Lucy Heuschen (she/her)
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petitecreature1.bsky.social
Lucy Heuschen (she/her)
@petitecreature1.bsky.social
1.9K followers 1.2K following 800 posts
Poet ~ Nominated for Pushcart and Forwards (Best 1st Collection) ~ Pamphlets with Hedgehog & The Broken Spine ~ Commended in Poetry Society Stanza Comp 2024 ~ First Collection "Daughter of Fire" out now with Yaffle Press! ~ www.lucyheuschen.co.uk
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petitecreature1.bsky.social
Completing the line-up for 🔥Daughters of Fire 🔥on 17th March: The wonderful poet and accomplished translator Kymm Coveney @kymminbarcelona.bsky.social 💗I'll also be reading poems from my debut poetry collection - an evening inspired by strong, vocal women through the ages! #OnlinePoetry #WomenPoets
Kymm Coveney - reading at Daughters of Fire on 17th March, online! Tickets via email to DaughtersPoetry@hotmail.com Kymm Coveney has lived in Spain since the 1982 World Cup. History of Milk, her translation of award-wunning novelist Monica Ojeda's poetry collection, will be published by Coffee House Press in 2027. Her most recent poem publications are in Lyrical Somerville (US) and Atrium (UK). Lucy Heuschen - hosting & reading at Daughters of Fire on 17th March, online! Tickets via email to DaughtersPoetry@hotmail.com Lucy Heuschen is a Jerwood and Pushcart Prize nominated poet and author of two pamphlets. Her debut collection Daughter of Fire from Yaffle Press, 2025, centres the experiences of wayward women from antiquity to the present day, celebrating their wild, messy, beautiful resilience.
February 18, 2026 at 8:11 PM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
More #DaughtersOfFire poets reading - 17th March! Delighted that @rachaelclyne.bsky.social and @saraswatinagpal.bsky.social are joining us. Exploring female experience & self-acceptance with creativity, authenticity & resilience. Free tickets available by emailing me: [email protected]
Rachael Clyne - reading at Daughters of Fire online on 17th March! Please reserve your audience place via email to DaughtersPoetry@hotmail.com Saraswati Nagpal - reading at Daughters of Fire online on 17th March! Please reserve your audience place via email to DaughtersPoetry@hotmail.com
February 14, 2026 at 6:43 PM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
Lovely to be longlisted for Cheltenham Poetry Festival's competition! Congrats to the winners and all the shortlisted and longlisted poets. Only 15 selected. What an honour to be there with you. Many thanks to the CPF team and judge Gregory Leadbetter. @annasaund.bsky.social @zoebrooks.bsky.social
Cheltenham Poetry Festival winner, 2nd place, 3rd place. Cheltenham Poetry Festival Shortlist. Cheltenham Poetry Festival longlist.
February 11, 2026 at 6:17 AM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
More #DaughtersOfFire poets reading on 17th March! Introducing @gillcresearch.bsky.social and Vic Pickup. Gill and Vic's poetry gives voice to female experience in a way I have long admired. #PoetryReading Free tickets exclusively available by emailing me: [email protected]
Reader profile for Gill Connors, one of the fabulous readers at DAUGHTERS OF FIRE a Zoom reading celebrating women's voices in poetry and prose on 17th March 2026 at 7pm UK time. Entry is free and tickets are exclusively available by emailing me: DaughtersPoetry@hotmail.com Gill Connors is a poet and workshop facilitator from Yorkshire. She followed her pamphlet Uninvited Guests (2017) with two collections: Tadaima (2019) and A Small Goodbye At Dawn (2022). Gill's third collection will be the result of work for her PhD on the links and intersections between 16th and 21st century women. She has recently edited an anthology of women's poetry, Safety In Numbers, published by Yaffle Press in March 2026. Reader profile for Vic Pickup, one of the fabulous readers at DAUGHTERS OF FIRE a Zoom reading celebrating women's voices in poetry and prose on 17th March 2026 at 7pm UK time. Entry is free and tickets are exclusively available by emailing me: DaughtersPoetry@hotmail.com Vic Pickup has published two poetry books: Lost And Found and The Omniscient Tooth Fairy. Vic is co-organiser of Poets' Cafe Reading and is a postgraduate reserarcher, working in the Mills & Boon archives held in Reading University's Special Collections.
February 8, 2026 at 7:23 PM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
Announcing more #poetry readers for 17th March: @jirobb.bsky.social Jenny Robb and Faye Marshall are two of the many fabulous poets published by Yaffle Press (led by the brilliant Gill Connors and Mark Connors who are also the publishers of my debut collection Daughter of Fire). Email to register!
