‘I’ve been out,’ says the book. ‘So I see,’ I say. The book is dressed in a pith helmet and … More
Author: Anthony Wilson
I am a lecturer, poet and writing tutor. I work in teacher and medical education at the University of Exeter. My anthology Lifesaving Poems was published by Bloodaxe Books in 2015. In 2012 I published Riddance (Worple Press), a collection of poems, and Love for Now (Impress Books), a memoir, about my experience of cancer. The Wind and the Rain, my sixth collection of poems, is available now from Blue Diode Publishing. My current research project, funded by the Foyle Foundation, is Young Poets' Stories: https://youngpoetsstories.com/. This blog is archived by the British Library.
Hanging out the washing
‘What are you doing?’ ‘What’s it look like?’ I say. ‘Hanging out the washing,’ the book says. ‘That’s right. I’m … More
How we spend our days, by Annie Dillard
How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and … More
August, by Tove Jansson
Every year, the bright Scandinavian summer nights fade away without anyone noticing. One evening in August you have an errand … More
The Little Prince
‘I need to get away.’ ‘But there’s work to be done,’ says the book. ‘A holiday. That’s what I need.’ … More
A sense of wonder, by Arthur Frank
The only real difference between people is not health or illness but the way each holds onto a sense of … More
The preciousness of things
‘Do you miss it?’ the book says. ‘Miss what?’ I say. ‘Having cancer,’ the book says. ‘Is this a joke?’ … More
A book into which everything can go, by Thomas Merton
It is necessary to write a book in which there will be a little less of the first person singular, … More
Running a bath
‘What are you doing?’ the book says. ‘What’s it look like?’ I say. ‘Running a bath,’ the book says. ‘Genius,’ … More
Guarding the threshold
‘What will you miss most?’ the book says. ‘About what?’ I say. ‘Me,’ says the book. ‘I didn’t know you … More
Controlling how poetry is read: Michael Rosen in conversation with Marina Boroditskaya, via Modern Poetry in Translation
In the last year, another government initiative has created a compulsory part of the curriculum: learning poetry by heart … More
Some found poems
Recently I have featured prose writing by various writers, reshaping them in the form of found poems. Annie Dillard on … More
What it’s like to be human, by Mark Strand
If every head of state and every government official spent an hour a day reading poetry we’d live in … More
Mark Strand on reading poetry -a found poem
Sometimes poems aren’t literal representations of anything. Sometimes a poem just exists as something else in the universe that you … More
What drives you?
‘What drives you?’ ‘I’ve only just woken up!’ I say to the book. ‘Don’t care. It’s morning. Work to be … More
Needing to be liked
‘You know what your main problem is,’ the book says. ‘Needing to be liked.’ ‘That’s a good thing, isn’t it?’ … More
What we talk about when we talk about writing
The more I talk about writing with students, teachers, colleagues and other writers, the less I am sure that we … More
The art of noticing, and then creating, a conversation with Seth Godin
We need to re-think marketing as a story that either does or does not resonate with us. Do … More
Lifesaving Poems 