Writing

I write poetry and fiction and hold a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with Distinction from Manchester Metropolitan University (2020). My current focus is poetry, which I began writing after completing my MFA in prose fiction. My poetry has appeared online on The Common Table and The Prose Poem and in print in The Frogmore Papers, the Hope Valley Journal, Magma, The North, and Tears in the Fence. I was longlisted in the Cinnamon Press Poetry Pamphlet Award 2023 and the inaugural Prose Poetry Competition. I am mentored by Helen Mort and belong to The Poetry Society’s Mid-Derbyshire Stanza.

Much of my poetry is inspired by rural life in the Peak District, grounded in multisensory experience of place. My work returns constantly to themes of identity, transformation, and belonging—the boundaries of self and other—which I explore from a feminist and queer perspective. This includes relations between human and non-human animals, as well as my lived experience as a migrant. I also write about spiritual faith, among other topics. Formally, I tend toward short form, although I’m also interested in sequences, as well as prose poetry. My most recent work is hybrid and experimental, using stream-of-consciousness associations and imagery.

I’m always happy to consider commissions, residencies, and other opportunities. I’m particularly interested at this stage in collaborating with composers or visual artists—please get in touch!

‘Christine Knight’s work is exhilarating—she notices things that other people don’t and gifts them with her attention. Evocative, surprising poems of landscape and agency, full of movement, purpose, playfulness. I can’t wait for her first collection!’—Helen Mort

Poetry editing

As an experienced freelance editor as well as a poet, I love helping other poets with my editing hat on. This might mean:

  • proofreading your pamphlet or collection before publication (traditional or self-publishing);

  • copyediting your work—for spelling, grammar, and punctuation—before you submit to a magazine, competition, or publisher;

  • line editing, considering matters such as word choice, imagery, line and stanza breaks;

  • developmental editing to support you with a big-picture project, such as developing your poems into a pamphlet or collection.

As a poet myself, I understand that editing poetry is very different from editing other kinds of text. I will always work in careful discussion with you, knowing that every word, punctuation mark, space, and line break in poetry is consciously considered for its particular effect. I’m always happy to discuss whether my services are right for you, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.