Course Leader, MA Professional Writing

Luke is a writer and publisher from Cornwall. His interests include human-animal relationships, small press publishing, creative non-fiction, environmental literature, poetry and South West writers.

Luke's books include 'Domadomadomadoma-Blumblumblum: Conversations with Other Animals' (Ortac, 2024), 'Treasures of Cornwall' (Macmillan, 2023), 'A Guillemot Guide to Very Small Press Publishing' (Guillemot Press, 2022), 'Rhinoceros' (Broken Sleep, 2020), and 'Singing About Melon' (Shearsman, 2020). He has also designed and produced a number of text-generating performative objects for exhibitions, including a Phonetic Ouija Board and Psychic test Cards, which have been performed across the UK. 

As a publisher, Luke founded the national award-winning Guillemot Press in 2016, working with a spectacular list of writers that includes established figures such as Selima Hill, Jen Hadfield, David Harsent and Fiona Benson, as well as exciting new and debuting poets Petals Kalule, Maia Elsner, Prerana Kumar, Suzannah V Evans, and many, many more.

External Links

Contact details

Telephone 01326 255705

Qualifications

Qualifications

Year Qualification Awarding body
2016 PhD University of Exeter (Streatham)
2010 MA University of Exeter (Penryn)
2006 BA University of Wales, Lampeter

Research Interests

Research interests and expertise

Poetry, publishing, South West literature, human-animal relationships, environmental literature, biography.

Research Outputs

Publications and research outputs

  • Loydell, Rupert

    (2017), 'Admissable Evidence', in Triptychs, In: Triptychs, Guillemot Press, Cornwall, ISBN: None
  • Causley, Jim

    (2016), Clay Hymnal, (Published)
  • Thompson, Luke

    (2024), Domadomadoma-Blumblumblum: Conversations with Other Animals, Ortac Press, ISBN: 978-173-84667-1-9
  • Thompson, Luke

    (2023), Treasures of Cornwall, Macmillan, ISBN: 978-152-90903-9-0
  • Thompson, Luke

    (2022), A Guillemot Guide to Very Small Press Publishing, Guillemot Press, ISBN: 978-191-37493-9-2
  • Thompson, Luke

    (2020), Singing About Melon, Shearsman Books, ISBN: 978-184-86173-5-3
  • Thompson, Luke

    (2020), Rhinoceros, Broken Sleep Books, ISBN: 978-191-36422-0-4
  • Thompson, Luke

    (2016), The Clearing, Atlantic Press Ltd, Penryn, Cornwall, ISBN: 978-0-9571549-8-8
  • Thompson, Luke

    (2016), Clay Phoenix: a biography of Jack Clemo, Ally Press, London, ISBN: 9780993473494, Item availability may be restricted.
  • Thompson, Luke

    (2016), The Clearing, Atlantic Press, Cornwall, ISBN: 9780957154988, Item availability may be restricted.
  • Thompson, Luke

    (2015), Jack Clemo: Selected Poems, Enitharmon, London, ISBN: 9781910392065, (Published), Item availability may be restricted.
  • Thompson, Luke

    (2016), Guillemot Press
  • Thompson, Luke

    (2014), Charles Causley and Jack Clemo, Falmouth, (Published)

Externally funded research grants information

Collaborators Currency Funder HESA Category Project title Value Year ending Year starting
GBP AHRC PhD 54000 2015 2012

Teaching

Courses taught

  • Professional Writing MA

Professional Engagement

Social, community and cultural engagement

Luke's professional practice includes exhibitions, festivals, workshops, publications and performances. Some of these are featured below.

Readings, Workshops and Exhibitions

  • Transreading the Pamphlet, 10-week course for the Poetry School, 2023
  • Phonetic Ouija Board, Belfast, 2023
  • Phonetic Ouija Board, Poetry Society, London, 2022-23
  • Animal Languages, North Cornwall Book festival, 2022
  • Animal Languages, Writers’ Block, 2022
  • Transreading the Pamphlet, 10-week course for the Poetry School, 2022
  • On writing about animals, Animal Studies Network, Birmingham, 2021
  • On Publishing, Who Cares, Shetland, 2021
  • Poetry, Grammarsow, Zennor, 2021
  • Poetry, Tears in the Fence Festival, Dorset, 2021
  • Poetry, Becoming, ed. Camilla Nelson, 2021
  • On a Rhinoceros, Broken Sleep Book Launch, 2020
  • Poetry, Chener Bookshop, London, 2020
  • Poetry, Arvon, Lumb Bank, 2020
  • Poetry, Poetry Café, London, 2019
  • Poetry and Print, Winchester Library, 2019
  • Poetry, Natural History Museum, London, 2019


Talks

  • On Poetry Publishing, Rebecca Swift Foundation, 2023
  • Small Press Publishing, Bangor University, 2023
  • On Poetry Publishing, Plymouth University, 2023
  • On Publishing, Moniack Mhor, Inverness, 2022
  • On Eels, Caught by the River, Camp Good Life Festival, 2022
  • On Poetry Publishing, University of Exeter, 2022
  • On Portfolio Careers, University of Lincoln, 2021
  • On Publishing, University of Exeter 2021
  • On Publishing, Bath Spa University, 2021
  • On Publishing, Chichester University, 2021

Other media appearances have included BBC Radio 4's Poetry Please, BBC 1's Inside Out, and the Charles Causley documentary Poet, which aired on both Sky and BBC tv channels.

Professional esteem indicators

Year Description
2023

Guillemot poets won two Rebecca Swift Awards

2021

Michael Murphy Award for Innovative Writing, Shortlisted

2018

Michael Marks Publishers' Award Winner

2017

Awen Medal

2017

Falmouth University Staff Excellence Award