The Artel Press is pleased to announce the publication this autumn of its new collection of contemporary Cornish poetry by poet and academic Alan Bleakley.
A Choir of Kindness features 54 finely crafted poems emerging from the granite, sea and birdlife characteristic of a unique West Cornish landscape that has inspired artists for centuries.
His new poems reflect the preoccupations of a poet with a deep understanding of the coast (Alan was a pioneer of the UK surf scene), its wildlife, weather and multiplicity of voices.
Alan’s new work feels magnetically drawn towards the poetic vicissitudes of nature, without ever departing from the scientific curiosity that has marked his stellar career in psychotherapy and medical humanities.
In ‘Food -chains‘ we read of ‘Glossy-backed insects or coopered half-barrels of chitin / among the sand-sedge and seawort’. ‘Surfing with Dolphins‘ topically reminds us of the sensuous tangibility of experience in this digital world – of ‘Nothing artificial in this wordless show of intelligence’.
This collection also features poetic forms of haiku and prose that demonstrate his skilled and eager searching for new kinds of expression. A Choir of Kindness includes ‘Chough‘ his prizewinning work in the Fish Publishing (Cork, Eire) 2026 International Writing Contest.
This is the third collection Alan has published with Liverpool-based The Artel Press, his previous titles being The Bio-Illogical (2023) and in 2025 The Cost of Living – a collaboration with Canadian poet Shane Neilson.
Alan Bleakley is Emeritus Professor of medical education and medical humanities at Peninsula Medical School, University of Plymouth. He is internationally acclaimed in his field and has published 25 books, over 150 articles and book chapters, and lectured around the world. His poetry has been published in The Times Literary Supplement, London Review of Books, Manhattan Review, London Magazine, Stand, Rialto, Bellevue Literary Review, Acumen and many other journals, and in five collections. He lives near Land’s End.
ISBN 9781739900397
Title: A Choir of Kindness
Author: Alan Bleakley
94pp paperback
Publication date: 30 Oct 2026