{{notability|1=Biographies|date=July 2025}} {{Short description|Nottingham-based English poet and editor (born 1987)}} {{about||the American philosopher|Charles A. Baylis|the Australian photographer|Charles Bayliss}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Use British English|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox writer | name = Charlie Baylis | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = Baylis on Metro Line A, Warsaw, 2017 | pseudonym = | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1987}} | birth_place = Nottingham, England | occupation = Poet<br/>Editor | language = English | nationality = British | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = {{Plainlist| * Falmouth University * University of East Anglia }} | genre = Poetry<br/>Criticism | notableworks = [https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/charlie-baylis-a-fondness-for-the-colour-green ''a fondness for the colour green''] | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | portaldisp = }} '''Charlie Baylis''' (born 1987) is an English poet and editor from Nottingham.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=On inception of the smaller poetry journals: 1 |url=https://giantketchup.wordpress.com/2025/06/02/on-smaller-journals-1/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=Jayant Kashyap |date=2025-06-02 |language=en-GB}}</ref> He is the founding editor of the poetry journal ''Anthropocene'' and author of ''a fondness for the colour green'', published in 2023.
==Life== Baylis, who has briefly lived in Spain<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Three Poems |url=https://frictionlit.org/three-poems/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=F(r)iction |date=2016-06-22 |language=en-GB}}</ref> and is recognised for his "quirky and original poems",<ref name=":5"/> is a Falmouth University alumnus<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charlie Baylis |url=https://falwriting.com/network-1/2017/3/7/charlie-baylis |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=FalWriting |date=2017-03-07 |language=en-GB}}</ref> and a 2019 graduate of UEA's MA in Creative Writing (Poetry) programme.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charlie Baylis |url=https://www.newwriting.net/writer/charlie-baylis/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=New Writing |language=en-GB}}</ref> As of 2025, he is studying for a PhD in Spanish translation at the University of Nottingham.<ref name=":0"/>
==Work== Baylis is the author of six pamphlets, including ''hilda doolittle's carl jung t-shirt'' (Erbacce)<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Three Poems – Charlie Baylis |url=https://porridgemagazine.com/2018/01/05/three-poems-charlie-baylis/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Porridge Magazine |date=2018-01-05 |language=en-UK}}</ref> and ''Santa Lucía'' (Invisible Hand Press),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Santa Lucía by Charlie Baylis |url=https://www.newwriting.net/2021/06/santa-lucia-by-charlie-baylis/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=New Writing |year=2021 |language=en-GB}}</ref> and a full-length collection, ''a fondness for the colour green'', published by Broken Sleep Books in 2023.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=a fondness for the colour green by Charlie Baylis |url=https://www.newwriting.net/2023/06/a-fondness-for-the-colour-green-by-charlie-baylis/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=New Writing |year=2023 |language=en-GB}}</ref> His poems have appeared in ''Gutter'', ''Magma'', ''The Rialto'', ''Agenda'', ''Long Poem Magazine'',<ref>{{Cite journal |title=White Flowers |journal=Long Poem Magazine |year=2017 |language=en-GB |editor=Crowther, Claire |issue=32: Winter 2024}}</ref> ''The New Statesman'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=The NS poem: Rebecca |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2018/06/ns-poem-rebecca |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=The New Statesman |date=2018-06-27 |language=en-GB}}</ref> ''Confingo'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Battersby |first=Matilda |title=Confingo launches new poetry imprint |date=2024-08-29 |website=The Bookseller |access-date=2025-07-28 |issn=0006-7539 |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/confingo-launches-new-poetry-imprint |lang=en-GB}}</ref> and ''Poetry Wales''. Excerpt from his poem 'Fifty Shades of Prufrock' featured in the Best New British and Irish Poets 2017 anthology, published by Eyewear Press.<ref>{{Cite book |editor1=Swift, Todd |editor2=Kennard, Luke |title=The Best New British and Irish Poets 2017 |url=https://blackspringpressgroup.com/products/best-new-british-and-irish-poets-2017 |publisher=Eyewear Publishing Ltd |isbn=9781911335481 |publication-date=2017-03-01 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Baylis has received a nomination for the Forward Prize, several for the Pushcart Prize,<ref name=":2"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Charlie Baylis |url=https://www.pamenarpress.com/post/charlie-baylis |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Pamenar Press |date=2019-12-23 |language=en-GB}}</ref> and his Spanish translations have been commended in the Stephen Spender Prize.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Stephen Spender Prize 2024: Commendees |url=https://www.stephen-spender.org/stephen-spender-prize-2024-commendees/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Stephen Spender Trust |language=en-GB}}</ref>
