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Maggie Butt's first full collection Lipstick was published by independent academic publisher Greenwich Exchange in March 2007. Her poetry is widely published in magazines, has been successful in competitions and read on BBC Radio 4 Poetry Please. Her pamphlet Quintana Roo was published by Acumen in 2003. Greenwich Exchange is also the publisher of Story – the Heart of The Matter (2007), a collection of essays, on the centrality of storytelling to different forms of writing, edited by Maggie. Maggie is an ex-newspaper reporter and BBC TV documentary film maker and now head of the Media department at Middlesex University, London, where she has taught on the successful Creative and Media Writing degree since 1990. She is Chair of the national Association of Writers in Higher Education. Her PhD in creative writing was gained at Cardiff University in 2002. She lives in north London with her husband; their two daughters are at University. Review Comment: on Lipstick Lipstick is Maggie Butt’s first full collection and marks the entrance of a voice at once witty and wise, poignant and pertinent. Her poems have a natural approachability, focussing on universal themes through a range of lenses and personae. She brings acute insight to her subjects, whether writing about nylon sheets and jumble sales, or speaking in the voice of an 11th century stone-mason or a Himalayan villager; whether writing with dry humour or moving simplicity. Her poems cover the world, from Mexico to Russia; they deal with war, with the resilience of women, and, most of all, with love. Greenwich Exchange
“Maggie Butt needs only to be better known to be widely acclaimed. Her fantasy ‘On My 85th Birthday’ strikes me as the funniest thing of its kind since Jenny Joseph’s famous ‘Warning’.” Robert Nye
“Why is poetry so rarely good-hearted? Maggie Butt's is a shining exception. Her generous work enfolds the hopes of a GI bride, the perfectionism of an anorexic girl and the cardboard of a child's crown. Her poems are sympathetic, skilful - and surprising.” Alison Brackenbury
“A gift for empathy, a talent for fresh expression, a distinctive voice - three qualities that make a poet worth reading. Maggie Butt's work has these qualities, and, most importantly, a vigour of expression and gift for metaphor.” William Oxley
“..memorable.. chillingly perceptive” Sean Elliott. The London Magazine June / July 2007
“interesting, intelligent… considerable technical adroitness and economy of style… many of the poems here are elegies, quiet, reflective, often retrospective… amusing, rueful poems… …sensitive… richly comic… A vein of feminism adds astringency to the book... Overall the tone is serious but Butt also delights us with observation and humour… Butt’s keen eye and her ability to say a lot in a little…powerful writing … sharp insight here as well as moving, lyrical writing.” Dilys Wood. Second Light Newsletter. July 2007
on Quintana Roo: "..these poems reveal the true Artisotelian gift of metaphor - the encapsulation of truth in a single image." Manifold "beautifully constructed...haunting...touching...intriguing...enjoyable surprises...a dynamic and talented writer." Envoi More poems on Maggie’s website: www.lifesoup.net
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