Ben Wilkinson was born in Stafford in 1985, and now lives in Sheffield. His pamphlet For Real (smith|doorstop Books, 2014) won the Northern Promise Award as part of the 2014 Northern Writers’ Awards. His poems have appeared in Poetry Review, The Guardian, The Spectator and Liverpool FC Monthly. Among other things he works as a critic, reviewing new poetry for The Guardian, The Poetry Review, and The Times Literary Supplement. He is currently working on his debut full collection of poems with support from Arts Council England.

For Real was a winner in the Poetry Business Competition, judged by Carol Ann Duffy.