7th May 2025

David J Costello

David J. Costello lives in Wallasey where he runs local poetry group Pop-up Poets and writing group Pop-up Writers. He has a long record of support for, and collaboration with, Wirral Borough Council Libraries Service and organises open mic events on National Poetry Day and International Poetry Day on their behalf.

David's publishing credits are wide and varied and include (in print) Orbis, Dream Catcher, Envoi, Shooter, Prole, The Penny Dreadful (ROI), Poetry Salzburg Review, Poetry Scotland and Magma. His credits (on-line) include Nutshells & Nuggets, The Lake, Zoomorphic and Ink Sweat and Tears.

David won the Welsh International Poetry Competition in 2011 with his poem “Horseshoe Bat” and was placed 2nd in the 2018 competition with Heft. He was also placed in the same competition with Conch in 2015.

In the same year he was a prize-winning poet in the 2015 Troubadour International Poetry Competition with Moth.

His poem Furnaceman was one of the winners in the 2019 PENfro Poetry Competition.

The title poem for his latest collection, Witness, was shortlisted for the 2022 Patricia Eschen Prize for Poetry.

David has contributed to various anthologies including:

Driftfish - a marine anthology (Zoomorphic 2016)

In Protest: 150 Poems for Human Rights (University of London Press)

The Colour of Saying Dylan Thomas 100th Anniversary Anthology (Cross-Cultural Communications (USA)

The Seventh Quarry Press (Wales, UK)

David has also had work published in each of the 5 yearly anthologies of the Welsh Poetry Competition and is a contributing member to Beautiful Dragons, a national poetry collective. David's solo publications are the pamphlets:

Human Engineering, (Thynks Publishing 2013)

No Need For Candles, (Red Squirrel Press 2016)

In March 2020 his first full collection, Heft, was published by Red Squirrel Press and won 3rd prize in the 2021 Poetry Book Awards.

David's latest collection from Red Squirrel Press is Witness and is available, post free, through his web site (link below).

David's web site can be viewed here: www.davidjcostellopoetry.com

James Tait

James Tait needs no introduction. James has played for us each year, and we always welcome him back, looking forward to hearing his new work, as well as his older pieces.

Not only is James an amazing and prolific musician, he also is a magnificent dialect poet, and writer.

James Tait Music