Remembering / Disease , Fokkina’s third poetry collection, is available to buy from Broken Sleep Books here

The manuscript of the collection received a Northern Writers’ Award in June 2020 from New Writing North.

The poet Anthony Vahni Capildeo judged the poetry entries and they praised the submission: ‘This collection deals with ordinary/extraordinary fractures, and does so with beautiful minimalism and intriguing poise.‘

The poet Matthew Paul has posted a perceptive and detailed analysis of the poem Safe House, from the collection Remembering / Disease. The poem was inspired by a poem by the late poet Andrew Waterhouse. Matthew’s post gets to the heart and soul, not just of the poem, but of Fokkina’s writing. Here is the link.

A Stolen Hour was published in Spring 2020 as a pamphlet by Grey Hen Press. The poetry pamphlet is out of print. Contact Fokkina if you would like a pdf.

The sculpture on the cover is by Henry Moore and can be found at Snape Maltings, UK.

Carole Bromley, poet wrote: ‘What a delight to read this latest pamphlet of poetry by Fokkina McDonnell, a poet I have long admired and loved. It is a strong and varied collection. There are poems which show evidence of the poet’s empathy and insight, others are concerned with childhood and family and there is a strong group of ekphrastic poems which are particularly impressive. Confidently written, with economy and precision, moving, witty. By the end, I wanted to start again at the beginning.‘

Nothing serious, nothing dangerous, is Fokkina’s second poetry collection. It was published by Indigo Dreams in late 2019. Contact Fokkina for a copy.

 

The striking cover painting is The Departure by the late artist Graham Kingsley Brown.

Lawrence Sail (Bloodaxe poet) wrote: ‘ ‘The strength of Fokkina McDonnell’s second collection lies in her command of an idiom sufficiently fluid and flexible for her to explore widely without any sense of strain; and her awareness of the ambiguities of language can accommodate the mildly surreal as easily as the acutely observed and felt.’

‘Hers is a voice of light tones, but also measured utterances.’

Another life was Fokkina’s debut poetry collection published by Oversteps Books in November 2016. Oversteps Books closed in March 2025.

Christopher North, poet wrote: ‘In these fine, often prize-winning poems, Fokkina McDonnell reveals her considerable imaginative range – sometimes sparely expressed but always with surprising switches of perspective and point of view. This is an overdue and enriching first collection, with incidentally a fascinating European edge to her poetic voice and its exploration.’

Gina Wilson, poet – poetry pamphlets and children’s literature wrote: ‘There’s a delicate intimacy in Fokkina McDonnell’s poetry. She catches moment, place, character and feeling with poignantly crafted simplicity. There’s wit and humour – then, with deft, economical choice of detail, there are unforeseen swerves that reach the heart.’

Anthologies: Poems in over 30 anthologies including Anne-thology: Poems Re-Presenting Anne Shakespeare, published by Broken Sleep Books in 2023. Fokkina was delighted to be invited to contribute a poem. The anthology was chosen as a book of the year by both The Guardian and Daily Telegraph.