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Poetry lets me look at one thing closely and slowly for a long time.

"In the rest of my life it is loud and busy and chaotic and I flit from one thing to another in a deeply inefficient way." An interview with Nia Broomhall, the poet behind May's Poem of the Month.

Nia Broomhall won May's Poem of the Month with My Daughter Moves Home. Here is our usual poet interview, delivered on the 10th of each month with the current POTM poet.

THE POET

Nia Broomhall is a poet and co-Head of English at a comprehensive school. She is Poet in Residence at Painshill Park in Surrey. Her debut pamphlet Backalong won the Mslexia Pamphlet Prize and was published by Bloodaxe Books in 2024, and she won the Poetry Society’s Hamish Canham Prize the same year. Her poems have been published widely, recently by The North, Atrium and Propel, and she has twice been Highly Commended in the Winchester Poetry Prize. She runs community poetry workshops and inclusive Poetry Nights in her local area. She comes from a long line of West Country women who talk to strangers and embarrass their children.

What themes or forms do you find yourself drawn to?

It’s always places and people, people and places, but lately, I have been drawn to anything that suggests change, of any kind. I’m in my almost-late 40s with children growing up and leaving home, so I suppose that’s to be expected!

What does poetry do for you? I think it quiets me. In the rest of my life it is loud and busy and chaotic and I flit from one thing to another in a deeply inefficient way, but poetry lets me look at one thing closely and slowly for a long time, and I love that.

What snacks fuel your poems?

Amazing question. It’s always cheese.

Three words that describe your poetry? What I’d love people to think is that it’s musical, observant and crafted.

Have you published or performed before?

My pamphlet Backalong won the Mslexia Poetry Pamphlet Prize and was published by Bloodaxe in 2024. I run inclusive Poetry Nights at the West End Centre in Aldershot with the Poetry for Wellbeing class I teach, and I’ve read at some lovely events recently including the Edward Thomas Festival, The Riverhouse Barn Poetry Night in Walton and Winchester Muse. I’m also frequently at the brilliant Poetry Night at Goldfinch Books in Alton.

THE POEM

What made you write this poem?

I’m writing about my daughter a lot recently – I could never write about my children when they were tiny, but suddenly they’re growing up and all these poems are appearing about them. I was on a fantastic online workshop a few months ago that Caroline Bird did for Arvon and one of the prompts was a list of all the ingredients in the book George’s Marvellous Medicine. We had to choose one and write about what might happen, in a poetic sense, if we gave it to someone in our lives. You should try this prompt – it’s so good! Anyway, my daughter was going through a rough time at that point and that’s where this poem came from. She’s amazing and I’m so proud of her.

Was this poem written specifically for the comp or pulled from your archive? I wasn’t sure what to do with this one, but then I saw that your theme this month was VIVACITY and I thought yes!

How does this piece sit in your wider work?

It fits thematically, but it’s unusual for me to have surreal elements in my writing. I really enjoyed writing this one though, so maybe I’ll lean into that and see what happens!

COMMUNITY + INFLUENCE

Who or what inspires your writing right now? Reading, reading, reading poetry. And teaching it. I have a beautiful Poetry Club at school and seeing what they make of poems is an endless source of joy. I also listen to poetry podcasts while I’m driving. I feel like I have to read as widely as I can to avoid falling into a rut and forgetting that there are a million ways to write a poem – oh, I think, yes, you’re allowed to do THAT! I just came back to Grace Nichols after a while and what she can’t do with a last line…

Why did you send your poem to VERVE’s Poem of the Month? It’s such a great idea, POTM, with one of the quickest turnarounds I’ve ever seen. Poets spend so much time waiting for responses, and we understand why that is, but POTM is great and I always enjoy reading the shortlist when it comes out. Also I know that Verve has an amazing output, including the freshly published Little Bitch by Ellora Sutton, which is beautiful.

Anyone or anything you’d like to shout out? Caroline Bird for that amazing prompt and my daughter, who in reality is healing herself. If you’re anywhere near Aldershot then keep an eye out for our Poetry Nights – they really are special. The next one is June 25th. Also let’s big up young poets and young people in general – I took my Poetry Club to the Young Poets Takeover at the Poetry Society recently and the work Cia Mangat and the Young Poets Network do is remarkable – there’s so much talent out there.

Got anything coming up? I’m working on my first full collection, and taking a break from school teaching next year to focus on that and do more freelance work. I’m excited, and scared. Mostly excited. I’ll be at the Surrey Big Poetry Weekend in August, reading and running a workshop, and I’ll be running workshops as usual at Painshill Park and the West End Centre in Aldershot. Do follow my free Substack and say hi!

Is there anything else you’d like to say to our readers, poets, or the world? We’ve got to give ourselves permission to do the stuff we want to do.

Find Nia: www.niabroomhall.co.uk, on Instagram as @niaandthepoems, or on Substack Nia’s Poetry Bookshelf.