Oliver James Lomax is a poet, educator, and trustee of the Working-Class Movement Library in Salford. He passionately believes in cultural equality and the power of the arts to enable everyone in society to have a voice.

He has published 5 collections of poetry including The Dandelion Clock (2020) and Burial of the Cameo (2023) – ‘Dammed fine poems, full of emotional resonance and vivid imagery; the world made fresh to the eye and ear.’ – Ian Rankin

Oliver has written poetry for film and television and in 2019 released his first spoken word single described by Tom Robinson (BBC 6 Music) as ‘An unholy hybrid of John Cooper Clarke and Mark E Smith.’ He released his debut album Working-Class Love Poem (Shadrack and Duxbury 2023) which he is currently touring across the UK. His poems are now taught in schools.

‘Poems that dance with originality and are tenderly unafraid of love and belonging.’ – Mark Thomas

‘Beautifully written poems from a unique voice of integrity and spirit.’ – Maxine Peake

Support comes from Barney Rule

Barney Rule is an English Literature student at the University of Manchester, who has written poems since he was small. He describes his work as ‘a tragi-comic melange of Miles Jupp and John Cooper Clarke’ and hopes one day someone else will describe it that way too.