I was born in 1975 in a small town on the outskirts of Johannesburg in South Africa. I had an adventurous childhood filled with beauty and challenges. I began writing poetry as a form of self-expression in 1988, having been inspired by my English teacher at the time. I was fairly prolific in the early years, but unfortunately - or fortunately because, as I recall, the vast majority of them were awful - I lost this first poetry collection when I went to college. It was also about this time that I became a Christian. My early Christian poems were naïve as I had yet to learn much of theology and so I now keep these attempts for my own private amusement (or horror).
In 2001 I immigrated to the United Kingdom and spent a long time in London before recently moving to Runcorn near Liverpool. At the time of compiling this anthology I live with my wife and two children. We are a happy and blessed family. I am a musician specialising in drums and ukulele. I am also a teacher and an avid gardener and an occasional woodworker.
My main influences have been Frost, Blake, Owen, Shelly, Patten, Housman, Hughes, Wordsworth and Shakespeare; but I love good poetry wherever I find it and enjoy reading excellent verse from undiscovered, uncelebrated poets and lyricists. My favourite form is the sonnet - both to read and to write - because I like the brevity of it. A good poem should start a thought and then leave the reader time to think - and desiring more from the poet.
I have written eight books - all selling well. Five of these are collections of over a hundred poems and the there is one omnibus collection of all five released in December of 2025 - Butterfly Mind. This book contains all my published poems to date. Reviewed by an english prefessor (Michael Del Brown) and a poet himself, he said:
"Every once in a long while I will stumble across a writer, a poet especially, that I am simply thrilled to discover. I first began reading the poetry of Jason Horsler on various poetry magazine sites. Then I purchased his first two volumes of poetry to my delight. This past week my copy of "Butterfly Mind," a complete collection including his first two volumes and his current body of work. Roughly 500 pages of some of the most well crafted, inspirational, thought provoking, deeply spiritual, creative, an insightful poetry. He covers every topic imaginable. I feel like I am reading the hidden never-before-made-public poems of Robert Frost, or Richard Wilber. 677 poems in all, and I am mesmerized reading each one slowly and then again. This collection is for everyone who loves poetry and even those who do not. This should be required reading in every high school and college English course."
Of my poetry Willian J long wrote:
"Jason's poems are clever, humorous, insightful - and readable. This is traditional rhyme-and-meter poetry, expressing coherent thoughts artistically.
You won't read these poems and picture an earnest but clueless art student emitting psychobabble at Open Mic Night. Unpretentious, playful verse, suitable to accompany one's morning coffee in order to begin the day with a bit of perspective."
A. E. Sinclair wrote:
"This collection of poems is quite accessible in its use of language. Horsler does a great job of conveying his thoughts without overcomplicating his words. The metaphors and imagery are fairly straightforward, but they are polished enough to feel fresh and authentic. The dichotomy of the collection allows for the reader to choose whether or not they are reading poetry with religious messages or not (I read both sections and found that the religious ones were more my taste).
Stylistically, Horsler is able to infuse wit and humor into his pieces in a way that feels genuine and not over the top. Although there are some controversial topics, Horsler does a good job to stay neutral and not offend...too much.
Overall, this collection is well thought out, and each piece reflects the time and care that is necessary for poetry to have worth."