The Kevin Jackson Award

I was privileged to meet and work with the late writer and critic Kevin Jackson in 2011. We tutored a … More

Lifesaving Poems: Sean O’Brien’s ‘Before’

To safe and almost universal silence I published How Far From Here is Home? (Stride) a few days before Christmas in … More

Last week saw an important milestone for Teachers as Writers. The CPD/feedback day gave everyone involved in the project – … More

When the Arvon student is put in posession of that creative self, which was hitherto inaccessible, two things, in particular, … More

‘I’ve been at the field.’ This, spoken by one of the teachers on last week’s writing residential at Totleigh … More

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

Here are the most read Lifesaving Poems of 2014. For the first time I have been able to compare last … More

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … More

Thanks to the vision and generosity of Jean Sprackland, between 1999-2001 I had the privilege of working with the great … More

I was very saddened to learn recently of the death of Michael Baldwin, the novelist, poet, writing tutor and former … More

Rondeau Redouble There is so little left. The room is bare. She’ll strip his sheets and blankets by and … More

Wind This house has been far out at sea all night,The woods crashing through darkness, the booming hills,Winds stampeding the … More

The most fun I have ever seen a poet have at their own reading (with the possible exception of Jackie … More

It was the best of times. Jean Sprackland and I were tutoring the dream group at Totleigh Barton for a … More

It was the best of times. Jean Sprackland and I were tutoring a poetry course at Totleigh Barton, the Arvon … More

To safe and almost universal silence I published How Far From Here is Home? (Stride) a few days before Christmas in … More

I first met Lawrence Sail at a private view at a gallery just outside Exeter. My family and I … More

Sometimes you do not get a poem, or what a poet is up to, straight away. In the case of … More