Bob Cooper

Bob Cooper is a Methodist Minister who was writing poems well before he became ordained. He has also worked in adult education as a creative writing tutor.

His poetry has been published in magazines and anthologies in the UK and abroad and has been translated into German. As well as poetry he has contributed articles to local and weekly newspapers, and written about fell-running, rock-climbing, and mountaineering for various outdoor journals and magazines.

Bob won five pamphlet competitions in six years and has won many poetry prizes.

His poetry has been performed on radio and, over the years, he has read at many Festivals and poetry venues in the UK including the Aldeburgh festival.

Born on Teesside Bob has lived in many parts of the UK including the North East, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Bristol and Birmingham. He currently lives on the Wirral.

Listening, listening is Bob Coopers third full-length collection of poetry.

Collections
All We Know Is All We See (Arrowhead 2002)
Everyone Turns (Pindrop 2017)
Listening, listening (Naked Eye Publishing 2023)

Pamphlets
Bruised Echoes (Outposts 1977)
Light From The Upper Left (Smith Doorstop 1994)
Beyond Liathach (Tears In The Fence 1995)
Drinking Up Time (Redbeck Press 1997)
Pinocchio’s Long Neb (Smith Doorstop 2000)
The Ideal Overcoat (Ward Wood 2012)

‘turns the ordinary world into an extraordinary book… captivating’
John Gorman

A writer who calls a spade a spade and knows how to dig with it…
Maura Dooley

Poems that sparkle with humour and seduce with sadness.
Tim Allen

I love their earthiness, little sinister bits, and all the wisdom, which is not shouted out loud, but thoughtfully hidden in or between the words and lines.
Taru Vuontisjärvi

His particular eye brilliantly gives us the complexity of ‘ordinary’ lives.
Michael Standen

a humane and distinctive voice … Bob Cooper is one of our most individual and impressive poets. He deserves to be widely read.
Peter Bennet

Cooper illuminates the lives of the lonely, the desperate and broken with astounding compassion. In the darkest dirtiest corners of cities, he finds truth and surprising beauty.
Angela Readman