“This is a poet…who really knows what she is doing.”
— The Poetry Review
“Each poem is a step into a new universe, and the journey is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking.”
— The Poetry Book Society
“This is an exciting debut. (How to resist a collection that includes wrestling, Amy Winehouse, and jellyfish?) These are tender and astute poems that grapple with love, grief, ghosts, and motherhood...”
— Rachel Long
“…a deft, wise & exciting new voice in British poetry.”
— Rebecca Tamás
“Janine’s poetry is full of beauty and ache and humour.”
— Charlotte Shevchenko Knight
Hi! I'm Janine. I'm a BBC New Generation Thinker, writer, poet, and academic. I work across a number of forms, including poetry, non-fiction, and radio, with a particular focus on popular culture and books.
My writing has been published by the Guardian, Bloomsbury, Palgrave Macmillan, Routledge, and others. You might have heard me on BBC Radio 3 and 4, on programmes like Free Thinking, The Essay, Woman's Hour, and Great Lives.
My debut poetry collection, Sometimes Real Love Comes Quick & Easy, is a nostalgia-filled exploration of love, sentimentality, and pop culture. It was a Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice.
When I’m not teaching literature at the University of York, I work as a freelance writer, workshop facilitator, and mentor.
photo credit: Andrew Roberts
Sometimes Real Love Comes Quick & Easy
A Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice
In this audacious pamphlet, Janine Bradbury casts her piercing gaze towards questions of form and feeling. Moments of transition – adolescence, motherhood, loss – become intertwined with contemporary culture and the complexities of heritage. Professional wrestling, pop lyrics, fast food, and family ties become talismanic. Stylistically vibrant, playfully ambivalent, these are poems that both recognise and resist the trappings of sentimentality.
“Janine Bradbury’s debut is a masterful ride…a delightful journey that bends time and space, elevating the seemingly mundane into the extraordinary.”
- The Poetry Book Society