She has published nine solo poetry collections: Dandelions for Mothers' Day (1988, 1989), The Fiddle (1999), The Way We Came (2007), The New Generation (Salt 2010), I Sing of Bricks (Salt 2011), Paper Patterns (Lapwing 2012), Letting Go (Mother's Milk Press 2013), The Five Petals of Elderflower (Red Squirrel Press 2016) and Earwig Country (Valley Press 2024) Topping (nee Lightfoot) was born in Widnes, Lancashire (now Cheshire), to working-class parents.

The first of these was a collection of Christian writing, and the second a festschrift[1] for the Liverpool-based poet Matt Simpson,[2] featuring works by U.

The exhibition was first staged at The Brindley in 2011 and has since been shown in other galleries in the North West, as well as Stanza, the Scottish International Poetry Festival, in 2014.

[5] Topping has also been in a number of notable anthologies, such as Split Screen, edited by Andy Jackson and published by Red Squirrel (2012).

[11] In 2013, she was awarded a writer-in-residence post at Gladstone's Library and won first prize in Buzzwords competition, judged by David Morley.