TRACEY SCOTT-TOWNSEND

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“Tracey Scott Townsend has such a depth of emotion behind her poetry it really touched me. Reading on, I felt exactly the same about the rest of the collection and by the time I got to Perfect Memorial I was in utter pieces.
Indeed, reading So Fast I encountered a range of very profound emotions. You must have wanted to have them made me feel guilty and I was enraged by Ways not to treat Women. But oh my goodness, the sense of loss, of grief and love was almost too much to bear at times, especially in The Visit. I also loved the final, uplifting reassertion of identity in the last poem in the collection, Not Invisible.
The quality of Tracey Scott-Townsend’s writing is magnificent. Able to convey the emotions I have referred to, she can also create such vivid images of nature that the reader can picture the shore, a whale, a tern with absolute clarity. She invents compound words that capture perfectly what she is describing and knows exactly when a rhyme or repetition will enhance her message and when to pare down her words to the bare minimum for the greatest effect. Water plays a large part in her writing and her poems reflect its fluidity and ever changing appearance. I thought this was such skilled writing.
I found So Fast by Tracey Scott-Townsend an absolute gem of a collection. I fear it will be little known but it deserves to be praised amid the likes of writers like Maya Angelou, Dylan Thomas and Sylvia Plath. So Fast explores everything it means to be a woman, a mother, a lover and a friend. I loved every word.”
Linda Hill review: www.lindasbookbag.com

Tracey's novel "The Eliza Doll" tells the story of Ellie's struggle with her past.

"In the midst of a series of family upheavals, Ellie shocks everybody by selling her home and deciding to live in a converted van. She will travel the country selling her handmade dolls at craft fairs. Ellie has two companions: her Labrador, Jack, and the mysterious Eliza who turns up in the most unexpected places. Ellie can’t change the past. But is it really too late to rectify the bad thing she did when Eliza was a baby?"

Tracey worked in the visual arts before turning to writing full-time in 2010. She is happiest on the road in the Bus-with-a-Woodstove or in the cosy domain of her shed.

She is married to Phil and has four children, now nearly all grown up.