I started my poetry journey back in July 2016 during a family holiday in Woolacombe UK. I had a surfing lesson and whilst swimming in the sea I gazed into the horizon and had an epiphany. I rushed back to the caravan I was staying in and was compelled to write a poem ‘Life’s Water Dance’. I thought nothing more of it until the 17th October 2016 when a friend told me that they were creating a brand-new poetry society for Gloucester, The Gloucester Poetry Society and asked if I would join.

So, I started to write regularly and very quickly found my passion for poetry and started to help to promote the society and its new open mic event in the city. I then started to read my work at local open mic events leading to me hosting a number events for the Society.

In September 2017 I successfully Crowdfunded a poetry anthology, Poetry Without Pretension (Published by Wiggly Pets Press), for the Society and I am now a multi published poet, with my work due to be published in 2 poetry anthologies and 1 business book in 2018, as well as my own book of poetry due at the end of February.

One great part of being in the Society is that members are set weekly and monthly challenges, so there is a constant source of topics to help keep my writing.

My inspiration mainly comes from my love of the natural world. I love escaping into nature and adventuring as much as possible, to the beach, coast, forest, mountains, hills or just a local park. I often write about man’s wanton destruction of the world around us, to help people reconnect with nature and hopefully change their attitudes and do more to help the environment. To offset the negative, I also write about the great beauty and energy of nature. We all lead busy lives and for me there seems to be an ever growing disconnect between people and nature, especially children, whom in my opinion, are too consumed with technology to venture outside and enjoy the wonders all around them.

Nature calms my mind and inspires me in so many ways. It not only influences my writing, it benefits my art, photography, design and marketing skills. If I’m ever down or feel stuck with a problem, I’ll take a trip into nature and very soon the issue is resolved. I get a great sense of perspective and grounding and feel recharged by it, plus there is so much to study in nature, from the texture of trees and stones, to random patterns, spotting faces in objects, tiny insects, the power and beauty of water, the way light plays in a woodland to the smell of leaves, rain and the breeze. I often daydream and imagine that I’m a leaf, an insect or inanimate objects to see the world through their eyes. I class myself as a professional daydreamer as it’s helped me to be who I am today, not only as a writer, but a multidisciplinary artist, designer and creative thinker.

I love to challenge myself with my writing and in life in general. I’ve been on an incredible journey of self-discovery over the past few years and have changed my mindset and lifestyle to live a richer and more fulfilling life. I live with less, declutter my life, set challenges, change my work life balance to enjoy more experiences and I’ve changed my business to make me more mobile, so I can work from anywhere. As a result, I have also been writing more empowering and inspirational poems based on my life experiences and reading.

So where do I see myself progressing with my poetry? Well, I am loving the journey so far and I have so much to learn, so I am very happy with things as they are. I do want to improve my performance skills as much as possible, to help deliver more power to the words and tell a better story. I have more books planned after my first solo book and would love to work more on memorising my poems. I have been merging poetry with art for the past year which is something I will continue to explore as they both influence and inspire each other. I have written poems about painting and sketches I have created and also photographs that I have taken. I’d love to have an exhibition this year that mixes the two forms together to help people to reconnect with nature, but on a much deeper and more personal level.

Jason Conway

Jason Conway

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Poet Bio

Jason Conway is a poet from Gloucester, UK. He started writing poetry in July 2016 after experiencing an epiphany whilst surfing and was compelled to write and he hasn’t looked back since. He uses the Pen Name of Th31nkWarri0r.

Jason’s biggest inspiration is the natural world, he is very passionate about the environment and man’s progressive devastation to it. He is also an artist, designer and photographer, always studying his surroundings for ideas and connections.