West Yorkshire-based poet John Siddique’s career began 1991 while he was running a landscape gardening company. At an early age John was very influenced by popular song lyrics, but after hearing the works of e.e. cummings (specifically "somewhere I have never travelled…") he became more inspired by the potential power of the written word. He admits to having no interest in creative writing until someone gave him a copy of James Joyce’s Ulysses: “My mum is Irish so I had the right sound in my head. The way Joyce connects things together and the real human experience he fearlessly shows did something to me. It showed me that literature has a purpose.” John also soon discovered a technique called free-writing which encouraged personal expression about direct experience.

John’s English, Irish and Indian heritage coupled with his diverse life experiences give his writing a direct and humanistic bent.  His poems often are concerned with the events of common, everyday life and he has a strong belief in regeneration and renaissance through promoting public art. John takes pride in teaching and writing in a wide variety of institutions, including prisons and hospitals alongside more traditional literary festivals.

John has published to date three collections of poetry including, The Prize (Rialto), Don’t Wear It On Your Head, Don’t Stick It Down Your Pants (Inscribe/Peepal Tree), and Poems From a Northern Soul (Crocus Books). He has also co-authored Four Fathers (Route), edited the anthology titled Transparency (Crocus Books) and written short plays for Radio 3’s ‘Freethinking’ Festival. His poem "Variola" received a nomination for the 2004 Forward Prize.

John has held teaching residencies at Ledbury Poetry Festival, the Rainer Charity, Ilkley Literature Festival, Wetherby Prison and BBC Manchester. Recently John was commissioned by Lancaster University to create a series of portraiture poems that explore the immigrant experience in Manchester and was previously commissioned to create a poem for the seaside town of Blackpool. John was also appointed as Commonworld's Poet in Residence this past year. John’s next collection, Recital: An Almanac is set to be released by Salt Publishing in April 2009.