Looking for more in Author Directory?

Helena Nelson

All of the information on this page has been provided by the author. If you need an author to have specialist skills, experience or knowledge beyond their creative work, please ask for more information about this ahead of booking them for an event. Please note that authors do not have to have a PVG to be listed.
Contact: nell@happenstancepress.com
Local authority: Fife
Languages: English
Author type: Poet, Writer
Helena Nelson's headshot

Helena Nelson (Nell Nelson) is the originator and editor of HappenStance Press as well as a poet in her own right. Her first Rialto collection Starlight on Water was a Jerwood/Aldeburgh First Collection winner. Her second was Plot and Counterplot from Shoestring Press. She also writes and publishes light verse - Down With Poetry! (HappenStance, 2016) and Branded (Red Squirrel Press, 2019).

She reviews widely, writes a publisher's blog regularly, and also curates the pamphlet review site Sphinx Review.

Websites featuring the author

Local authorities can visit

Angus; Dumfries and Galloway; Dundee; East Lothian; Edinburgh City; Falkirk; Fife; Glasgow City; Highland; Midlothian; Orkney Islands; Perth and Kinross; South Lanarkshire; Stirling

Events can deliver

Mentoring; Panel event; Performance; Reading; Residency; Talk; Workshop; Professional development, CLPL or CPD; Chairing events

Audience can work with

Adult learners; Care-experienced people; English as an additional language (EAL); Adults with additional support needs; People living with dementia; Reluctant readers; Vulnerable adults; Young people in the community (e.g. Youth clubs, Guides, Scouts); Young people with additional support needs (under 18) (ASN/SEN)

Topics of work

Biography & memoir; Childhood; Comedy, humour & funny books; Death, grief & bereavement; Food; Gender equality; Health including mental health & wellbeing; Publishing & getting published; Self-publishing & independent publishing

Age groups published for

Teens; Adults

Age groups can work with

6-8; 9-11; 12-14; 15-18; Adults

Audience size

0-10; 11-30; 31-100; 100-500; 500+

Get involved

Find out how to get involved in our Live Literature programme.

View all authors