Bex Hainsworth

is a teacher and poet based in Leicester, UK. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Poetry Wales, The Rialto, bath magg, Atrium, and Honest Ulsterman. Walrussey, her debut pamphlet, is published by The Black Cat Poetry Press.

Twitter: @PoetBex
Instagram: @poet.bex
Blue Sky: @poetbex.bsky.social

The Interview

1. How did you decide on what poems to send?

I’m an ecopoet at heart and will never get tired of writing about our natural world – so I had an awful lot of poems to choose from! In the end, I picked three poems about the more obscure species inhabiting our planet, one of them being the northern stargazer.

2. What poetic form did it take, and why?

Like with the vast majority of my poetry, this one is free verse with a healthy dose of enjambment. ‘A sense of contrasts, the juxtaposition between predatory nature and beauty, and how even the most unusual, sand bed-locked creature can have a touch of the celestial.

3. How did you use the whiteness of the page in your poem?

Northern Stargazer’ has uneven stanza and line lengths, mimicking the flow of waves and water as they wash over this ambush predator.

4. How did you decide on the title of your poem?

As with many of my nature poems, I feel you can’t go wrong with naming the poem after the animal in question, keeping it simple, a clear ode.

5. Imagery, or narrative. Which was more important to you in writing the poem?

This poem captures one moment in the northern stargazer’s life, so I think imagery was more important here.

6. What do you think of where your poem is placed in the collection?

I’m honoured to see my little poem sandwiched between two brilliant poets!

7. Once they have read your poem, what do you hope the reader will leave with?

Being in the second half of the collection, I hope it strikes a positive, whimsical note that will linger with readers.