Heaven on Earth Now that it is night, you fetch the wash from outer space, from the frozen … More
Category: Education
Going for coffee
The book and I are passing each other messages through a third party. Neither of us bothers with the niceties … More
Lifesaving Poems: Boris Pasternak’s ‘Hamlet’
Hamlet The buzz subsides. I have come on stage. Leaning in an open door I try to detect from … More
Another look at Lux’s ‘An Horatian Notion’
One of my personal, private highlights of last year’s Aldeburgh Poetry Festival was a Sunday morning breakfast hosted by The … More
Making Poetry Happen
Announcing the publication of Making Poetry Happen: Transforming the Poetry Classroom (Bloomsbury, 2015). Making Poetry Happen provides a valuable resource … More
Influences: my first reader
My first reader was a man called Fergus. A friend of a flatmate at university, I never got to … More
Poetry highlights of 2014
I have so much to be grateful for in 2014. The year began in one of my temporary fits … More
The most read Lifesaving Poems of 2014
Here are the most read Lifesaving Poems of 2014. For the first time I have been able to compare last … More
Standing up to cancer?
I am not completely stupid. I know celebrity culture is here to stay. As my children frequently remind me, ‘It … More
Why we need Aldeburgh
Dan O’Brien began by saying he wasn’t really a poet, but a ‘moonlighting playwright’. Selima Hill took out her glasses, … More
Going Against the Flow: Ted Wragg’s last interview
I have been thinking a lot this week about the late Ted Wragg. When I joined the University of Exeter … More
The woman at the workshop
I am at a thing. Not a famous thing, but an important one nevertheless. People are there, people you and … More
Mostly all the time nearly everything
Everyone who enters the stage begins by saying thank you * That silence * Mostly nearly all the time * … More
On poetry and blogging
In preparation for this year’s Aldeburgh Poetry Festival I was asked some questions about my blogging by Festival programmer Dean … More
Poetry and tennis
On the Sunday morning of the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival I breakfasted with poets discussing the theme of writing poetry and … More
Poetry and disobedience
Early on Saturday morning of the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival (Tom Pickard threatened not to get up in time) Robert Seatter … More
Prizewinning young poets from Suffolk
The opening night of each Aldeburgh Poetry Festival is about young poets stepping into the spotlight and taking the applause … More
On generosity
By the time you read this I will be far away from here. It has not happened yet, but I … More
Lifesaving Poems 