'The collection ranges from beautifully restrained grief poems to musically rich sonnets. With a number of her poems, I found I wanted to read aloud to feel the full effect. Always a good sign, I think.' – Imtiaz Dharker, Judge of the Mslexia Women's Poetry Pamphlet Competition, writing about Backalong in Mslexia

'Fresh as greenness in spring, alive with emotional force, dexterity of form and the surprise of language ("It is a step forward of a word"), Nia Broomhall’s first collection of poems reminds us of what words can do in skilful hands. Grief stalks these poems, but also ‘bright kindnesses/like teaspoons’. Herein is a way of looking at the world anew and full of wonder; these are poems at once moving and perceptive, and bursting with delight, each one original and shockingly alive, as if "orcas had arrived in the room".' – Sarah Corbett

'Backalong is so pleasurable: it shines with hope and light, with "bright kindnesses" and reluctant grief. Nia Broomhall is a poet, a real one, whose poems will be loved.' – Conor O'Callaghan

'Nia Broomhall’s work is such a lovely discovery – a clear lyricism alive to time’s stings and balms.' – Paul Farley

'This is a small collection that packs a lot in, in technical as well as in emotional terms, balancing attention to detail with its larger themes and with many moments of spark and recognition on its elegiac journey. A strong debut from a poet I look forward to hearing more from.' – Judith Taylor, The High Window

‘Backalong evokes, with remarkable lyrical clarity, the world of the Somerset Levels in the 1980s and addresses itself to place and to grief – the loss of a much-loved family member – with tenderness and without sentimentality. There is a freshness and immediacy to these poems that lifts them off the page and into the mind’s eye, where they create a pulsing, rural world.' – Diana Cant, The Alchemy Spoon

'There is a freshness and vitality in this short collection which rather takes the breath away. From the cascade of assonance in the opening poem to the pattern poem in the shape of a jar and the seven ‘Somerset Sonnets’ placed throughout, there is a striking inventiveness of approach, an infectious, celebratory feeling. [...] There is also sadness. […] It is a beautifully constructed collection. Best read aloud, as Imtiaz Dharker asserts, this is a real find for poetry groups.' – Frank Startup, The School Librarian

Nia Broomhall won the 2023 Mslexia Women’s Poetry Pamphlet Competition judged by Imtiaz Dharker for her debut collection Backalong (Bloodaxe Books/Mslexia, 2024). She received an MA with distinction in Creative Writing from Lancaster University in 2023, and is Poet in Residence at Painshill Park in Surrey for 2024, funded by an Arts Council DYCP grant. She won the Poetry Society’s Hamish Canham Prize for 2023/2024, and was Highly Commended in the Winchester Poetry Prize in 2022 and 2023. Her poems have been published in Magma, Bad Lilies, Ink, Sweat and Tears, The Alchemy Spoon, The Interpreter's House and The Friday Poem, and anthologised by Sidhe Press and Black Bough Poetry. Currently co-Head of English at a comprehensive school in Surrey, the best hour of her week is Poetry Club on a Friday afternoon. Originally from rural Somerset, she comes from a long line of West Country women who talk to strangers and embarrass their children.

Each to Each (2017) 9
OF · THE · ABYSS (2017) 23
Or Scissel (2018) 35
Of Better Scrap (2019) 67
None Yet More Willing Told (2019) 143
Parkland (2019) 161
Bitter Honey (2020) 195
Squeezed White Noise (2020) 207
Enchanter’s Nightshade (2020) 251
Memory Working: Impromptus I-XXVI (2020-21) 269
Her Air Fallen (2020) 297
The Fever’s End (2020) 305
Passing Grass Parnassus (2020) 329
Aquatic Hocquets (2020) 355
Kernels in Vernal Silence (2020) 373
Torrid Auspicious Quartz (2020) 383
See By So (2020) 395
Duets Infer Duty (2020) 399
Orchard (2020) 411
Otherhood Imminent Profusion (2021) 417
Presume Catkins (2021) 427
Athwart Apron Snaps (2021) 435
Efflux Reference (2021) 443
Dune Quail Eggs (2021) 455
Lay Them Straight (2021) 459
Shade Furnace (2021) 465

Snooty Tipoffs (2021) 477
Sea Shells Told (2022) 543
At Raucous Purposeful (2022/2023) 551
Latency of the Conditional (2023) 571
Not Ice Novice (2022) 585
At the Monument (2022) 593
Foremost Wayleave (2023) 631

Hadn't Yet Bitten (2023) 653

Timepiece in Total (2024) 679

Alembic Forest (2024) 695

Bibliography 713
Index of Titles or First Lines 715