Next up from Spoken Label (Our Spoken Word / Writer Podcast) features Part 2 of our extended chat with the Environmental Poetry collection ‘I am Nature’, this time an extended chat with the wonderful Andrew Sumner and Patricia (Pat) Sumner.
Andrew Sumner grew up near Stroud in Gloucestershire, surrounded by deep woods and floriferous meadows thronged with butterflies.
These places he explored with his mother, father and younger sister. Sadly, all that rich nature has since gone under the plough and the conifer. Later, his father’s work took the family south to Somerset and the new and different landscapes of the Somerset Levels, the Quantock Hills and the Mendip Hills.
Andrew’s poems have been published in group anthologies and poetry collections, including ‘Travelling with the Saints’ (Y Lofa, 2013) and ‘Both Sides of the Border – An Anthology of Writing on the Welsh Border Region (Gwasg Carreg Gfwlach, 1998).
He has illustrated a children’s book written by his wife, Pat and enjoys walking, gardening, turning wood, drawing, painting, and researching family history.
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Patricia Sumner (Pat) grew up on the Isle of Anglesey and now lives in the Vale of Clwyd. She has loved creative writing ever since she was very young.
As an adult, she studied under the poet and author Dr Gladys Mary Coles,namong other writers. It was at these Creative writing classes in Chester that she met her husband, Andrew.
As a poet, she has had two collections published. Her pamphlet ‘Beyond the Glass’ came first in a national poetry competition run by Thynks Publications.
Pat’s second collection of poems and readings, ‘The Promise of Dawn: Rites of Passage for all Beliefs’, is published by Veneficia Publications.
Pat has won awards for some of her poems and plays, and her poetry has appeared in magazines and anthologies. Pat has a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Philosophy, and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education.
This book (which is recommended) can be found here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Am-Nature-Environmental-Poetry-ebook/dp/B0FH7PRW78/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1SAZ97SPX6WAQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.boHw9Hvv-eiwk0u6a82ZqWgjmK5G_sB28inaUJj0xhnHDE2LARcrHr8SrLCATjQSwE33nT3rAzsmfAznxsyx5IGxWZdQS_e_hS0b6ZwycAw.ulpWQy3YfH1rRkpCS96xbDozvPLa_m20qWAIz00uIUc&dib_tag=se&keywords=andrew+sumner&qid=1771620249&s=books&sprefix=andrew+sumner%2Cstripbooks%2C591&sr=1-1
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Stream from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oViIt4gazOM (Chat)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmj1E5lcqgE (Reading)
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/i-am-nature-podcast-2-patricia-andrew-sumner-spoken/id1501847969?i=1000750719610
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2q0hoJ0lxJZ4qQdJmEBhtZ
https://www.audible.co.uk/podcast/I-am-Nature-Podcast-2-Patricia-Andrew-Sumner-Spoken-Label-February-2026/B0GPGZ9LW1?ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=EFC7A02K7TMTND7GV64X&plink=OHFE4DwZps79rvzI&pageLoadId=Pq9wXja3RwMPoMxS&creativeId=43463e8d-6f2b-4d01-a759-854a1034c4b8&ref=a_podcast_S_c4_lAsin_0_0
https://andynartist.substack.com/p/i-am-nature-part-2-patricia-and-andrew
