Ella Frears - John Hansard Gallery Writer in Residence

Ella Frears is the appointed Writer in Residence at John Hansard Gallery from February to July 2021

Ella Frears is a poet and artist. Her debut collection Shine, Darling (Offord Road Books, 2020) was a Poetry Book Society recommendation and was shortlisted for both the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry. Her poems about the St Ives Modernists are currently on show at Tate St Ives.

An impressive candidate from a strong field of applicants, Ella is no stranger to Southampton, having worked with K6 Gallery on Next Stop: City Bus project in 2018, following in the footsteps of former Poet Laureate, Dame Carol Ann Duffy, who led a similar initiative 25 years earlier. Ella has also held residencies at the National Trust, and the Observatory at Buckler’s Hard, New Forest,