#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

What we talk about when we talk about writing

The more I talk about writing with students, teachers, colleagues and other writers, the less I am sure that we … More

Stealing

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

Why poetry matters

The value of poetry is that it should matter … first to the writer and then to the reader. Michael … 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 man kept piling things on

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

The burnt horizon

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