It was going to be great. I wrote it more than seven years ago, in two bursts after work with … More
Category: Being a Poet
On going back in
I’ve been thinking of Anne Lamott’s line in Bird by Bird recently, where she talks about the writing life not … More
On publishing and Christmas
I don’t make new year’s resolutions. I used to, but not any more. It’s not that I don’t want to … More
Advent meditation, 11 December 2023
On publishing This year I published a book of poems. It is about grief, love and anger. It seems to … More
Advent meditation, 2 December 2023
On waiting I grew up in a house where we were not encouraged to talk about our accomplishments. (I blame … More
The Wind and the Rain
I am delighted to announce the publication of The Wind and the Rain, with Blue Diode Publishing. Thank you to … More
The Wind and the Rain is coming
Next month I will publish my sixth collection of poems, The Wind and the Rain, with Blue Diode Publishing. I … More
On having allies
I once heard a senior British poet warming to a riff during a reading on the topic of the acknowledgements … More
Advent meditation 3
This time last year, I had begun a third period waiting for a response to a new manuscript of poems. … More
The Wind and the Rain – due in June 2023
I’m delighted to announce that The Wind and the Rain, my sixth collection of poems, will be published with Blue … More
A new review of Lifesaving Poems… from 2015
A huge shout out and massive thank you to Maria Taylor and her wonderful Commonplace blog, where yesterday I discovered … More
Not exactly good riddance
Just a few hours left of 2021. Time to reflect on what this year has been. Until a week or … More
Lifesaving Lines
Thank you to everyone who has commented to me either publicly or in private about my new series of blog … More
Lifesaving Lines: Autumn, by Roo Borson
We have a lot of windows. I sit next to them at this time of the year thinking, Just five … More
Lifsaving Lines: Alone, by Tomas Tranströmer
I have been thinking a lot this week about a line from Tomas Tranströmer’s masterpiece, ‘Alone’. (I have also blogged … More
Lifesaving Lines: The Day After, by Michael Laskey
The line that’s been buzzing round my head this week is the final phrase from Michael Laskey’s miracle poem of … More
Lifesaving Lines: Poem for Wednesday, by Naomi Jaffa
Recently, my relationship with Wednesdays has changed. It’s quite a long story, and one I don’t want to trouble you … More
Lifsaving Lines: For Sheridan, by Robert Lowell
The line that’s been buzzing round my head the last couple of weeks is from Robert Lowell’s heartbreaking poem ‘For … More