Ourselves – Joint Winner Geoff Stevens Memorial Poetry Prize 2020

“The nurse-poet has a particular point of view: investigating everyday sadness with a nursing eye and observing our brokenness with the heart of a poet. This collection of poems startles, challenges, consoles. Part recognition of human fragility, part celebration of our bloody-minded persistence, Beda Higgins can skewer your heart even as she holds it safe. Wonderful.” Kath Mannix

“A stunning collection. I loved the poems about nursing. It is the year to explore links between poetry and medicine and Higgins does it so well. There are poems here about nurse-training, about cancer and caring for the dying but also wonderful poems about anorexia, motherhood, even domestic violence. Beautiful. Highly recommended.” Carole Bromley

“Beda Higgins’ debut collection is pulsing with life. These accomplished poems of hospital wards, loss and the compensations of love are told with clear-sightedness and compassion. Partly inspired by a career in nursing, ‘Ourselves’ brings us the everyday in all its enormity, mundanity and beauty in poems that will resonate widely.” Anna Woodford

Little Crackers – Long-listed Frank O’Connor Award and Edgehill Prize 2015

“A standout entry” Dr Rodge Glass

“A terrifically dark and frightening collection, Little Crackers jolts with electricity and Malice” Mslexia

“These stories challenge the very idea that such a state as Normal exists” James Robertson

“Full of surprising twists and outcomes – taking the reader on a journey through other people’s unique stories.” Matthew Bradbury Queen’s Nursing Institute

Chameleon – a Read Regional Recommendation 2011 Long-listed Edgehill Prize 2012

“A divine compilation. They will have you chuckling or wide-eyed in shock, and mix the traditional fairy tale with Fantastic contemporary punches. Her Writing is never less than beautiful to read.” Crack Magazine

“A lovely collection of beautifully written, sad and funny stories” Carys Bray