Hilary Watson poet
About Hilary
Hilary Watson grew up in and around Cardiff. She graduated from the University of Warwick Writers’ Programme with a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing and an MA in Writing. She was a Jerwood/Arvon Mentee 2015/16. She is a member of The 57 Poetry Collective. She works in the third sector. Her collaborative thrutopian poetry collection We'll Meet You There with poets Ilse Pedler and Alice Willitts is out with Dialect Press. Her first collection Menagerie Street is forthcoming from Seren Books in July 2026.
​Menagerie Street
coming soon
from Seren Books
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I'm absolutely delighted that my first collection will be published by Seren Books on 22 July 2026.​
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“A menagerie of voices, angles, inventions and images – restless yet searching. This collection will take roost in your brain.” – Caroline Bird
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“Menagerie Street is a call for us to rewild… A profound read and a family of poems I will come home to over and over to remember where I belong and what I am bound to protect. Let the familiar song at the heart of this book call to your wild heart too.” – clare e potter
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“Menagerie Street delights and astonishes. Hilary Watson animates streets, animals, and human gestures with care and clarity. Playful, vivid, and morally alert, these poems make you notice the world differently, feel its weight and wonder, and return to it again. A collection that is both joyous and uncompromisingly alive.” – David Morley
Ongoing Project - Thrutopia
Hilary is currently exploring thrutopian poetry, having completed the Thrutopian Masterclass, alongside fellow writers Alice Willitts, Ilse Pedler, Elizabeth Lewis Williams, Katherine Stansfield, Laura Baggaley and Rachel Connor.​
Bending The Arc is a new magazine for thrutopian writing. Edition 1 launched on Earth Day 2025. All posts can be found here.
