Tarmac lessons 2

I know I am hardly the first to draw parallels between running and writing. But, for what it is worth,…

Tarmac lessons

I am still not sure why, but in the middle of December I decided to take up running again. When…

The Fear of Poetry In this moment when we face horizons and conflicts wider than ever before, we want our…

This blog is a thrilling ‘Howdunnit?’…possibly. You find me just starting on my fifth murder mystery, you see. I do…

Directors Chris and Nick Libbey introduce their film of John Ashbery’s poem: In the heart of Minneapolis stands the Irene Hixon Whitney…

Readers of this blog will know that I make a list at the end of each year showing the most…

Poetry is knowledge, salvation, power abandonment. An operation capable…

I am delighted to have Everything I Know of What I Want to Say, a new poem, published on Simon…

This is the second in a series of guest blog posts about poets who have been overlooked and who should…

Along with colleagues from the Arvon Foundation, The Open University and University of Exeter I have just begun…

Today marks the start of a new series of guest blog posts on overlooked poets. With thanks to Mike Ferguson…

Dear Ant Well done for making it to the end of another year and the start of a new one.…

Here is a list of the most-read Lifesaving Poems during 2015: Mary Oliver, The Journey UA Fanthorpe, Atlas Ted Hughes,…

This blog would be nothing without its readers. Thank you to everyone who stopped by, made a comment or a…

‘So you’re not going to write about it?’ ‘I’ve been writing about it for years. Two whole books of it!…

‘To tell you the truth, it’s been shattering. But kind of amazing, as well.’ ‘You never said. You never said.…

‘Which is why Aldeburgh going is such a disaster. It took years to achieve what they did, years. Of slog,…

‘It’s even true of Ted Hughes.’ I look across at the book, whose head is now slumped on my desk,…