Alex Barr was born in Manchester, England and educated at Manchester Grammar School. After a haphazard career as bus-conductor, journalist (best job: wire editor of The Wichita Beacon), garden laborer, and ice-cream salesman, gained a Diploma in Architecture with distinction from Portsmouth Polytechnic and taught in the Department of Architecture and Landscape at Manchester Polytechnic (now MMU).
On taking early retirement he and his wife Rosemarie, a ceramic artist, moved to a smallholding in West Wales where they struggled with limited success to breed sheep and poultry and grow fruit and vegetables, then moved to Fishguard. The Pembrokeshire landscape has inspired much of his poetry. He is proud to be a father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, and hopes to live long enough for the accolade ‘great-great’.
His previous poetry collections are Letting in the Carnival from Peterloo (1984) and Henry’s Bridge from Starborn (2006). His short fiction collection My Life With Eva is published by Parthian (2017); his collection of stories for children, Take a Look at Me-e-e!, by Pont Books (2014). He won third prize in the UK’s National Poetry Competition, first prize in the Doolin Writers Short Story Competition in Ireland, and the Susan Hansell Drama Award for his short play Armor.
Paperback: 86 pages
Publisher: Kelsay Books (July 27, 2024)