Welcome to the site of Fokkina McDonnell. Here you will find reviews of her books, details of past and future readings and links to interviews and online readings.

Fokkina is an award-winning poet. She has three poetry collections and a pamphlet. The original manuscript of Remembering / Disease was awarded a Northern Writers’ Award by New Writing North in 2020. Details here.

Poems have been widely published, successful in competitions, and nominated for the Forward Prize. They can be found in over 30 anthologies and more than 40 journals. Details here.

Fokkina settled in the UK in 1973, having met her husband when they both worked on P&O ships. She has a BSc in Psychology and a MA in Occupational Psychology. She worked in local government, and management consultancy. In the 1980’s Fokkina retrained and for almost 30 years practised as a UKCP registered psychotherapist, and as an EMDR Consultant and accredited EMDR facilitator. Fokkina now lives in The Netherlands again.

Why the giraffe?

The giraffe has been a totem animal for over 30 years. The domain name was bought in the early 1990s. Giraffes have roamed the savannahs for millions of years. A highly social animal it is able to defend itself: a kick could kill a lion.

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Here you also find writing prompts and monthly guest poets. About 70 poets have so far featured, most recently Ian Seed with wonderful prose poems.

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