I met Faye at the in-person launch of Daughter of Fire last year, when she blew me away with a poem about Joan of Arc in the open mic. Her debut pamphlet from Yaffle's Nest is "Throwing Sugar on the Fire". Salena Godden has called Faye "an accomplished poet both on stage and page" (and, of course, Zoom room!). FREE EVENT. Please reserve your place by email to: DaughtersPoetry@hotmail.com I've known Jenny since I rediscovered my love of poetry after my cancer diagnosis going back some years now. She was my first poetry mentor and it's been wonderful to receive her support as well as seeing her own poetry flourish. Jenny has two full collections in the world so far: The Doll's Hospital (2022) and Hear The World Explode (2024). Her words have the power to make her readers laugh with delight, cry and scream with rage, sometimes all at once. FREE EVENT. Register for a ticket via email: DaughtersPoetry@gmail.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:26 PM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
My next readers at Daughters of Fire, 17th March: Charlene V. Smith & Sue Butler. Charlene is a talented writer, director, scholar, actor & audio narrator. Sue is an amazing poet whose poetry collection is soon to be pub'd by Yaffle
@yaffles-nest.bsky.social [email protected] for tickets!
Charlene V. Smith - reading at Daughters of Fire on 17th March! Reserve your audience place via email to DaughtersPoetry@hotmail.com Sue Butler - reading at Daughters of Fire on 17th March! Reserve your audience place via email to DaughtersPoetry@hotmail.com
January 31, 2026 at 2:22 PM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
🔥Celebrating women's voices in poetry and prose on 17th March! I'll be sharing my fantastic 10 readers and their writing here over the coming days. Every woman I've invited is someone who has inspired me. Sign up & let them inspire you too! First up: Rosie Jackson and @mariellisdunning.bsky.social
DAUGHTERS OF FIRE - An evening of poetry and fiction celebrating women's voices. 17th March 2026 at 7pm UK time. Online. Mari Ellis Dunning is a writer living in West Wales. Mari teaches at Aberystwyth University, where she delivers courses on feminist writing. Her debut novel, Witsh, tells the story of a young woman who becomes embroiled in accusations of witchcraft after seeking a soothsayer's help with her pregnancy. To hear Mari and my other fabulous readers, please sign up for your free ticket to Daughters of Fire via email: DaughtersPoetry@hotmail.com DAUGHTERS OF FIRE - An evening of poetry and fiction celebrating women's voices. 17th March 2026 at 7pm UK time. Online. Rosie Jackson lives in Teignmouth, Devon. Widely published, her many poetry awards include in 2025 1st prize Red Shed and finalist Mslexia. Rosie's collection "Love Leans Over The Table" (Two Rivers Press, 2023) focuses on mystic figures. To hear Rosie and my other fabulous readers, please sign up for your free ticket to Daughters of Fire via email: DaughtersPoetry@hotmail.com
January 29, 2026 at 3:00 PM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
On 17th March I'll be hosting Daughters of Fire - an online reading celebrating women's voices in poetry and prose! Nine fabulous poets and authors writing at the top of their game, from myth and antiquity to modern portraits of women's lives. Free entry, tickets via email. Deets soon! #PoetryEvent
Event flyer for "Daughters of Fire - an evening of poetry and fiction celebrating women's voices". Date of event: 17 March 2026 at 7pm UK time (8pm CET). Online. Free entry. Please reserve your place by email to DaughtersPoetry@hotmail.com Image shows a red background strewn with red and black sparks like a fire. A woman is shown, in profile, silhouetted black against the red background.
January 26, 2026 at 5:25 PM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
The @poetrysociety.org.uk Stanza Comp 2025 results are in & I'm honoured to be commended for the second year in a row! Judge Jonathan Edwards has chosen beautiful poems that play with the theme of "play". 💗Congratulations to Marilyn, Nairn, Jack and all the commended poets too! #NationalPoetryDay
POPCORN By Lucy Heuschen Commended in the Poetry Society's Stanza Competition 2025 The first time he calls me popcorn I take it like a compliment. A little caramel, a little salt. Enough sweetness to make me open my mouth. Popcorn is not served at the club like port and cigars. He tries hard to show me, make me understand. It takes years for me to understand. To fashion a dolly, first she must be stripped. I yield. String myself light as Christmas trim. I am (of course I am) popcorn. I deserve to be popcorn. Will never be anything more. Cheap as poor man’s cocaine, thrilling on the tongue. A sugar rush, consumed in the dark long before the credits roll. I forget. I forget my kernel, the wild grass I stem from. How to green myself with rain, stretching my fingers skyward. I forget my spikelets, my silk, my tassels, my gold. How to cocoon, how to butterfly. Swelling, scorched, splitting like a wound, I rise— strike my hellish racket— bangbangbang— into his speechless face, that sweet, livid O! I’ve let them think I’m popcorn ever since. If it serves me, I wear it. Popcorn still pulls them in. At night I unzip my skin, shrug it off, step from its folds, clean. If I can’t sleep, can’t sleep, can’t sleep, I count all the men, all the mouths I’ve burned.
