Aldeburgh and silence

Mark Doty had it. And John Hartley Williams. And Esther Morgan. And Roy Blackman, introducing Mark Doty talking about Whitman. … More

Allan Ahlberg’s genius

Photo credit: Felix Clay, The Guardian Heard I can’t remember a time in my teaching career when there wasn’t … More

I am delighted to have a new poem Writing Research Across Borders (2014): Poster Sessions in Hinterland With thanks to Judi Sutherland … More

I first heard Thomas Lux’s poems before I read them. In the autumn of 2000 I was sent a tape … More

She started as a name. There I was, following my nose, minding my own business, trying to ignore all instincts … More

Alan Booth wasn’t the first teacher to teach me something, but he was the first who drew me into the … More

This is Jörn Cann. He was my ward doctor at the haematology unit where I was treated for non-Hodgkin’s … More

In 1991 we moved to a house in Brixton, south London. Of all our welcomes, that of our neighbour, the … More

One of the biggest influences on my life, let alone my writing, is Martin Wilson. I should know; he’s my … More

Photograph © Bloodaxe Books Ltd I am delighted to announce that my Lifesaving Poems series of blog posts has now become … More

My friend and colleague Anna Craft has died. She was famous -if that is the right word- as a researcher … More

A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness. Robert Frost … More

I am driving to a thing. Not a famous thing, an out of the way thing. A classroom, perhaps. … More

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

The Class to the Class of 2014 after Raymond Carver The class with beautiful scarves The class who learned … More

Here are the text and ppt presentations of my NATE Conference 2014 keynote speech on The Power of Poetry. PDF … More

I am at a thing. It is my thing, contributing to the thing of others, who I do not know. … More

I met the furniture designer Duncan Kramer at summer camp. Not as kids but as what we laughingly called leaders. … More