Meet The Team. Satellite Of Love is run by a team of volunteers and we thought we should take a moment to introduce you to them.
Helen Sheppard
Hi – I’m a writer who worked as a midwife and travels the world in my kitchen. Stories about birth, health, loss, and those whose voices are often unheard excite me to write.
I started to write in my forties during a ‘kick start your reading’ class… ‘You, can write whatever’s in your head.’
Love listening to spoken words, recent performances are, Torriano Meeting House, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Spork. Published widely. My poetry collection ‘Fontanelle’ was published in 2021 by Burning Eye Books.
I interview extraordinary poets for my Health Beat Poets Podcast. Poetry is all about community.
Social media
Twitter HelenSheppard7
Instagram helensheppard58
Marius Grose
Hello, I’m Marius Grose. I studied fine art at Bristol Polytechnic graduating in 1981. I then made a career shift into broadcast television and became a freelance editor. I’ve worked on factual and entertainment shows, documentaries and feature films.
I’ve always been drawn to story telling which is why I became an editor. I’ve written screenplays for film and television. I began writing poetry a bit later in my career although it has always been in my life in some way or other. I’ve had work published in a number of journals and online.
I have worked with poets making poetry films and music videos which can be viewed on my website.
Instagram: @marius_gpoetry @macromarius
Bluesky Social: @macromarius.bsky.social
Lisa Lopresti
Hello, I am Lisa Lopresti(she/her/they/them), a local poet from the ship-shape, statue-toppling City of Bristol with poetry published in magazines and anthologies such as Dreich, Acumen and Ink Sweat & Tears. I have a slimline poetry pamphlet, ‘Birdsong and Nectar in the Silences’ reviewed in Acumen as being ‘slightly uproarious.’ Often thrilled to be regularly broadcast on local BBC Radio though my hands still shake when I am feature poet at spoken word, open mic events, but love the poetry and wordsmith culture in Bristol. Welcome to Satellite of Love events, so looking forward to meeting you there.
Mars Oliver
Mars Oliver is a Bristol based poet and visual artist, who primarily explores queerness and joy within their work. Since 2022, They have worked with London LGBTQ+ Centre to deliver a number of workshops. Examining identity and value, they have created a body of digital artworks called Spontaneous Objects. In 2022, an illustration from this project was shown at the Tate Modern. In 2024, Mars designed new brand materials for Recovery Festival, an event celebrating recovery in all its forms.
Mars has been involved with the open mic scene in Bristol for just over 5 years. From 2023 they have helped co-produce a series of events under the Sober Queers banner; developing a safe environment for sober queer people in Bristol.
Aish Humphreys
Aish is a poet and performer from Cornwall, living in Bristol.
They explore topics of mental illness, relationships, queerness, mixed heritage identity and oranges. They have gigged all over the South West, London and this year performed and worked in Romania with Tongue Fu exploring the relationship between music and spoken word. They are currently the poet in residence for the SS Great Britain.
Cal Wensley
Cal Wensley is our resident loud-mouth. They have been a part of the Bristol poetry scene for well over half a decade and have compered numerous events during that time, including Hammer & Tongue Bristol, Craftwords Open Mic, and Bristol Tonic.
‘I love being able to provide spaces for poets to find their voice. Bristol was the city I found mine in, and being able to give back to the community in my own over-the-top way is a privilege I don’t take for granted.’
Sophie Dumont
Sophie Dumont (she/her) is a poet, copywriter, sculptor and ex-canoe coach. Her poetry won the Brian Dempsey Memorial Prize 2021 and has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize twice. Sophie has been widely published, such as in The Rialto, Magma, Ink Sweat and Tears, The Moth, Banshee, and Neon.
Sophie’s poetry is anchored in waterbodies and often features her beloved city rivers – Avon, Exe and Aire. She has been poet-in-residence on Bristol Harbourside with Boat Poets and was appointed 2022 writer-in-residence at Exeter Custom House by Literature Works. sophiedumont.co.uk
Sophie Dumont (She/Her)
Poet, Copywriter, Workshop facilitator
Manganaro
Described by former UK slam champion Kathryn O’Driscoll as “a natural born performer, entertaining, engaging, and charming. They traverse the spectrum of emotion through poems on gender, queerness and isolation with ease. Political punk poetry in the softest, warmest hands.”
Manganaro writes around themes of identity, bilingual experience, and everyday nuances (continuing to scorn the seagull that stole my lunch). They won Diva magazine’s lesbian visibility week poetry competition 2024 and recently featured at queer radiance and headlined the first Shortcrust poetry. Manganaro is a local events organiser, involved with nights: Chimes, The Poetry Spa, and Satellite of Love.