He has also reviewed work frequently,<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Magic Made Modern: An interview with Andreea Iulia Scridon |url=https://www.napkinpoetryreview.org/interview-with-andreea-scridon |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Napkin Poetry Review |language=en-GB}}</ref> often writing for such journals as ''The London Magazine'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=I May Be Stupid But I’m Not That Stupid |url=https://thelondonmagazine.org/review-i-may-be-stupid-but-im-not-that-stupid-by-selima-hill/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=The London Magazine |date=2019-11-12 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Death |url=https://thelondonmagazine.org/review-our-death-by-sean-bonney/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=The London Magazine |date=2020-03-25 |language=en-GB}}</ref> ''Ink Sweat & Tears'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=In Praise of: Charlie Baylis reviews 'suddenly, it’s now' by Blossom Hibbert |url=https://inksweatandtears.co.uk/in-praise-of-charlie-baylis-reviews-suddenly-its-now-by-blossom-hibbert/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Ink Sweat & Tears |date=2023-08-23 |language=en-GB}}</ref> ''Wild Court''<ref>{{Cite web |title=On 'Rite of Passage' by Dom Bury & 'What Fire' by Alice Miller |url=https://wildcourt.co.uk/on-rite-of-passage-by-dom-bury-what-fire-by-alice-miller/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Wild Court |date=2022-01-25 |language=en-GB}}</ref> and ''Stride''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pretty in Pink |url=https://www.stridebooks.co.uk/Stride%20mag%202015/Sept%202015/PrettyInPink.Baylis.htm |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Stride |date=2015-08-31 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Thank God for Luke Kennard |url=http://stridemagazine.blogspot.com/2016/05/thank-god-for-luke-kennard.html |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Stride |language=en-GB}}</ref> He has also edited ''Review 31'',<ref name=":1"/> served as a flash fiction editor for ''Litro'',<ref name=":2"/> and as assistant editor for ''Broken Sleep Books'' during its inception in 2018,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kenyon |first=Isabelle |title=An interview with...Broken Sleep Books |url=https://www.flyonthewallpress.co.uk/post/an-interview-with-broken-sleep-books |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Fly on the Wall Press |date=2019-10-29 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Loydell |first=Rupert |title=An interview with alumni Aaron Kent, founder and creative director of Broken Sleep Books |url=https://falwriting.com/new-blog/an-interview-with-alumni-aaron-kent-founder-and-creative-director-of-broken-sleep-books |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=FalWriting |date=2018-09-08 |language=en-GB}}</ref> and since 2020 as the indie press's editorial advisor.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Comerford |first=Ruth |date=2020-06-04 |title=Broken Sleep Books appoints editorial board |website=The Bookseller |access-date=2025-07-28 |issn=0006-7539 |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/broken-sleep-books-appoints-editorial-board-1204620 |lang=en-GB}}</ref> He was later replaced (as assistant editor for poetry) by the poet Stuart McPherson.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Meet the Team |url=https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/who-we-are |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Broken Sleep Books |language=en-GB}}</ref> In a 2018 interview, Aaron Kent, poet and founder of ''Broken Sleep Books'', called Baylis "one of the best editors in the poetry game".<ref>{{Cite web |title=12 or 20 (small press) questions with Aaron Kent on Broken Sleep Books |url=https://robmclennan.blogspot.com/2018/07/12-or-20-small-press-questions-with.html |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=Rob McLennan's Blog |date=2018-07-24 |language=en-GB}}</ref>
In 2019, while still at UEA, Baylis founded the poetry journal ''Anthropocene'', inspired by the Oxford Word of the Year – "climate emergency"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zhou |first=Naaman |title=Oxford Dictionaries declares 'climate emergency' the word of 2019 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/21/oxford-dictionaries-declares-climate-emergency-the-word-of-2019 |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=The Guardian |date=2019-11-21 |language=en-GB}}</ref> – in terms of naming.<ref name=":0"/>
