Ysella Sims discovers new footpaths and notices details she had previously missed.

A popular figure on the South West arts scene, Jackie Juno is a former Bard of Exeter and multiple poetry slam winner. She was a huge hit at the Poetic Licence event last summer in Crediton Town Square. Local poet Ysella Sims caught up with her recently to find out more about what makes her creative heart tick.

A few years ago writer Ysella Sims and her husband moved to Devon from the South East looking for a new start. They lived first in West Devon, then moved to Upton Pyne near Exeter, until they finally found the house and place they wanted to be - in Sandford, near Crediton – to where they moved last year. In this closely observed piece she takes us on a walk around the village with her dog, Cooper. 

Chris White is a poet and performer, who produces Exeter’s regular spoken word night Spork. He has recently been selected as a Siren Poet for the Cape Farewell Project, an international arts organisation creating a cultural response to the climate challenge. Local writer Ysella Sims has been talking to him about the impact of lockdown, the writing process and his dream dinner party.

Robert Garnham, aka The Professor of Whimsy, has been taking his much-loved brand of LGBT whimsy and humour to UK audiences for over a decade. He’s an inveterate performer at the Edinburgh fringe, a prolific writer and co-host of popular South Devon Spoken Word night Stanza Extravaganza. Before he comes to perform in Crediton Town Square on 30 August, Ysella Sims has been chatting to him about his work. 

Award-winning performance poet Tim King is this year’s Bard of Exeter and the much loved host of Exeter’s most popular poetry/spoken word night, Taking the Mic. In April he was due to perform at Poetry in the Pub at the Lamb Inn, in Sandford. But when lockdown put paid to that event, Ysella Sims decided to interview him digitally.

Poetry can be a source of comfort in times of crisis and help us connect with our emotions. Local writer Ysella Sims shares a sonnet about the pandemic which moved her to tears and urges us all to have a go at expressing our feelings in words. Poetry need not be scary, she says, it is about stopping and noticing.