I began writing in 2007, when I won a Literature Wales New Writers’ Bursary for a novel I was working on. As a bit of light relief, I started writing funny poems, which I then performed at a local open mic. At my third open mic, I was spotted by poet Peter Finch, who was the head of Literature Wales at the time, and he wangled me into the Welsh heat of the Radio 4 National Poetry Slam. I got through, and my fifth gig was on national radio. I got paid, they put me in a nice hotel, I met other spoken word artists… I thought I would continue!! Since then, I’ve performed nearly 700 times, at various events, cabaret nights, comedy gigs, spoken word nights, festivals, etc. I live and love the spoken and written word! I have a few different poetic ‘styles’ in that I can be funny or serious, write about nature and politics, rhyme but also enjoy blank verse… Currently I’m resident poet in the National Botanic Garden of Wales. I’ve been published by Parthian in a couple of anthologies, but my first proper collection comes out with Burning Eye later this year, with another two en route as well.

Here are some of my many quotes:

“Absolutely brilliant” – The Guardian

“She is fantastic!” – BBC Radio Wales

“Mab is fab!” – Hugo Williams “Hilarious” – Metro

“A real creative force” – Evening Post

“Pam Ayres on methadone” – Cardiff Comedy Festival

“Inspiring… Mab’s poem speaks for all women and girls in the world everywhere” – Jane Hutt MP, Women’s Day 2013

“Mab Jones’ poetry is suffused with a cool wit and a wisdom beyond her years. She is a superb performance poet in the tradition of Joolz Denby and Pam Ayres and, like them, her work is beautifully layered and contains bittersweet depths.” – Phill Jupitus

“Delightful comic verse, articulate and imaginative” – Three Weeks

“Mab Jones is a whirlwind of controlled, lyrical delirium. Her work is smart and funny, saturated with meaning.” – Literary Death Match, USA

I also have a website called www.mabjones.com where you can find out about all my other literary exploits.