Barbara Bentley was born in Bolton but left the north west of England to study at university in Hull and Birmingham. She returned to teach English at colleges in Wigan and on Merseyside. She also spent time in London and the North East but she eventually moved back to the north west where she taught English in Leigh. Barbara was galvanised into writing when a folder of ‘lifetime’s sporadic effort’ went missing. A course Lumb Bank and support from Warrington Writers provided encouragement. The photograph shows her at the launch of Five Women Poets in the middle of the top row. If you have current information for her, please contact us using the details on the About page.