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Alan Parry He/Him

@alanparrywriter.co.uk

3.9K followers 2.5K following 3.9K posts

Independent Writer Spoken-Word Artist EiC @thebrokenspine.co.uk Workshop Facilitator Podcast & Events Host Lecturer in SEND #PromoteIndieLit https://shorturl.at/gxRbM

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · May 24

My debut novella #PeelingApples is out now with @darkwinterlitmag.bsky.social
A tender, unflinching bildungsroman tracing boyhood, loss, and becoming—
Order your copy: amzn.eu/d/angSgVq
I’d love to hear what it stirs in you.

Cover of Peeling Apples by Alan Parry. The title is handwritten in black on a textured pale blue background, partially torn to reveal layered photographs underneath. Images include red apples on a wooden board, a cracked mug holding a cactus, a netted bowl of marbles on a lace doily, and a vintage photo of a young boy holding a football. The author’s name appears at the bottom in the same handwritten font.

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 13h

For #WednesdayWIPs

This past weekend has been HARD! But, at least I got a poem from it all.

Collapse, 7th October, 2025

coughing up
cum-soaked sheaths
& spitting my hide onto the floor

this
is breakdown
in motion

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 2d

And I, shouldn't be here..

open.spotify.com/track/0Z6GKm...

Spotify – Web Player

open.spotify.com

Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 3d

I can't take any credit for this. I am just glad @thebrokenspine.co.uk is able to platform @karenpgonzalez.bsky.social and her vision. It was an amazing event, so much talent! Extremely moving and affecting. I was always proud of my record publishing women, but this is something else! #NotJustPretty

Katie Jenkins @katiejenkinspoet.bsky.social · 3d

Huge shout out to @alanparrywriter.co.uk and @karenpgonzalez.bsky.social for bringing together such an incredible group of women. I was honoured and humbled to be among them 🙏✨🙌

The Broken Spine @thebrokenspine.co.uk · 3d

Well, #NotJustPretty was an absolute blast. I'm a little teary after hearing @katiejenkinspoet.bsky.social read my fave poem from her forthcoming collection. Compound that with the event itself, the vision from @karenpgonzalez.bsky.social wonderfully hosted! Everything we could have wanted!

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Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Ungagged! @ungagged.bsky.social · 4d

The Burden of Privilege: Why Greta Thunberg is a Model, Not a Hypocrite.

by Karen Orr

leftungagged.org/2025/10/03/w...

The Burden of Privilege: Why Greta Thunberg is a Model, Not a Hypocrite. - Ungagged!

By Karen Orr The jungle is a cruel, magnificent teacher. You see an orangutan, born with the strength and protection of a dominant mother, and you expect her to simply feast on the ripest fruit and r...

leftungagged.org

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 3d

www.snapchat.com/add/alphapap...

View this Snap from Alan Parry on Snapchat!

Alan Parry is on Snapchat!

www.snapchat.com

Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 3d

Watching Monster:The Ed Grin Story. I've been very excited about this for a while!

Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Penguin2025™️ @penguin20212.bsky.social · 5d

Atlanta Pride is this month

Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 6d

Yeah it's October, but here's a reminder of the importance of why Pride. It fecking matters!

A graphic with a rainbow flag background featuring wavy stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple against a pink border. White text overlaid reads: “#Pride is important because somewhere out there is a confused teenager who still thinks maybe being dead is better than being gay and that’s not okay.”

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Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

poetryforce.bsky.social @poetryforce.bsky.social · 4d

Alan, I am so pleased with your reaction to my poem. Your words are always so appreciated🙏

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 4d

If I get up early enough I can avoid the hangover! Struggling at this point mind 😂

Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 4d

LOL

A scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. A knight in chainmail and helmet stands on a stone wall looking down. White subtitles at the bottom of the image read: “Your mother shouts at hotels / And your father painted roundabouts.”

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 4d

You sent me gifts! Thank you so much!

Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 4d

I'm rarely one for rules, are you feeling freed by them? Or caged? That's the only question I'd ask myself.

