Welcome to Poetry Picnic!
I'm Cherry Doyle. I'm a poet, and I live on Cannock Chase in Staffordshire - the UK's smallest mainlaind National Landscape (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). In the past ten years that I've lived here, I've fallen in love with Cannock Chase - its animals, plants, fungi, and the fascinating history of the land, before it was protected.
I've written a lot of poetry about the landscapes of Cannock Chase, and you can read my work in my pamphlet September and collection The Taste of Rain: A Year on Cannock Chase, both published by Offa's Press.
Poetry Picnic is your hub for nature and ecopoetry. Whether you want to learn more about nature, practice your poetry, or get inspired, you'll find content on this site and across the Poetry Picnic social media channels to get your creative juices flowing.
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'Nature' means different things to different people - our countryside, wildlife, coastlines, urban green spaces, gardens, even the weather. Nature is under threat - the 2023 State of Nature report found that 38% of UK species had declined in numbers since the previous report in 2021. We can only fight for something we know and love, and that's why my mission is to make you fall in love with nature through the power of poetry.
Why 'Poetry Picnic'?
When I was completing my MFA in Poetry, I wrote one of my assignments in the form of an interview with myself, in the style of a magazine article. The name I attributed to the magazine was Poetry Picnic. When I came to think of a name for my project, 'Poetry Picnic' was at the front of my mind. What better was to picture enjoying poetry, sitting out in nature, relaxing and enjoying yourself on a picnic?