MEET Ella Frears, a bold, captivating and sharp poet from St Ives whose recent book has been shortlisted for the coveted Forward Prize.

"Goodlord" is a fictional long-form poetic email to an estate agent from a 'slightly unhinged' tenant. It touches on the ongoing housing crisis, striking a balance between earnestness and humour, shedding light on the realities many people face today.

Ella’s writing has found great success in recent years, having now been shortlisted for one of the most coveted prizes in poetry… twice!

Being shortlisted for The Forward Prizes for Poetry is a significant achievement, as the awards honour both emerging poets and established international voices.

Ella described being shortlisted for the Forward prize as an amazing thing.

“The first time I was shortlisted for best first collection and this time it’s for best collection. It feels really good to know that people are connecting, as it’s an unusual book. I love poets and I love parties.”

All the houses in Goodlord are inspired by real houses occupied by Ella or people she knows. She is focused on the notion that change needs to happen and channelled the book in a way that could tap into that crisis.

“You don’t even need to exaggerate or make anything more surreal than it is. The housing crisis is insane.”

Now living in London, there is still a clear relation to her experiences in Cornwall and its housing issues.

“I go back to Cornwall all the time, I’m aware of the anger and how desperate the situation is and that would have fed into that bubbling rage that’s in the voice.

“There are houses from Cornwall in the book, where you’re all jammed into a house together and lucky if you find one.

“I’m really interested in this idea that because there is such a scarcity of houses for locals you end up grateful for the kind of house you would never have been grateful for in a different circumstance.”

However, outside of the doom and gloom surrounding what we live in, there is much light in where we live. Ella has the love for Cornwall much of us share, which is richly reflected in her writing style. She is able to capture the essence of living by the sea in her poems.

“I’m coming to terms with the fact that people really love that odd salty wilderness that runs through my work. I think that’s Cornwall’s effect. I feel very lucky to have grown up with fresh air, space and light.

“I love Cornwall, I will never not love Cornwall.”