Originally from Worcestershire in England, Louise G Cole now lives in rural Ireland.

She won the Hennessy Literary Award for Emerging Poetry in 2018, when she had a Dublin pub re-named in her honour (temporarily!). She was selected by UK Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy for publication of a poetry pamphlet, ‘Soft Touch’ in the Laureate’s Choice series in February 2019. Louise’s work was endorsed by Dermot Bolger, Jane Clarke and Rita Ann Higgins. Eight of Louise’s poems subsequently appeared in Carol Ann Duffy’s final anthology of her laureateship in May 2019. 

Louise has had poems, short stories and flash fiction published in anthologies, newspapers and literary magazines, including the Irish Independent, the Irish Times, Crannóg, From the Well, Stony Thursday, Skylight 47, Ropes, the Bangor Literary Journal, Boyne Berries, Poetry Bus Magazine, Southword, The Storms, the Strokestown Poetry Festival Anthology, Poetry Ireland Review, the Ogham Stone and many others.

She won Strokestown Poetry Festival’s Roscommon Poets’ Prize in 2017 and 2020, and the  New Roscommon Writing Award in 2019. She was selected for mentorship with Irish author and poet Nessa O’Mahony in 2019/20 by Words Ireland.  In 2021, Louise was chosen for mentorship by Dedalus Press and worked with Irish poet Joseph Woods.

Louise’s poetry pamphlet ‘Under the Influence’ was highly commended in Munster Literature Centre’s 2020 Fool for Poetry Competition, and was published in 2022 by UK publisher, Hedgehog Poetry. Further pamphlets were commended in Fool For Poetry 2021 and 2022, and in 2022 another poetry pamphlet was shortlisted in the Geoff Stevens Poetry Prize Competition run by Indigo Dreams.

Louise is available for public readings of her work.

Contact her via email at louisegcolewriter(at)gmail(dot)com