Not a ‘thin’ year for poetry

It was one of those throwaway remarks made by one writer, male, to another, ditto, in one of those books … More

#NaBloPoMo 17 – Coffee? (meditation on a blog post by Josephine Corcoran)

If you came round for coffee these days you’d be offered decaff. Doctor’s orders, I’d say. And against my better … More

A household name

I turn the radio on and switch it off again, unable to settle to anything. There is still no sign … More

No one you know

‘You look upset.’ ‘I am upset,’ I say. ‘Well, not so much upset as disappointed.’ ‘Want to talk about it?’ … More

Mark Strand on reading poetry -a found poem

Sometimes poems aren’t literal representations of anything. Sometimes a poem just exists as something else in the universe that you … More

Guest blog post: Alice Major by Katherine Venn

I am delighted to welcome Katherine Venn to continue our series on overlooked poets. Alice Major Alice Major, decorated author … More

Bookmark

  Made of orange card, it’s an outline of my son’s hand. Comprising two sections, one his tiny, spread fingers, … More

Guest blog post: Carol Emshwiller’s short stories, by Tania Hershman

“I like writing best because it’s the hardest art. There are more balls to keep in the air at a … More

Why poetry matters

The value of poetry is that it should matter … first to the writer and then to the reader.  Michael … More

Guest Post: How I put The Art of Falling together, by Kim Moore

How I put The Art of Falling together In May 2012 my first pamphlet If We Could Speak Like Wolves … More

The missing poet

I have been at a thing. Poets I love and trust were there. We laughed. We invented scurrilous Twitter-profiles. It … More

Inside Lifesaving Poems 4

I have been moving. Not moving house, moving within it. Stuff has come with me, some of it has vanished … More

Lifesaving Poems interview podcast

  This is the link to the podcast of the interview I gave yesterday on the Arena programme, RTE, about … More

Lifesaving Poems: Yevtushenko’s ‘Damp white imprints dog the feet’

Damp white imprints dog the feet; snowbound trolley, snowbound street. Her tip of glove to lip and cheek, “Goodbye.” Go. … More

Inside Lifesaving Poems 2

  Artwork by Angus Joseph Alongside each poem in Lifesaving Poems is a short commentary about how I came across … More

Lifesaving Poems: Gwen Harwood’s ‘Cups’

  Cups They know us by our lips. They know the proverb about the space between us. Many slip. They … 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

Making Poetry Happen

  Announcing the publication of Making Poetry Happen: Transforming the Poetry Classroom (Bloomsbury, 2015). Making Poetry Happen provides a valuable resource … More