Neil Astley is editor of Bloodaxe Books, which he founded in 1978. He has published several anthologies, including Poetry with an Edge (Bloodaxe, 1988 & 1993) and New Blood (Bloodaxe, 1999), Staying Alive: real poems for unreal times (Bloodaxe, UK, 2002; Miramax, USA, 2003) and Pleased to See Me: 69 Very Sexy Poems (Bloodaxe, 2002). Two further anthologies are forthcoming from Bloodaxe in 2003, Do Not Go Gentle: poems for funerals and Bloodaxe Poems of the Year: 2003.

His other publications include a critical book on Tony Harrison (Bloodaxe, 1991), and two poetry collections, Darwin Survivor (Peterloo Poets, 1988: Poetry Book Society Recommendation) and Biting My Tongue (Bloodaxe, 1995). His novel, The End of My Tether (Flambard, 2002; Scribner, 2003), was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award.

He received an Eric Gregory Award in 1982 and a D.Litt from Newcastle University in 1996 for his work with Bloodaxe Books. As well as editing over 700 books by over 300 authors for Bloodaxe, he has designed all Bloodaxe's distinctive book covers. A former journalist, he has also taught medieval literature, was an editor of Stand magazine for three years, and has judged several poetry competitions, including the Arvon International Poetry Competition and Ireland's Strokestown Poetry Competition. He lives in the Tarset valley in Northumberland.