List Of Writers

BARR, ALEX

Fronrhydd, Letterston, Haverfordwest SA62 5TL
Tel: (01348) 840309
Email: alexmcclure@btinternet.com

Poet, playwright and short story writer. Born in Manchester. Educated at Manchester Grammar School and various universities. Was a journalist, then an architectural design tutor, and now helps to run a smallholding in North Pembrokeshire. Won third prizes in both the National Poetry Competition 2000 and the Peterloo Poetry Competition 2000.

His second poetry collection Henry’s Bridge was published in November 2006, containing poems which have appeared in leading magazines in the UK, USA, Canada, and Ireland, including Poetry Wales, many of which have been inspired by the experience of life in Pembrokeshire. His first collection was published in 1984 by Peterloo.

In collaboration with Peter Oram, who wrote the music, Alex produced a new musical, Swarm Fever which was performed at Theatr Mwldan, Cardigan in 2004 and for which he wrote the book and lyrics. His plays have been performed on the London Fringe and BBC Radio, and his short stories have featured in various literary journals as well as on BBC Radio. He won first prize in the Purple Dragon Short Story Competition in Cardigan in 2005. In 2002 he received an Arts Council travel grant to attend a workshop in Key West run by Sharon Olds. He has run creative writing classes in many parts of West Wales. Alex is a Member of Academi.

Reviews:
With regards to Goats (performed 1988 by Loose Exchange Theatre Company at the Tabard Theatre, Chiswick):

"…There’s no denying author Alex Barr’s achievement. This extraordinarily imaginative, witty, provoking piece makes anthropology enthralling…"
Katharine Way, City Limits

"…witty, inventive, and open–ended..."
Peggy Butcher, Time Out


With regards to Doing It (performed 1989 by Loose Exchange at Soho Poly Theatre):

"...a clever and disturbing profile of a young blind arsonist obsessed with the moons of Mars..."
Caroline Heslop, Midweek Index


With regards to Letting in the Carnival:

"...exuberant plenitude is the hallmark of his best poems...a rewarding collection..."
Lachlan Mackinnon, TLS

"...Alex Barr’s poems nearly always have behind them an intriguing idea or insight...if Barr takes risks by jamming words together, it’s a technique that springs from the verbal energy that pervades the book..."
Michael, O’Neill, Poetry Review


Selected Publications:
Letting in the Carnival (Peterloo Poets, 1984)
Henry’s Bridge (Starborn Books, 2006)

Eligible Writers on Tour subjects offered:
1. Readings from/discussions of his own work
2. Creative writing workshops in poetry, play and short story writing, journalism
3. Poetry: process, form and structure
AGE RANGE: All ages