Julian Turner

Julian Turner (born 1955) is an English poet and mental health worker.

Life
Turner was born in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, then moved to Cheshire in 1955. He now lives in Otley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, with his partner and their daughter.

He was educated at New College, Oxford (matriculated 1974) and Goldsmiths College, University of London.

Turner was the Chief Executive of Leeds Mind until autumn 2010.

His poems have been published in periodicals including Poetry London, The Reater, and The Realto, and in The Ring of Words: Poems from the Daily Telegraph Arvon International Poetry Competition 1998 (introduction by Andrew Motion, Stroud: Sutton, 1998)

In 2002, his collection Crossing the Outskirts was published by Anvil Press Poetry. A number of poems in the collection deal with mental health issues. For example, 'Tennis Ball' is about suicide and 'The Director's Cut' is about self-harm. The poems in this collection observe traditional conventions of rhyme and meter.

His second collection, Orphan Sites, was published by Anvil Press Poetry in 2006.

He was anthologised in Bloodaxe's Identity Parade (New British and Irish Poets), edited by Roddy Lumsden, in 2010

His third collection, Planet-Struck, was published by Anvil in January 2011.

Recognition
In 1993, he won First Prize in the Nortwords poetry competition for his poem Whale Bone.

His 2002 poetry collection, Crossing the Outskirts, was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation (2002) and was shortlisted for the Forward Poetry Prize (Best First Collection) (2002).

In 2004, he won a Bridport Supplementary Prize for his poem 'The Gas Poker'.

His 2011 collection, Planet-Struck, was also a Poetry Book Society recommendation.