Michele Witthaus

Michele Witthaus is based in the UK. Her writing has appeared in a number of anthologies and other publications and her pamphlet, From a Sheltered Place, was published in August 2020 by Wild Pressed Books. She is the 2020 winner of Leicester Writers’ Club’s Ena Young Award for Poetry.

Uncharted Constellations Contribution

‘Visible spectrum’ questions the perceived calm of the ‘ball of frosted blue’ photographed by Apollo astronauts from the lunar surface. Here’s a snippet:

That swirling ball of frosted blue,
viewed over a mild grey horizon:
what kind of a message to the world was that?
Surely napalm, burning barricades
and the spilt blood of activists
should have hurled a lurid prism into space?

Listen to Michele Witthaus read ‘Visible spectrum’ here:

Severed Souls Contributions

‘Side Effects May Include’ perfectly captures the paranoia of the pandemic moment with both the relief of the vaccination and sense of the embedded virus being something alien and menacing. Here’s a snippet:

There are bone-deep chills
from an alien source,
the healer-invader
come home to roost.

‘Undiagnosed’ explores the Otherness of neurodiversity and reassures readers that inner peace and validation will come eventually. Here’s a snippet:

She adjusts her face
for public view,
twisting it into a smile
as false as joy.
She is tired of trying
but knows no better way.

Bark & Bone Contribution

‘Everyone Should be Prepping’ revolves around a prepper who is determined to survive off-the-grid. Here’s a snippet:

says the man in camouflage fatigues
from his caravan in a woodland clearing
accessed by a pick-up truck
which he bought to move supplies;
his pandemic stockpile
now nuclear-winter-ready

Listen to Michele Witthaus read ‘Everyone Should be Prepping’ here:

Guest Blog

Writing the Lockdown (Guest blog: Michele Witthaus)

Prior to the Covid-19 lockdown, I had been writing poems at the rather sedate rate of one or two a month, sending some out for publication and experiencing a string of small successes along the way. I wasn’t hugely productive but that didn’t bother me particularly. My day job as a journalist kept me busy…

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Other Publications Include: