Juliet Fossey

I'm a poet and artist who lives and works in a rural village near Penrith.

My poetry is always informed by the natural environment whether Cumbrian or further afield. Often, I use the landscape as a foil to explore an aspect of the human/nature relationship.

My poems are contemporary and concise, usually focussed on capturing a moment. My sketches are also close studies of singular objects or small groups of objects that emphasize relationships.

My current work brings together both of my art practices: poetry and sketching in a book of poems and sketches that respond to The Franklin Relics.

What are the Franklin Relics?
They are the objects left behind by the ill-fated Franklin Expedition of 1845 to the Arctic. Both ships and all 129 crew were lost. The objects retrieved by search parties are referred to as The Franklin Relics.

My collection focuses on 20 of the most personal of the relics, including an engraved spoon, a pair of gloves and a comb and gives voice to each through close observation. The resulting work invokes the object and owner and tells us something of the limits of Empire and the Arctic landscape.

The collection will be available through Caldew Press Carlisle in December 2025.

Juliet's work has been published both locally and nationally in magazines such as Pennine Platform and Mslexia.

solarjuliet@aol.com