For the final Saturday in Lent, and the final post of this LentBlog series, I have great pleasure in reposting … More
Category: Jean Sprackland
From the archives: The Birkdale Nightingale, by Jean Sprackland
The Birkdale Nightingale (Bufo calamito – the Natterjack toad) On Spring nights you can hear them two miles away, calling … More
Why do it?
because of the words and because of the books because of the woman in the anorak at the swimming baths … 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
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
How to be a writing tutor
Thanks to the vision and generosity of Jean Sprackland, between 1999-2001 I had the privilege of working with the great … More
I have not read a book in six months
I have not read a book in six months -Raymond Carver, ‘Drinking While Driving’ I can still remember the shock … More
To failure!
I listened to the most wonderful radio programme about failure the other day. It featured Anne Enright talking with clear-eyed … More
Books that changed me in 2013
I began the year with two books which helped me slow down and breathe: Christian McEwen’s World Enough and Time and … More