Baylis's debut, ''Elizabeth'' (Agave Press, 2016), was published as a limited-edition pamphlet and released in the USA only. In a review published the same year, the poems in ''Elizabeth'' were praised for being "distinctly modern" and called "intriguing and enigmatic".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Prather |first=John |title=Untamed recesses |url=https://stridemagazine.blogspot.com/2016/08/distracting-incoherence.html |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Stride |date=2016-08-09 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Mark Waldron, one of the 2018 National Poetry Competition judges, included ''hilda doolittle's carl jung t-shirt'' in a set of books he called "varying degrees of astonishing in different ways."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The judges answer your questions |url=https://poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/national-poetry-competition/resources/askthejudge-twitter-takeover/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=The Poetry Society |language=en-GB}}</ref> A review published in Stride noted the pamphlet for its "strong lyrical element to this poetry" and "a youthful, romantic quality".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Spence |first=Steve |title=A young person's poetry |url=https://stridemagazine.blogspot.com/2016/10/a-young-persons-poetry.html |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Stride |date=2016-10-03 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Another review suggested the titles to be the pamphlet's "weaknesses", with each "seeming very pleased with itself."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sutton |first=Paul |title=Charlie Baylis, hilda doolittle’s carl jung tee-shirt |url=https://internationaltimes.it/charlie-baylis-hilda-doolittles-carl-jung-tee-shirt/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=International Times |date=2016-09-22 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Poet and critic Martin Stannard called ''Drag City'', Baylis's third pamphlet which includes artwork by Hiromi Suzuki, "less interesting than it thinks it is."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stannard |first=Martin |title=Being less interesting than it thinks it is |url=https://stridemagazine.blogspot.com/2019/06/being-less-interesting-than-it-thinks.html?q=drag+city |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Stride |date=2019-06-09 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Another review noted ''swimming'', Baylis's fourth pamphlet, for "soothing moments of lyrical reflection."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ferguson |first=Mike |title=‘swimming’ by Charlie Baylis – The Red Ceilings Press |url=https://gravyfromthegazebo.blog/2019/11/13/swimming-by-charlie-baylis-the-red-ceilings-press/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=gravyfromthegazebo |date=2019-11-13 |language=en-GB}}</ref> His fifth, ''Santa Lucía'', published with Invisible Hand Press in 2021, was praised for "a voice that combines romantic and surrealist imagery with existential and confessional tones",<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murphy |first=Tim |title=Romantic Mediterranean surrealism |url=https://sphinxreview.co.uk/index.php/opoi-reviews-2021/charlie-baylis-santa-lucia |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Sphinx Review |date=2021-07-29 |language=en-GB}}</ref> and for being "a short pamphlet with the depth of a full length project."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sikombe |first=Jesse |title=Harsh realities and nightmares |url=https://stridemagazine.blogspot.com/2022/05/harsh-realities-and-nightmares.html?q=charlie+baylis |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Stride |date=2022-05-12 |language=en-GB}}</ref> In another review for the pamphlet, which Mike Ferguson called a "delightful poetic portrait of place",<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ferguson |first=Mike |title='Santa Lucia' by Charlie Baylis – Invisible Hand Press |url=https://gravyfromthegazebo.blog/2021/07/03/santa-lucia-by-charlie-baylis-invisible-hand-press/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=gravyfromthegazebo |date=2021-07-03 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Alan Baker saw Baylis as a poet having "a clear conception of where he wants his poetry to go and a willingness" to lead it there.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baker |first=Alan |title=Review - "Santa Lucia" by Charlie Baylis |url=https://www.littermagazine.com/2021/08/review-santa-lucia-by-charlie-bayliss.html |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Litter |date=2021-08-18 |language=en-GB}}</ref>
