Describe yourself in 3 words…

Determined, loyal, always crying (sorry for using four) 

What inspires you?

Bravery, I think. Anyone doing anything for the first time, I find it really energising to be around.

Tell us about your worst ever gig?

I actually have only ever performed once, and it was to a group of some of the best poets I know, which was possibly the deepest end I could have thrown myself in… But the experience was genuinely one of the best moments of my life. I hope I rack up enough performances to have an answer for this one day though!

What’s your number one poetry pet peeve?

Lazy rhyming. Also, too many adjectives in one line, although that’s more a pet peeve of my own writing sometimes.

Whose words do you love at the moment?

SO late to the party but I just read (and re-read and re-read) Rachel Long’s My Darling from the Lions. She is a genius.

What piece of advice would you give to your younger self?

You are not too much, you are just in the wrong rooms. 

The best book you’ve ever read?

This is impossible!! I’m not sure I could pick a best but the book I come back to time and time again is Mrs Dalloway. I first read it when I was 17 and it has had such a lasting impact on the way I view being a woman in the world.

An image of poet Beth Kelly. She sits in front of a window and crosses her legs, her hands are placed on her knees. She wears a green skirt and white t-shirt. She smiles towards the camera. She has long, brown, curly hair and pink fingernails. She has a green ring on her Index finer.

Beth Kelly

Beth is a multi-disciplinary artist who explores concepts of identity, femininity, and grief in her work. Predominantly a page poet, Beth was recently part of the Apple and Snakes Words A Stage 2024 cohort and is now building a collection of work based around performance that she hopes to take to the stage next year. She will also begin studying for the MA in Writing Poetry at London’s Poetry School in 2025.

Insta: @betholiviakelly