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 4d

‘half wing, half knife’ is striking—hope & harm fused in one jagged image. That paradox makes the whole piece feel raw, like the body itself is split between flight & wound. #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #Mannequin

Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Gabriel Bauman @gabrielbauman.com · 4d

“Inarticulate”

Just couldn’t get it out

For #PoemsAbout #Mannequin

@alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk

INARTICULATE

Coat sealed in resin,
ribs click shut.
Mouth splits,
no sound follows.

Footsteps brush past.
Door flares white.
Beloved outline
fixes frame,
pins body
between reach,
retreat.

One arm loosens.
Shadow scars floor,
half wing, half knife.

Silence hardens.
Her laughter picks
at stitches.

Behind lacquered ribs
scream flares,
blisters upward,
dies chewing on
roof of mouth.

Gabriel Bauman

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 4d

‘planed plastic tongue’ —like the voice itself has been sanded down, stripped of edge. That image makes the silence feel jagged, mechanical, & suffocating. #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #Mannequin

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Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Paul @paulwritespoems.bsky.social · 5d

For #PoemsAbout #Mannequin here is ‘Disjointed’

Big shout to @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk for creating this space to share with a vast array of prompts.

Will catch up later…

Disjointed

Dreamsoft hands
replaced with fury-fists.

Gentle shoulders splinter
in vicetwist—
you carried the weight
of her malignant trivialities
for too long

my efforts to speak up
reduced to failed
staccato stilted silence
by my

planed plastic tongue.

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 4d

‘police do nothing’ is both a punchline & indictment all at once—sharp, wry, & loaded. Minimal words, maximum sting. #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #Mannequin

Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Peter J. King @rock-rex.bsky.social · 5d

Small boy urinates
in a city-centre bowl —
police do nothing.

#poem #poetry #skypoets #blueskypoets #poetsofbluesky #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #senryu #poemsabout #mannequin
@alanparrywriter.co.uk
@thebrokenspine.co.uk

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 4d

‘help me! she said’ is such a desperate cry, cutting straight through the glossy perfection. The clash between flawless display & messy, sweaty humanity gives this electricity. #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #Mannequin

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Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 5d

Last minute piece for #PoemsAbout and the #Mannequin prompt - will read and comment on others tomorrow! Big thanks to @thebrokenspine.co.uk and @alanparrywriter.co.uk

Poem on a purple and orange background:

The mannequin

in the shop window spoke to me this morning as I walked past, help me! she said so I stopped and looked into her eyes that aren’t eyes and thought, without eyes can we have a soul? And asked her, how? but she said nothing, perfect head tilted, perfect body streamlined, long elegant fingers reaching for two baby mannequins, a perfect family in a perfectly accessorised world, and I felt the fat on my arms tug, body hair wild to escape, belly roll reaching heartily for trouser waistband, sweat rolling faster and faster in glee from my armpits, I shifted on my feet and my mind bounced away and home, my messy crowded full of snarling teens and dirty dishes home, my human heart-filled home stained with love and laughter, and I was washed in sadness for her and before I turned away I think I saw a tear glint on the mannequin’s flawless cheek.

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 4d

‘So many move like mannequins’ nails that hollow shuffle through life, a mirror held up to the crowd. There's fury but this is also oddly hopeful in its call to wake. #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #Mannequin

Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Karmic Mishap (rainy cloud) @karmicmishap.bsky.social · 5d

Watching people pass
So many move like mannequins.
In many ways they're worse
Than the evil ones with manic grins.
Those horrid human hunters
Would never reach their goal
If more of the world's punters
Would grow a bit of soul.

#PoemsAbout
#mannequins
#poetry

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Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Emily Tee @emteepoetry.bsky.social · 5d

#PoemsAbout #Mannequin

I put the wrong prompt on here 🙄

Emily Tee @emteepoetry.bsky.social · 5d

I've missed a couple of recent prompts as I've been away. Here's a relatively quick write based on a real artifact that I've seen scare the living daylights out of numerous people. For @alanparrywriter.co.uk and #PromptCombo #mannequin

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · 4d

‘a look that says distance’ The slippage between mannequin & man is unsettling. #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #Mannequin

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Reposted by Alan Parry He/Him

Emily Tee @emteepoetry.bsky.social · 5d

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