Past fifty

Well, it’s happening. Happened, I mean. Stuff I thought would last forever -film titles, the actors in them, scenes of … More

On judging

I have been asked to judge a thing. A good thing. A serious thing. (But this isn’t about that. We … 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

I am delighted to be included in Issue Twelve of Antiphon poetry magazine. You can read my new poem, ‘S’, … More

The other day I was asked what I look for in poetry. Needing to give a quick answer I said: I … More

I am delighted to be included in Lyrical, a new anthology of poems with my friends Cole Moreton, Katherine Venn, … More

Below is a collection of my blog posts for the 2014 Aldeburgh Poetry Festival. I will update it as I … More

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

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

The online poetry magazine dedicated to very short poems, Nutshells and Nuggets, has taken two new poems of mine. You … 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

One of the poets I am most looking forward to listening to at the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival in November is … More

Never having succeeded at school, I’ve always thought of poetry as the holidays, not term time. Hugo Williams In November … More

Someone who knows me very well knocked me sideways with a comment the other day. Remarking on this blog, … More

It Is Summer for Months Clothes are skimpy and tans are gotwithout flight bags.We saunter beside a canalwhere horses pull … More

The Art of Disappearing When they say Don’t I know you?say no. When they invite you to the partyremember what … More