Jessica Mookherjee Poetry

In August 2022 my second Nine Arches Press book Notes from a Shipwreck was launched. What followed was a mini tour (literally as I’d just got my new car fixed up)… and it started with reading at Ledbury Poetry Festival alongside friend and poet Maria Jastrzębska https://waterloopress.co.uk/books/small-odysseys-2022/ I was at Ledbury because Tigress (Nine Arches…

My book, Tigress was launched twice. There was the great London launch at the Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden in July. This was a joint launch with Julia Webb’s new Nine Arches Press book: Threat. Julia has just been nominated as one of the 100 most best women in Norfolk by the way – so…

Tigers and Traumas My mother’s nick name was Bhagu, and loosely translated from Bengali means Tigger or Tiger Cub. My father and Grandfather told me this was her name because she was an energetic baby who crawled everywhere. The tiger is a symbol of Bengal. There is another family myth, and like all myths –…

“Twas in another lifetime One of toil and blood When blackness was a virtue The road was full of mud I came in from the wilderness A creature void of form Come in she said I’ll give ya Shelter from the storm” Bob Dylan I’m so pleased to have launched Joyride in London in January…

Illustration ‘Angel” by Jane Storybook Burn : from Joyride by Jessica Mookherjee A Joyride I have recently re-connected with one of my oldest friends, an ex-boyfriend, someone who was one of the most important people in my life and who I lost touch with 27 years ago. Through the wonders of the internet – we…

Impossible Things… I was really pleased to get my poem Darshan published in The North (Issue 57) -January 2017 edition. It was a wonderful start to the year. A few people have asked me how I find time to write and hold down my demanding job and get submissions out to magazines. I answer – I…

The Launch This last few months have seen the The Swell (Telltale Press) published and launched in Tunbridge Wells. I enjoyed it hugely – and my co-readers were Mara Bergman, Sarah Barnsley, Robin Houghton and Abegail Morely. As one poetry wag at my launch chipped “these were certainly no ugly bridesmaids – quite the reverse”.…

It is September. I’m in that ‘doing too much, not doing enough’ frame of mind. It’s been a lovely poetry year so far though. I went on a pretty fantastic poetry holiday to Allmersera Vella near Allicante, where I learned all sorts of amazing things from the great Mimi Khalvati. I can seriously say that I…

Bloody Yoda I have a PGCE, a teacher training qualification. It was unexpectedly really hard. I scraped through though. It was a couple of years ago now but I won’t forget my tutor, he was Canadian, a buddhist doctor and told me “you could be very good, but do you really need to be?” What…