October 2, 2025 at 4:01 PM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
The second print run of Daughter of Fire - my debut poetry collection starring Margaret of Anjou - has arrived! Visit www.lucyheuschen.co.uk to grab a signed copy! What a journey she's taken me on 🔥💕❤️
Photo of a box of poetry books - Daughter of Fire by Lucy Heuschen. Margaret of Anjou glares from the cover, depicted in bold warm reds, dark blues and devilish greens.
September 6, 2025 at 5:35 PM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
#OTD in 1482, Margaret of Anjou died. She was just 52. Her final years in exile, after being in the thick of intrigue and battle her entire adult life, must have been hard. Lonely. But she likely had one last opponent - the menopause - without modern medicine to explain and mitigate it. Hard relate.
End of days Did your lady report to the priest: sheets unblemished as laundry day. Did the apothecary whisper about pent-up humours, the souring of bile. Did the waves hit suddenly, did they seep, or did you rattle like a shipwreck. Did you negotiate the small luxury of cooled water. Did someone fan a sea-breeze on your skin as matins came and went. Could you summon your old red rage for this fight and if so, who were you fighting for. Did your faith lapse in droplets. Did you consider one last, crazy escape. Did you ache like a penitent. Did lost ones circle, circle, rising and falling in a great song. Did you make peace with the apocalypse. Did your lady cross herself as she left you asleep: Be our advocate, O Sweet Lady, before your own Son of your Womb. Lucy Heuschen from her debut collection "Daughter of Fire" (Yaffle Press, 2025) For signed copies visit: www.lucyheuschen.co.uk
August 25, 2025 at 8:37 AM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
How's your Saturday going? I've brought my copy of Gallop, @abrackenbury.bsky.social's selected poems from @carcanet.bsky.social, out to the garden. Many of these poems feel like they should be read and enjoyed in a green space. History and horses, two of my favourite poetry themes.
A copy of Alison Brackenbury's selected poems, "Gallop", with a big cup of coffee and a pair of glasses on a garden table.
July 12, 2025 at 10:12 AM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
Writing my poetry collection about Margaret of Anjou, there were certain items that had to be included. A thread.

1. A small medieval dog (OK, multiple dogs).
2. A banquet where no food arrived (no one had paid the victualler)...
3. @historylauren.bsky.social's article about H.VI's sex coach .../
Full cover design for Lucy Heuschen's poetry collection about Margaret of Anjou, entitled Daughter of Fire. Nominated for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection 2025. Signed copies available at www.lucyheuschen.co.uk
June 2, 2025 at 12:08 PM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
I'm visiting UK family in the first few days in June, so I'm offering FREE UK SHIPPING on orders of my poetry books while I am over. The code to enter at checkout is SHIPPING. Offer available for orders placed on my website before midnight on 6th June: www.lucyheuschen.co.uk/books-for-sale Thanks!
Cover image of Lucy Heuschen's poetry collection about the medieval queen consort of England, Margaret of Anjou - "Daughter Of Fire" - with praise from Sharon Bennett Connolly and Dr. Edwin Stockdale. Signed copies available at www.lucyheuschen.co.uk/books-for-sale and there is a special offer until midnight on 6th June of FREE UK SHIPPING.
May 31, 2025 at 8:58 AM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
That's today's listening, thanks Natalie & @historylauren.bsky.social! Maybe images like this one at the NPG London have led to the idea of MB as a severe, joyless figure. I overheard a couple standing next to this portrait discussing her & their conclusion was: "Reckon she's definitely a nun".
Lucy Heuschen and the fabulous not-a-nun Margaret Beaufort (portrait at the National Portrait Gallery London).
May 29, 2025 at 9:48 AM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
Thinking of King Henry VI, Mr Margaret of Anjou, today on the anniversary of his death. An unworldly man, a man of books and prayer, not suited to medieval kingship. Luckily for him, his wife absolutely was. This poem from Daughter of Fire was inspired by an article by @jllaynesmith.bsky.social 👏
Poem by Lucy Heuschen from her debut collection Daughter of Fire, about the life and legacy of Margaret of Anjou.
