‘Listening to the cricket again?’ says the book. ‘I think I’ll join you.’ ‘What do you mean, ‘again’?’ I say.…
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Hugo Williams
In the summer of 1986, when he was poetry editor of New Statesman and not long after Writing Home had…
The next book
‘That thing you mentioned the other day,’ the book says. ‘Is it true?’ ‘What thing?’ I say. ‘About there being…
The ambition thing
‘How have you been?’ says the book. ‘Fine,’ I say. ‘You?’ ‘Tired,’ says the book. ‘I’m tired.’ ‘Me too,’ I…
My stammer
I do not stammer, but some of my earliest memories of speaking at school (‘What are eight sevens, Wilson?’) are…
Lifesaving Poems: Ted Kooser’s ‘A Rainy Morning’
A Rainy Morning A young woman in a wheelchair, wearing a black nylon poncho spattered with rain, is pushing…
Lifesaving Poems: Isaac Rosenberg’s ‘August 1914’
August 1914 What in our lives is burnt In the fire of this? The heart’s dear granary? The much we…
Separate people?
Jack Palance: Do you know what the secret of life is? Billy Crystal: No, what? Jack Palance: This [he…
Lifesaving Poems: Tania Hershman’s ‘By Any Other Name’
By Any Other Name First, he called her My Little Aubergine as if she was…
Lifesaving Poems: Josephine Corcoran’s You say “drone”
You say “drone” and I think of bagpipes refrigerators aeroplanes I think of bees a male bee in a colony…
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Advertisement(after Tim Dooley) State-approved cookery booksin every emporium of food.Information concerning lipidsin dayglo font between speeches. The weather: we…
The power of poetry
A speech given at the NATE annual conference, June 2014 My early poetic experiences were not ‘poetic’ at…
On silence, by Jorie Graham
I think I am probably in love with silence, that other world. And that I write, in some way, to…
Lifesaving Poems: Edna St. Vincent Millay’s ‘Time does not bring relief’
Time does not bring relief; you all have lied Who told me time would ease me of my pain! I…
Guest blog post: Alice Major by Katherine Venn
I am delighted to welcome Katherine Venn to continue our series on overlooked poets. Alice Major Alice Major, decorated author…
Stealing
One of the joys of working on the Teachers as Writers project is that I get to steal. As…
Lifesaving Poems: Samuel Beckett’s ‘my way is in the sand flowing’
my way is in the sand flowingbetween the shingle and the dunethe summer rain rains on my lifeon me my…
My stats
This isn’t about numbers, but my relationship with them. It isn’t about giving you a figure. (By the time you…