He published his collaborative poetry pamphlet ''at first it felt like flying'' (with Andrew Taylor) in 2019, which was praised for its poems' "playful reciprocations",<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ferguson |first=Mike |title='at first it felt like flying' by Charlie Baylis and Andrew Taylor – Indigo Dreams Publishing |url=https://gravyfromthegazebo.blog/2019/10/26/at-first-it-felt-like-flying-by-charlie-baylis-and-andrew-taylor-indigo-dreams-publishing/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=gravyfromthegazebo |date=2019-10-26 |language=en-GB}}</ref> and debut full-length collection ''a fondness for the colour green'' in June 2023,<ref name=":4"/> his second with Broken Sleep Books. In a ''Buzz Magazine'' review, where his name is spelt with an extra 's' – Bayliss – the poems are marked for their "unpredictable inventiveness", calling the collection "anti-static; [since] everywhere, there is movement".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Mab |title=New poetry for October: bardic chairs, philosophers & champion cyclists of yore |url=https://www.buzzmag.co.uk/new-poetry-october-myfanwy-haycock-ellie-rees-review/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Buzz Magazine |date=2023-10-31 |language=en-GB}}</ref> In another review, Clark Allison looks at the poems in the collection as "objects out there in the world" and not as "polished still lives."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Allison |first=Clark |title=Unlike Anybody Else |url=https://www.zvonainari.hr/single-post/clark-allison-unlike-anybody-else |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=ZVONA i NARI |date=2023-08-14 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Poet Rupert Loydell, in light of the magnitude of work published by Baylis before ''a fondness for the colour green'', found it difficult to call it his debut. In his review, Loydell called Baylis "a kind of Peter Pan" and praised him for being "able to shed his miseries quickly and return to his happy place."<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Loydell |first=Rupert |title=Review - "a fondness for the colour green" by Charlie Baylis |url=https://www.littermagazine.com/2023/07/review-fondness-for-colour-green-by.html |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Litter |date=2023-07-14 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Jayd Green called the series of 'Jenny' poems from the collection "incredibly playful" while also pointing to the act of constantly referencing "poets and media figures" as potentially "alienating" the reader.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Green |first=Jayd |title=Review: a fondness for the colour green by Charlie Baylis |url=https://osmosispress.com/2023/07/07/review-a-fondness-for-the-colour-green-by-charlie-baylis/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Osmosis Press |date=2023-07-07 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Eric Kennedy, writing for ''Review 31'', also noted the closeness between "literary scenedom" and "celebrity fandom", questioning if it is "just another kind of parasocial relationship [often] produced in our media climate." In closing, he called ''a fondness for the colour green'' "a love letter posted in an old sock."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kennedy |first=Eric |title='a hamburger that is just a hamburger flavoured hamburger' |url=http://review31.co.uk/article/view/922/a-hamburger-that-is-just-a-hamburger-flavoured-hamburger |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Review 31 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Daniel Roy Connelly, in his review, says that to read Baylis is "to become one with the minutiae of the author's witty, sometimes-scabrous observations."<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=Connelly |first=Daniel (Roy) |title=A Review of ''a fondness for the colour green'' by Charlie Baylis |url=https://lotus-eatermagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/lotus_eater_issue_18-1.pdf |journal=Lotus-eater Magazine |year=2023 |language=en-GB |page=57 |editor1=Mastrodomenico, Diana |editor2=Constantini, Marco |issue=18: spring/summer 2023 |issn=2499-4278}}</ref> In another review, published in ''The Madrid Review'', the opening line of ''a fondness for the colour green'' is called "not a bad first line as first lines go",<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charlie Baylis Is Completely Adrift Of Reality |url=https://themadridreview.com/f/charlie-bayliss-is-completely-adrift-of-reality |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=The Madrid Review |date=2025-05-07 |language=en-GB}}</ref> and a ''London Magazine'' review calls the collection's environment "emotionally uninhibited [and] graceful".<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Scridon |first=Andreea (Iulia) |title=The Loneliness of a Sunday Afternoon |url=https://thelondonmagazine.org/review-the-loneliness-of-a-sunday-afternoon-by-andreea-iulia-scridon/ |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=The London Magazine |date=2023-09-12 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Nathaniel King, another Broken Sleep Books poet, included Baylis's debut in his books of the year 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Books of the Year 2023 |url=https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/post/books-of-the-year-2023 |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Broken Sleep Books |date=2024-01-02 |language=en-GB}}</ref> For Broken Sleep, Baylis has also edited several poetry anthologies, including the annual anthologies in 2018, 2021 and 2022.
