Poet. Researcher. Workshop Facilitator.

Mari Ellis Dunning writes poetry and fiction. Her debut children’s book, Percy the Pompom Bear, was launched at the Abergavenny Writing Festival in 2016. Mari has been a runner up in the Robin Reeves Prize and twice in the Welsh Poetry Competition; she has been both first place winner and highly commended in the Terry Hetherington Young Writers’ Award, has been the winner of Seren’s annual Christmas Poetry Competition, and launched her debut poetry collection, Salacia, with Parthian Books in October 2018. In 2019, it was shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year.

Mari has work published in several journals and anthologies, including Banshee Lit Mag, New Welsh Reader, The Lampeter Review, The Lonely Crowd, The Cheval Anthologies, How to Exit a Burning Building and more.

In 2019, Mari was awarded a place on the Literature Wales Mentoring Scheme and is working on a collection of short stories as a result of this. She is also a Hay Festival Writer at Work.

She has an MA in Creative Writing from Aberystwyth University and is studying for her PhD, researching the relationship between accusations of witchcraft and reproduction through creative writing and the short story.

Mari also writes book reviews, facilitates creative writing workshops, proofreads and edits, writes content and engages in digital story telling.

As evidenced in her debut poetry collection, Salacia (Parthian Books), the coast is hugely important to both her wellbeing and writing.