Writing in the cracks

I was having a coffee with a new writer friend the other day. Not having known each other for very … More

#NaBloPoMo 12 – The Alan Booth method

I have been thinking a lot recently about Alan Booth, my English teacher from the ages of 11 to 13. … More

Life beyond the door

Last week saw an important milestone for Teachers as Writers. The CPD/feedback day gave everyone involved in the project – … More

Stealing

  One of the joys of working on the Teachers as Writers project is that I get to steal. As … More

Living and breathing Arvon

  ‘I’ve been at the field.’ This, spoken by one of the teachers on last week’s writing residential at Totleigh … More

Thirteen ways of remembering Ted Hughes

Teachers’ words should not be ‘How to write’ but ‘How to try to say what you really mean’ – which … More

Why poetry matters

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

Influences: Alan Booth

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … More

Writing and silence

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … More

Mike Ferguson reviews Making Poetry Happen

  ‘Making Poetry Happen is a fundamental resource for all English teachers for the way if collates both thinking about … 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

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

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

Poetry and tennis

On the Sunday morning of the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival I breakfasted with poets discussing the theme of writing poetry and … 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

Influences: Alan Booth

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

Influences: Martin Wilson

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

It is summer for months

It Is Summer for Months   Clothes are skimpy and tans are got without flight bags. We saunter beside a … More

Now the silences are right

   I am completely torn apart -Rupert Loydell When I first read Raymond Carver’s Fires I loved and understood all of it, … More

Their age now

Having not succeeded at school, I’ve always thought of poetry as the holidays, rather than term-time. Hugo Williams I went … More