​

About Me
"My poetry began with the telling of family stories but increasingly the voices and tales of those who have taken
a different or daring path draw me to them. 
​I am interested in exploring the intricacies of relationships and the inner and outer journeys we take in order to make sense of our lives.  Primarily a narrative poet, I  take inspiration from the natural world, social history and myth."

​Chloe was born in Kent and lives in Yorkshire. She is the author of 'The Waney Edge:'
Read a review: 
www.sphinxreview.co.uk/index.php/opoi-reviews-2019/889-chloe-balcombe-the-waney-edge

"When I first read Chloe's submission I was attracted to her deft descriptions of fearless women. She has a strong narrative line running though her work with a natural rhythm and musicality.
​ I like the loose formality of her stanzas and while much of her poetry deals with loss and deep feeling, some of it is also very funny. Chloe reads her work exceptionally well, bringing her characters to life."
Jennifer Grigg, Editor, Green Bottle Press
greenbottlepress.com
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You can also find her work in journals, anthologies and online including:

Poetry
'​Equinox',  Well Dam, Beautiful Dragons, 2019
'What We Know About Snipe', 'Lepus',  Dawn Treader, Indigo Dreams Press, 2019
'Neighbours', The Interpreter's House, Issue 80, 2019
​theinterpretershouse.org/balcomb-70
'Glory', All the Sins, Issue 9, Art from History, 2019
allthesins.co.uk/issue-2/issue-9/glory-chloe-balcomb/
'Bohemia', Under the Radar, September, 2018
'What We Did', Not a Drop, Beautiful Dragons, 2017
'My Son the Cockroach', 'Culture', And Other Poems, September, 2017
andotherpoems.com/2017/09/08/two-poems-by-chloe-balcomb/
'The Backcomb Beauties',  My Mane Memories, Silver Birch Press, 2016 
silverbirchpress.wordpress.com/2016/03/11/the-backcomb-beauties-poem-by-chloe-balcomb-my-mane-memories-poetry-and-prose-series/

​Recent prizes and commendations 
'Blether', Frogmore Poetry Prize 2020, Second Runner Up
'Crossing', Elmbridge Literary Competition 2020
'The Sisters of St Hilaire', Manchester Cathedral Poetry Competition, 2019
 'Driving Lessons', The Cannon Poets Sonnet or Not, 2017
'Strange Creatures', Guernsey Literature Festival, 2016 
'Advice for Female Funambulists', Mslexia Poetry Pamphlet Competition, 2016

Recent performances
'The Waney Edge', Bishops House, Sheffield, 2019
'The Waney Edge', Green Bottle Press Launch, Poetry Cafe,  2019
'The Waney Edge', Off The Shelf, Festival of Words, 2019
'The Waney Edge' Wirksworth Festival, 2019
Female Funambulists, Wirksworth Festival, 2018
Female Funambulists, Off the Shelf, Festival of Words, 2018
Female Funambulists, Frost Fair Performance, 2018

Short Stories ​
'Thirst',  Eunoia Review, 2019
eunoiareview.wordpress.com/2019/08/06/thirst-3/

​'Flamenco Tat'​, The Cabinet of Heed, (Issue 24), 2019
cabinetofheed.com/2019/09/07/flamenco-tat-chloe-balcomb

Reviews 
‘beautiful unshowy language; a precisely controlled tone that allows for an expert build up of narrative suspense.’ 
Amy Wack, Poetry Editor, Seren Press ​

'There is no one else writing like Chloe Balcomb, no one else who can render huge themes - feminism, death, our life with other animals into such finely observed and delicately wrought vignettes, vibrant with original diction and vocabulary.'  
​Roselle Angwin, Poet and Author

Bohemia

Tall Sophie was dark to our fair,
hennaed, bangled exotic as a gypsy.
Her black skirts grazed the floor
as she led us through passages

fragrant with patchouli and old books. 
Things made sense at her place –
dogs and cats curled up together,
her sisters let us play their records.

We’d watch her donkey churn grass
through a hole in his poorly cheek,
or sprawl in her aviary bedroom, 
where budgies flew like neon salad.
 
Her folks were absent –off somewhere 
or resting in remote rooms, appearing 
suddenly for late night dips at St Julian’s 
where we lay in leaf strewn shallows.
 
 

More about me

I spent my childhood in Devon, Nigeria and Kent and have  worked in many fields, including gardening, youth work, running a restaurant in France, teaching  and consultancy. I am trained in Shiatsu, Bowen and Therapeutic Massage and now work as a writer and bodywork practitioner, in Sheffield. 
I have loved listening to and writing stories and poems since childhood,  with their magical ability to transport me  to another life or experience.  
​The human body also has many stories to tell and both as a writer and a bodyworker, my role is to be attentive and listen in to what it is truly  saying.

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