Clare Shaw

Clare Elaine Shaw (born 30 December 1972) is a British poet, author, educator, disability advocate, and environmental activist. They are the author of four poetry collections published by Bloodaxe Books: Straight Ahead, Head On (2012), Flood (2018), and Towards a General Theory of Love (2022), and co-editor of The Book of Bogs (2025) published by Little Toller Books and Bluemoose Books.

Early life and education

Shaw was born in Burnley, Lancashire on 30 December 1972, the youngest of six. They attended St Hilda's Roman Catholic School and the University of Liverpool.

Career

Prior to publication, Shaw was a regular guest poet at Carol Ann Duffy and Friends at the Manchester Royal Exchange. They were awarded the Arvon Foundation Jerwood Young Poets' Award in 2002, and mentored by George Szirtes as part of this scheme.

Their first book, Straight Ahead, was published in 2006. One reviewer noted the emergence of a 'raw, new poetic voice,' but called for better editing. An in-depth article in Magma Poetry analysed a poem from this collection alongside other breakup poems that metaphorically explore relationships as living and dying bodies.

Shaw's second collection, Head On, was published in 2012.

Their third collection, Flood (2018), includes poems about the 2015–16 Great Britain and Ireland floods, which destroyed Shaw's adopted home of Hebden Bridge. With poems like 'Catastrophic Devastation; Damage Complete', Shaw became part of a growing ecopoetry movement. In this collection, Shaw continues their exploration of themes of neurodiversity and human psychology. The title of the collection references the well-known book on human emotions, A General Theory of Love, and unusually for a poetry collection, the book has been reviewed in scholarly psychology journals. One reviewer praises Shaw's use of Harry Harlow's study of attachment in baby monkeys, which is woven into many of the poems in the collection, "viscerally conjuring up the larger-than-life character of Monkey, who is the subject and/or narrator of many of the poems."

With writer and teacher Anna Chilvers, Shaw edited The Book of Bogs, an anthology on climate change and the rewilding of wetlands, published in September 2025 by Little Toller Books and Bluemoose Books. Both writers share their passion for bogs and ecology by collaborating on Writing Bogwise, a series of writing workshops focusing on the unique ecology of peatlands and how this can influence writing practice. In addition, the two writers co-author a Substack blog which explores this subject.

Additionally, Shaw co-authors a Substack with the poet Kim Moore entitled Shaw & Moore, which features content including 'poetry, essays, writing tips and exercises', as well as privileged information on the poetry industry in the United Kingdom. On a yearly basis, the two poets – who are also close friends – run January Writing Hours, an extremely popular and well-attended workshop series that centres around generative writing prompts, with 'the emphasis on creating new work, and writing in company'.

Awards and recognition Shaw has won and been nominated for prizes including the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem and a Northern Writer's Award. Their work has been set to music, illustrated and staged. They wrote the libretto for community opera Daylighting, which premiered at the Royal Academy of Music and won an Ivor Novello Award for Community and Engagement. Their work has also been broadcast on BBC Radio 4's The Verb and Poetry Please.

In 2021, they were appointed Carbon Landscape Poet in Residence by Manchester Literature Festival and Lancashire Wildlife Trust, and commissioned to write poems connected to the landscape. Shaw judged the Manchester Poetry Prize in 2023, the Winchester Poetry Prize in 2024, and the Ted Hughes Award in 2019. Shaw was co-director of the Kendal Poetry Festival from 2019 to 2022, and founder of the Wonky Animals poetry collective and the Lost Things Project. They tutor at the Arvon Foundation.

Activism and advocacy

Shaw is a mental health advocate having published resources on mental health and worked to deliver training, through their own business and through organisations including London-based homeless charity St Mungo's. They also advocate for accessibility in writing, working with the Royal Literary Fund to deliver literacy training. They work in schools as a visiting tutor for organisations including Wordsworth Grasmere, and with members of the wider community, including asylum seekers.

In more recent years, Shaw has turned their attention to climate activism. They are a leading campaigner with activist group 'the Boggarts', part of the Stop Calderdale Wind Farm Coalition, who oppose the proposed development of 'the Calderdale Energy Park', a windfarm to be built on Walshaw Moor. Shaw is committed to protesting against the controversial development, arranging petitions, leading community creative writing workshops to raise local awareness and highlight residents' attachment to the moors, and leading a 'Mass Wuther' (a community event that involved dancing to Kate Bush's famous song Wuthering Heights (song) by way of protest).

Shaw is a passionate voice on synthesising writing with climate activism, having been appointed Carbon Landscape Poet by Manchester Literature Festival and Lancashire Wildlife Trust in 2021. Similarly to their Writing Bogwise course, they also co-facilitate and teach on Wild Writing June, alongside poet and nature writer Miriam Darlington, an annual series of daily generative writing workshops on subjects such as rewilding, urban wilderness, and connections between neurodivergence and queerness and nature.

Personal life

Shaw is non-binary and neurodivergent. They live in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. Their hobbies – which are widely referenced across their social media pages and blogs – include mudlarking, hiking, and spotting wildlife.