May 21, 2025 at 2:42 PM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
It was lovely to meet my "poetry dad" Ian at Cheltenham Poetry Festival last week! Ian and my dad could be brothers, they look so similar. A reassuring presence in the front row of opening night, when I was so nervous and excited to read for everyone.
Poets Ian Parker-Dodds and Lucy Heuschen at Cheltenham Poetry Festival.
May 13, 2025 at 11:25 AM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
A short video of Daughter of Fire on her travels. Thank you to everyone who has shared the love on your socials! www.lucyheuschen.co.uk is the place to go to order your signed copy and be in with a chance to be Lucky Number 100 - this person will receive a special secret gift with their order... 💝
May 12, 2025 at 10:54 AM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
After days of upload gremlins, here it is: my poem "Aubade with Tiercel", from my collection Daughter of Fire. Filmed in the Garden of Remembrance at Tewkesbury Abbey to mark the anniversary of the battle on 4th May. I imagine the parting conversation between Margaret of Anjou and her beloved son. 💔
May 9, 2025 at 2:44 PM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
More pics:
Lucy Heuschen reading from her new collection Daughter of Fire on the opening night of Cheltenham Poetry Festival. L to R: Monica Piersky, Lucy Heuschen, Anna Saunders and Pat Edwards at Cheltenham Poetry Festival.
May 9, 2025 at 8:40 AM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
Thank you Anna, Zoe & the @cheltpoetfest.bsky.social team for an amazing opening night! An honour to witness @ruthpadel.bsky.social's stunning reading from "Girl". @patwelshpoolpoetry.bsky.social cast her keen eye over Marys of religion, myth and history. Monica Piersky, fascinating folkloric poems.
Ruth Padel reading from Girl, Lucy Heuschen reading from Daughter of Fire, Pat Edwards reading from Hail Marys and Monica Piercey reading poems of Polish folklore.
May 9, 2025 at 8:36 AM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
Enjoying the new GLOW: The City At Night #Anthology from @brokenspinearts.bsky.social. Alan takes such care of poems and poets. How these two poems speak across the pages! I love it and am so proud to be part of this book. #PoetsOnBluesky #Poetry
The cover of the poetry anthology Glow by The Broken Spine. A night scene, a figure viewed walking away from camera on a rainy street, back-lit by street lights and buildings. Cover design: MidJourney / Andrew James Lloyd. Two poems from the Broken Spine's GLOW anthology: 1. When the passengers take hold of the steering wheel by Emma Lee 2. Hello by Lucy Heuschen All rights reserved.
April 30, 2025 at 12:54 PM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
Delighted to have a poem of anticipatory, empty-nest grief in this lovely #poetry anthology from Sidhe Press.

What a glorious book, filled with #poems of "grief across a galaxy of stars, lands, and the oceans, through the shivering leaves of trees, to the heartbeats of loved ones" (Teresa Pilgrim).
Three copies of the new poetry anthology from Sídhe Press, "To Lay Sun Into A Forest: Poems About Grief". Available at www.sidhe-press.eu/books/ Breakfast with the eldest boy by Lucy Heuschen from the Sidhe Press Anthology "To Lay Sun In A Forest". It can be something simple that sets me off like a blue milk carton on the counter our shadows touching the far wall you, reaching out a giant hand and the glass you fetched from the high shelf not smashing or spilling white but for a moment full to the brim. Copyright: Lucy Heuschen 2025. All rights reserved.
April 25, 2025 at 2:19 PM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
There is a scam Amazon listing of my book. My publisher @yaffles-nest.bsky.social and myself have NOT made or authorised this listing. It bears the hallmarks of a scam (high price, long delivery date, poor quality image). DON'T FALL FOR IT! 🙏 Legit copies only from www.lucyheuschen.co.uk or Yaffle.
Snapshot of a scam listing of Daughter of Fire by Lucy Heuschen. This listing has not been made or authorised by Lucy Heuschen or Yaffle Press and it appears to be a scam. Please don't fall for it! The book is available for sale on Lucy's official website www.lucyheuschen.co.uk and on Yaffle Press's website.
April 22, 2025 at 9:57 AM
petitecreature1.bsky.social
As my journey across Yorkshire & Northumberland draws to a close, I'm enjoying memories created on this visit. Not least, the beautiful launch of Daughter of Fire with @yaffles-nest.bsky.social. Here I am with @gillcresearch.bsky.social unboxing the book. #Poetry Link to order is in the comments:
April 20, 2025 at 10:02 AM