Penny Blackburn

Penny Blackburn (she/her) lives in North East England but is originally from Yorkshire. Her poetry has been published by, among others, Lighthouse, Dreamcatcher, Ink Sweat and Tears, Spelt and Riggwelter and her prose in Crossing the Tees, Leicester Writes, Reader’s Digest and more. Her pamphlet from Wild Pressed Books, A Taste for Bread, was published in 2021 and her first collection with Yaffle Press, Gaps Made of Static, in autumn 2023. Penny is co-host of Cullerpoets poetry stanza and host of Under the Arches spoken word evening in Tynemouth.

To learn a bit more about Penny, I start by seeking her views on the value of daydreaming:

Despite not being encouraged in schools, and frowned upon in social situations, do you think daydreaming can be valuable? 

I think daydreaming is hugely valuable! Unstructured thinking allows our subconscious to take its time and work things out without our conscious mind interfering (which it likes to do, it’s very meddlesome!) Daydreaming can lead to all kinds of ideas – not always great ones, but there can be some real corkers if you let your mind relax a little. The problem comes when you let daydreaming take over your life – the real world is amazing too, you don’t need to spend your whole life inside your head!

Is it fair to say that you enjoy performing your poetry? Also, do you think your experience as a teacher has given you an appreciation of the spoken word?

Oh I love performing! Of any kind! As a child I did ballet and tap dancing and while I was never technically great, I just loved being on stage. I took part in local church musicals and loved any hint of limelight. It’s the same now with the Can’t Sing Choir (Yes, really!) – I’m always on the front row for performances and people often comment on how well I connect with the audience. Stagecraft as a child taught me that when things go wrong, you put on a big smile and keep your head up – good life lessons I reckon! Teaching is often like acting (I did harbour desires to act as a career but was dissuaded by the uncertainty of it) – sometimes you have to put on a character to wear in the classroom, particularly on the difficult days. But unfortunately, there’s less applause, so it’s lucky I can go along to spoken word nights and read my poems and stories!

Could any of your characters be teachers? If so, what would they teach?

I think it’s more interesting when a character learns. Mine usually come out of the situations I’ve put them in knowing something important about themselves – often about the strength a person can have deep within themselves. Although a few of my stories feature terrible people getting their comeuppance, so maybe I like to make sure that someone gets taught a lesson!

Thinking back to when you were a student, would you choose to study the same things, if you could turn back time, or would you choose differently?

I think you should always study what you love, and that was what I did. I swapped from joint honours to just Linguistics as I found the English Lit element at my Uni very staid and I was losing the love of reading because of it. It was hard at the time and I felt I was maybe letting people down, but it was the best decision and I’ve never regretted it. I love learning and read a lot of non-fiction, so I guess I’m still studying in a way!

As a teenager, might there have been a book in your satchel that wasn't on a reading list?

Gosh yes! In my family any book was there for the reading and I was the youngest, so stuff trickled down. I’d read a Famous Five one day then a James Herbert the next. I remember in middle school (so when I was about 12) my big sister said it probably wasn’t a good idea to take the book I was reading to school – I can’t imagine how teachers would have reacted if I pulled Tom Sharpe’s Wilt out of my satchel! Lots of it must have gone straight over my head, but I think challenging reading expands you in so many ways. I was a bit precocious as a child and had the privilege of being allowed to take books from the upper years’ library selection when I was still young. That, combined with a bagful of books from the library each week, managed to keep me going!

What else would have been in your satchel, and what are you carrying around at the moment?

Pens! Then and now. When I take students to careers fairs I have a prize for the one who can bring me the most pens. I always had some kind of reading matter, although nowadays I don’t tend to carry a book as often as I used to – I’ve got Kindle on my phone so I’ve always something to read. When I went to New Zealand many years ago, I took four books to get me through the flights – I’d read the first one before I left Heathrow! I do take my phone everywhere, so that’s always in the bag. Plus tissues and a lipsalve.

School’s out! If you had 24 hours to do anything you wanted (with unlimited funds and none of your usual responsibilities), what would you do?

I’ve always loved the idea of simply turning up at the airport and getting a flight to somewhere totally unplanned. I love travelling, and there’s something exciting about getting on a plane or train by yourself – even just in the UK. We can see so much via social media, films etc., but nothing can get across the smell, sounds and atmosphere of a place.

What was the latest daydream of yours that made the leap into the real world? Here you can promote your work!

Having a book with a pylon on the cover! I’m weird that way (but not entirely alone as there are six thousand other members of the Pylon Appreciation Society). It felt right as the book is called Gaps Made of Static. The two parts are called “Transmission” – the ways in which we connect with others even across time and distance – and “Static” – when glitches occur between us. I was honoured to work with Yorkshire-based Yaffle Press (I’m from West Yorkshire but live in the North East now) who are so supportive and encouraging of emerging poets and made my daydream into something so beautiful!

It's probably time for a lesson. Do you have any advice for writers who want to see their work published?

You’ve got to be in it to win it! I have been lucky enough to have success in a range of competitions for both poetry and prose, as well as being published in a large number of journals and anthologies. I make myself submit at least ten pieces a month – get enough out there and something will be accepted. I think that applies to life as well as writing – you won’t achieve it if you don’t try for it.

Now for the Random Question. Can you think of something that would make your life easier, but which doesn’t exist?

Not quite a time machine, more of a time stretcher. I would like to come home from work, have an hour’s sleep, go to a Zumba class or choir rehearsal, read for an hour, go to the theatre, do an hour of Spanish on Duolingo, attend a spoken word night or workshop, call in to see a friend, have an hour faffing about on Twitter, spend an hour making a delicious and healthy tea and have it still only be 8pm! That way I might feel like I’ve fitted everything in!

Thank you for answering my questions, Penny.

If you would like to purchase a copy of Gaps Made of Static, you can contact Penny directly.

You can find her on X (formerly Twitter) @penbee8 

On Facebook, search for Penny Blackburn - author