Helen Ivory was born in Luton in 1969 and began to write poems at Norwich School of Art in 1997, under the tuition of George Szirtes. She won an Eric Gregory Award in 1999 and then disappeared into a field in the Norfolk countryside to look after two thousand free-range hens. When she emerged ten or so years later, she had two collections with Bloodaxe Books and had helped, with her own bare hands, to build several houses.

She is an experienced creative writing tutor and workshop leader and has taught both undergraduates and in adult education for around ten years. She has also run workshops in schools and is a freelance tutor and mentor. She is currently an Editor for The Poetry Archive,  Editor of the webzine Ink Sweat and Tears, and Academic Director for Creative Writing for Continuing Education at UEA. Her third Bloodaxe Books collection is The Breakfast Machine.

She lives in Norwich with her husband, the poet Martin Figura, where they run Café Writers – a live literature organization. In her spare time, she makes shadow boxes from bits and pieces she has squirreled away in boxes and cupboards…