Amanda Baker

Hi. I am an author and poet and I regularly mix up prose and poetry in my work.

I realised writing was a thing when I received my first poetry prize aged 6 at my much loved local library in Leamington Spa. In the real world I've been, among other things, an elected city councillor and a lawyer. I have three beautiful daughters and I'm a granny.

I do comedy / spoken word, have performed at many UK festivals including the Leamington Peace Festival, Newcastle Pride Festival, Newcastle Green Festival, the Doune Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe 2010/11/12/14 I've played venues from Edinburgh to Brighton, the back rooms of pubs and comedy clubs to major venues such as The Sage. In December 2018 I previewed my one woman show Just Words in Edinburgh. My political letters are regularly published in UK newspapers.

One of my page poems was shortlisted in the Bridport International Poetry Prize 2011 and a comedy piece called Snail Love appears in The Iron Anthology of New Humorous Verse 2010.

I've published adventure books for junior readers - the Chronicles of Eleanor Catherine - Long Limbed Green Eyed Dragon Slayer;

book 1 - Eleanor & Dread Mortensa (Writers Digest ****)

book 2 - Eleanor the Dragon Witch & the Time Twisting Mirror

book 3 - Eleanor & the Dragon Runt

My adult novels include -

The Companion Contract

and

Eating the Vinyl

and now I have a comedy sortofautobiography

Maybe I'm not a Pigeon

(My lives and me in Ten Houses)

plus my comedy novel - Sex Violence & the Wrong Mobility Scooter

As well as being a finalist in a national sitcom writing contest (despite ditching television in 1999) I was quarter finalist and finalist in two separate national stand-up comedy competitions. I was shortlisted in the Virginia Wolfe short story awards. My apocalyptic short story The Remainder was published in ROOT anthology 2013.

My environmental audio story poem for children - Casey & the Surfmen - is available directly from bandcamp https://amandabaker.bandcamp.com and as a book here on Amazon.

Ella & the Knot Fairies, my first verse/picture book for young children is now also available as is my sci fi novella - Zero One Zero Two.

I run a weekly satirical blog at

http://browngirloutsidethering.blogspot.com

For 3 months in 2021 I presented my own social debate radio show from Glasgow.

Most recently my poems have been published in Scriptstuff’s Lockdown anthology 2020 and Summer Anywhere poetry anthology by Hybriddreich 2021