MAGGIE CLUTTERBUCK

1957 -

Maggie is a well known part of the contemporary writing scene in the Forest of Dean today. A published novelist and poet she also works in education teaching creative writing. She won the Forest Bard award in 2005, and has regularly performed her poetry in and around the Forest. 

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BIOGRAPHY

Born in Lydney Hospital in 1957, Maggie attended the Royal Forest of Dean Grammar School at Five Acres. 
"I had always wanted to write," she says, " but decided that when I could afford a computer, I would begin writing".
Maggie attended a creative writing class, and soon her first piece of work was published, a short story in The People's Friend magazine. Her first novel, (its working title was Scarpers' Island), was  published in 2005 as Journey to World's End. The first part of the book is set in the Forest of Dean, and as well as setting up the plot, explores some challenging themes. The latter half of the book sees the setting shift to wilderness Alaska. Her second novel, Caught on Tape (2012), is wholly set in and around the Forest and explores the same events from different perspectives. 

Maggie says of her influences as a writer:  
"I try to follow anything modern that is written by women, although I have also written in the first person as a man".

Her first published collection of poetry, Digging Deep (2014), includes poems written in Forest dialect as well as 'standard' English and cover topics such as travel, memory and loss. She's pointed out that she was determined to avoid using dialect only for comic effect, instead using it to explore serious subjects. ​

maggie explains how she approaches poetry writing

pOETRY

Digging Deep (2014)
​Full Circle (2018)
Jackdaw Summer (2021)

Novels

Caught on Tape (2012)
Journey to Worlds End (2004)  

CHildren's

The Deer in the Garden (2016) illustrated by Bram Ryseman

"'Im was a goner"

"Tribute to a vorest miner"

comments

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