We at Write Out Loud have been saddened to hear of the death of Keith Jeffries, a long-time contributor to this site. Keith has died after a long illness. Fellow Write Out Loud poets have paid tribute to him, mentioning how often he took the time and trouble to comment on their poems, and offer praise and encouragement. For a time he also contributed informed and informative articles on poetry to the site.

He was born in Warwickshire, brought up in Lancashire, and served in the armed forces before later moving to Spain. On his profile page he described himself as a “spiritual director, diarist, essayist and epistolographist, poet and writer, adding: “In many ways I have discovered my true self which has been a very illuminating experience.

“After a life of conformity I am now free to express myself and find poetry a means to achieve this. I believe conformity robs us of our individuality. The nine to five job erodes our humanity and makes us less of a person. It thwarts our very identity. To write prose, poetry, to paint or compose music we need to be completely liberated otherwise we produce what other people want to hear or see and not what we want to say or achieve.

“I am passionately opposed to any form of prejudice as I consider it to be one of the greatest evils of humankind. I am an activist for peace and justice. As poetry is a highly subjective genre I am reminded by a friend of mine, who is a professional photographer and artist, that one´s poems need no introduction or explanation. They should be open to interpretation only. I wonder how other poets view this.”

In 2019 he published a compilation of poetry and prose, Solitary Reflections, which was described in a review by fellow Write Out Loud poet Jon Darby as a “blunt, humorous, thoughtful and intelligent collection”.