Romalyn Ante

Romalyn Ante FRSL is a Filipino-British poet, essayist, and editor. She was born in Lipa, Philippines, and was 16 years old when her mother – a nurse in the NHS – brought the family to live in the UK. Her debut poetry collection, Antiemetic for Homesickness, was shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize in 2020, and her second collection, AGIMAT, published in 2024. She lives in the West Midlands where until recently she worked as a full-time NHS nurse and psychotherapist, specialising in the mental healthcare of young people.

Books by Romalyn Ante

The Left-Behind Child

Romalyn Ante

Lyrical coming-of-age novel set in the Philippines, telling the story of Neneng, a spirited young girl forced to take on the care of her eccentric family when her mother leaves to work as a nurse overseas.

Agimat

Romalyn Ante

A sparkling second poetry collection from the nurse and prizewinning poet, moving between the Philippines and the speaker's adopted England, between myths of the past and the grind of the present-day NHS, asking: how do we keep safe what we hold most dear?

Antiemetic for Homesickness

Romalyn Ante

A brilliant addition to the Chatto poetry list: the first collection from a rising star, Romalyn Ante