Suzy Aspell

Webstrung

OUT NOW!! Get your copy here

Or contact us if you would prefer a copy signed by the author herself. Email ashleyedge.poet@gmail.com. Please note, direct orders will include p&p.

“Webstrung, the debut collection from Suzy Aspell, is a weaving journey of hope. With her skilful use of free verse and form, such as the pantoum, she tells a tale of nature’s beauty and the damage a human touch can cause, laced with optimism that it will heal and flourish. Interspersed with ekphrastic poems that add threads of humanity and history, this is a collection that sees the connection between humankind and our wonderous planet. Read from front to back, or dip in at your leisure, every page will hook you into this stunning poetic cobweb.”

Links to images used in her ekphrastic poems are here

The ONLINE LAUNCH for this stunning collection will take place on Friday 23rd January. You can get a ticket here

To celebrate the release of WEBSTRUNG by our wonderful poet, SUZY ASPELL, we are bringing you an online evening of powerful poetry. From nature and environmentalism, to myth and legend, you are in for an incredible treat, with a list of emotion-hitting special guests!

Hosted by Ashley Edge and Kate Jenkinson, you are in for a spectacular night. Our main poet, Suzy Aspell, will be reading from her debut collection, Webstrung. And, alongside her, we will be joined by BETH HARTLEY, JASON CONWAY and SUE WATLING. Each will bring you a feature set that compliments Suzy in different ways. This eclectic night is sure to be electric!

Bio:

Suzy Aspell writes in her spare time. She lives and works in Bedfordshire, UK, with her cheeky, very pampered cat. She has worked in the Airline industry for nearly forty years, apart from a year working as a travel rep in Spain and five years teaching English as a second language in Taiwan. While in Taiwan, Suzy wrote, produced and performed two plays at the Tainan Civic Centre, for her fellow teachers.

Suzy was known as the ‘English Nerd’ in school but paused her love for literature due to having day jobs, in which she embraced her fervour for travel instead. Returning to the UK to bring up her daughter, Suzy enrolled in the Open University and emerged with a BA in Humanities with English Literature. Armed with her degree, Suzy has tutored many students since 2008, mainly GCSE English students struggling with dyslexia and ADHD. Suzy’s nerves are shredded every August in anticipation of GCSE results.

Whilst furloughed during COVID, Suzy joined numerous poetry workshops which have now become an essential part of her life. It is thanks to these Poetry Mentors that Suzy has been published, and encouraged to perform at Spoken Word events.

Just like her nan, Suzy nurtures a novel inside, watch this space!

You can follow Suzy here:

Bluesky – @susisu371.bsky.social

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/susan.aspell

Instagram/Threads – @susisu37

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzy-a-95040839/

Twitter – @susisu371

Praise for Webstrung

Suzy Aspell’s poems take the reader on a magical journey: often profound and always imaginative the poems bloom from their ekphrastic origins into whole worlds of their own. A very special collection and one to revisit.

~Wendy Pratt, Author of The Ghost Lake and Blackbird Singing At Dusk

Suzy Aspell’s first collection offers readers a beautiful patchwork of poetry. It contains intriguing glimpses into a variety of cultures which blend seamlessly with ekphrastic inspiration from surrealism and abstract expressionism. The snowshoe hare and a blackbird’s heart sit alongside starry skies and water. There’s bees and statues. A lepidopterist and osteomancy. Like the magician in the ‘Travelling House of Spirits’, Suzy successfully juggles a string of spells, her light touch dealing effortlessly with depth. This collection contains poems for everyone. Whatever your interests, you’ll encounter resonance among the pages and readers will find themselves looking forward to seeing what Suzy does next.

~Sue Watling, Author of Heaving with the Dreams of Strangers and Thetis

Snared from the first poem, this debut is full of images that will remain with you. In this collection, ekphrasis and form sit side by side with their inspirations. These poems walk through art and entwine their lines around trees. Suzy Aspell is a crafter; a writer with a fine tipped nib. Sit and savour, won’t you?

~ Beth Hartley, Author of What if Stars and A Holding

Suzy’s first collection is a kaleidoscope of imagination dancing between the dark and light images of nature and our impact on it. Her poetic translation gives voice and vision to an inner mind’s eye I cannot see, but through Suzy’s poetry I can experience in technicolour vocabulary. Her words fill me with awe and wonder. These poems are alive with natural phenomena that will keep inviting you back in for more.

~Dr Kate Jenkinson, Author of Un/Broken

Webstrung brings to life so many of our everyday experiences like an invisible spirit; lurking, watching. A voice with no form that sees all forms around it. Suzy Aspell plays delightfully with this watchful gaze; sometimes as she gazes at her world, and other times when she perceives that gaze upon herself. In her world danger often waits, but beauty is always found. The voice is both feminine and powerful, sometimes ghostly and invisible, sometimes open and bold. She seeks to empower with her verse, and this she achieves. Throughout the entire collection Suzy is always the invisible who sees all yet is not seen by any. She is the spider who preys on the day-to-day life of us. She is the spider who seeks to devour the meaning of what she sees.

~Dr David Gordon