The terrible poem

The terrible poem starts with an idea. The terrible poem knows it is the best thing that has been written.…

What is a lifesaving poem?

Tomorrow I will be taking part at the Wenlock Poetry Festival in an event with Roz Goddard. We will be…

‘Making Poetry Happen is a fundamental resource for all English teachers for the way if collates both thinking about…

Two new poems are published today at And Other Poems, curated by Josephine Corcoran. They are Poem Beginning With a…

Though I am reading from it, the book is nowhere to be seen. As well as normal people, some poets…

Ordinary morning sounds from outside drift into the room where I am working. Birdsong. A car being parked. The noise…

‘You looked, didn’t you?’ the book says. ‘What?’ I say. ‘Before you started this.’ ‘What?’ ‘At your stats. You couldn’t…

‘What are you waiting for?’ the book says. ‘I’m not ready,’ I say. ‘What do you mean?’ ‘I’m not ready.…

The book does not know I have left the house without it. Though it is sunny and warm I have…

I am having a clear out. I am putting my notebooks, drafts and scraps of paper into a box file.…

Nothing much is happening. The book has gone out for the evening, leaving me alone, with, well, just me. I…

‘I love this time of year. Easter, the Masters. My birthday.’ ‘Does that mean we can expect the traditional order…

The book is already seated at the desk when I enter my office. Papers and books are strewn over every surface.…

The book is unwell. It sends its best wishes to all readers who have been asking after it. It may…

‘I’m going away for a bit.’ ‘Can I come?’ says the book. ‘I was hoping to leave you at home,’…

‘Wake up!’ The book is shaking me by the shoulder. It is very dark, no sign of light at the…

‘People are talking you know.’ It is mid-afternoon and I have crashed out for a nap. The book has come…

I wrote a book with my coat I wrote with the coat of my childhood and I wrote with…