Liverpool writer Neve Smith has been featured in Liverpool Noise’s 52 for ’26 Poetry Project, a year-long series created to showcase poets from Liverpool and Merseyside.
Smith’s contribution, It’s Not Spiders, explores the experience of an anxious mind through humour, observation and sharply recognisable imagery. Rather than presenting anxiety as a lifestyle theme or offering mental-health advice, the piece works as a creative response to an experience many readers may recognise.
A Year-Long Liverpool Poetry Project
Liverpool Noise announced 52 for ’26 as an initiative to publish a new poem from a local artist every Friday throughout 2026. Each feature combines the poem with a short introduction to the writer and commentary on their creative process.
Smith’s appearance forms part of a wider programme that has included poets from different generations and parts of Merseyside, creating a useful snapshot of the region’s current spoken-word and page-poetry scene.
Humour Inside an Anxious Mind
What makes It’s Not Spiders distinctive is the way Smith uses wit without trivialising the underlying subject. The poem turns internal noise into something observable and shareable, showing how poetry can make private experiences feel less isolated without pretending to solve them.
For Liverpool’s cultural scene, projects such as 52 for ’26 are valuable because they document working writers as well as established names. They give local voices a regular platform and create an archive of contemporary Merseyside poetry as it is being written.
