Richard Fleming

Richard Fleming is an Ulster-born poet and short-story writer who moved to the Bailiwick in 1994.

His work has been broadcast and widely published and will be familiar to listeners of BBC Radio Guernsey, BBC South-West and Radio Ulster. He has performed at various literary festivals and currently has three collections of verse in print, A Guernsey Double, Strange Journey and Stone Witness, the latter featuring the titular poem which was commissioned by the BBC in 2016 for National Poetry Day. His popular blog, Bard at Bay, contains many of his better-known poems and short stories, together with various experimental pieces and observations. 

Artist Statement

I began writing in my early twenties then, after a lengthy hiatus, took up the pen once more on my arrival in Guernsey a quarter of a century ago. My work consists of poetry and prose but my first love is poetry. In this craft I constantly strive to refine my skills. My inspiration comes from observation of the world around me and it is my aim to reflect the human experience, past, present and future. I firmly believe that the truest poetry is possessed of soul: that unmistakable sense that a poem contains something indefinable and is not simply a clever arrangement of words.