of Business Poets; author of Un/Broken (Poetic Edge, 2024)

Phoenix is a powerhouse of poetry, sparking your emotions in the wildest of ways. Exploring themes of identity, Phoenix will alight the ashes of the soul, raising your spirits in the process. This collection of poems sizzle society’s expectations of what it means to be human, courageously challenging the consequences. They will leave your heart burning, yearning, and equipped to fight for a better world.

~Charlotte Faulconbridge, TEDx speaker and Cheltenham slam winner; author of Too High to Function (Inclusive Creatives, 2023) and The Warring Twenties (The Jawbone Collective, 2024)