fuck poetry - charlie baylis

Charlie Baylis is from Nottingham. His poetry has been nominated three times for the Pushcart Prize & once for the Forward Prize. His translations have been commended in the Stephen Spender Prize. He is studying for a PhD in literary translation at the University of Nottingham. His first collection of poetry is 'a fondness for the colour green' (Broken Sleep Books, 2023).

‘Baylis poems come into being in the Baylis sandpit. Most poetry sandpits have a whole gaggle of poets playing about in them (sometimes hundreds, even thousands in one pit), playing, and now and then, accidentally on purpose, throwing sand in each other’s eyes. The Baylis sandpit has, as far as I can tell (my view is partially obscured), only Baylis playing in it. And he’s having a furious laugh in there.’

Mark Waldron

‘Charlie Baylis is the stars above a lemon tree. He is the treacle tart watching you on the kitchen table and is not afraid to say what he has seen you do. He’d do anything for you, taking you along the paths he has been treading down for the sake of poetry. This unique, darkly humorous voice will pop his head through every window, how tender! how honest! How rare to come across a voice like this in 2025. Baylis finds himself in strange places — under chandeliers, in shitty poems, in the mouth of a lover. What remains is a tender, volcanic collection that stares into literary traditions and holds up a mirror.’

Blossom Hibbert