In a Tumblr post titled 'An introduction to the post-epicurean psychedelic school of poetry', Baylis disapproved of "the commercialisation of [poetry as an] art form." In the same post, he introduced a school of poetry, the 'post-epicurean psychedelia', which is identified by "lyrical poetry with heady, intoxicating imagery and a focus on hedonistic living" and includes such writers as Jayant Kashyap, Maria Sledmere and Hera Lindsay Bird.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baylis |first=Charlie |title=An introduction to the post-epicurean psychedelic school of poetry |url=https://theimportanceofbeingaloof.tumblr.com/post/779243073335066624/an-introduction-to-the-post-epicurean-psychedelic |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=The Importance of Being Aloof |date=2025-03-28 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":0"/>
In 2025, after some issues online (potential cancellation, "fle[eing] to Spain"), Baylis's seventh pamphlet ''fuck poetry'' was published by Red Ceilings Press, which Paul Sutton, save the "tiresome use of lower case", called "a delight".<ref name="sut">{{Cite web |title=Fuck Poetry by Charlie Baylis |last=Sutton |first=Paul |date=2025-10-14 |url=https://paulsutton.substack.com/p/fuck-poetry-by-charlie-baylis |access-date=2025-11-21 |lang=en-GB}}</ref>
==Books== Baylis has published a total of seven pamphlets and a full-length collection. He has edited several anthologies for Broken Sleep Books.
===Pamphlets=== * ''Elizabeth'' (Agave Press, 2016) * ''hilda doolittle's carl jung t-shirt'' (Erbacce, 2016) {{ISBN|9781907878831}} * ''Drag City'' (with artwork by Hiromi Suzuki) (Broken Sleep Books, 2019) {{ISBN|9781726667630}} * ''at first it felt like flying'' (in collaboration with Andrew Taylor) (Indigo Dreams Publishing, 2019) {{ISBN|9781910834992}} * ''Swimming'' (The Red Ceilings Press, 2020) * ''Santa Lucía'' (Invisible Hand Press, 2021) * ''fuck poetry'' (The Red Ceilings Press, 2025)<ref>{{Cite web |title=fuck poetry - charlie baylis |website=The Red Ceilings Press |url=https://www.theredceilingspress.co.uk/product-page/fuck-poetry-charlie-baylis |access-date=2025-09-24 |lang=en-GB}}</ref>
===Collection=== * ''a fondness for the colour green'' (Broken Sleep Books, 2023) {{ISBN|9781915760180}}
===Anthologies=== As editor (with Aaron Kent): * ''Broken Sleep Books Anthology 2018'' {{ISBN|9781790505579}} * ''Broken Sleep Books 2021 Anthology'' {{ISBN|9781915079831}} * ''Footprints: an anthology of new ecopoetry'' (Broken Sleep Books, 2022) {{ISBN|9781915079886}} * ''Broken Sleep Books 2022 Anthology'' {{ISBN|9781915079770}}
==Awards== * 2024: Commended, Stephen Spender Prize.<ref name=":3"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Authority control (arts)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baylis, Charlie}} Category:1987 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century English poets Category:Alumni of Falmouth University Category:Alumni of the University of East Anglia Category:Writers from Nottingham