I found two blog posts especially moving in the aftermath of last week’s attacks in Paris, both by the same … More
Category: Writing
Lifesaving Poems: Ellen Doré Watson’s ‘Be Here First’
Be Here First I don’t know my trees but I know my trees. Their angling for what has spurned them; their spitting … More
Finding Sharon Olds’s The Matter of This World
The Collection The Matter of This World: New and Selected Poems (Slow Dancer, 1987) I found The Matter of … 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
Influences: my first reader
My first reader was a man called Fergus. A friend of a flatmate at university, I never got to … More
Lifesaving Poems: Chrissy Williams’s ‘The Burning of the Houses’
The Burning Of The Houses Tottenham is on fire and I work in an arts centre where the sky is … More
Cut through
Cut through to what happens when you listen. Cut through to making it happen, listening for it, failing, then doing … More
New Year letter
Dear Ant Looking forward to 2015 it’s tempting to think it will never reach the heights of 2014. Big mistake. Huge. … More
Poetry highlights of 2014
I have so much to be grateful for in 2014. The year began in one of my temporary fits … More
Standing up to cancer?
I am not completely stupid. I know celebrity culture is here to stay. As my children frequently remind me, ‘It … More
Why we need Aldeburgh
Dan O’Brien began by saying he wasn’t really a poet, but a ‘moonlighting playwright’. Selima Hill took out her glasses, … More
The woman at the workshop
I am at a thing. Not a famous thing, but an important one nevertheless. People are there, people you and … More
The new poem
The poem and I are best friends. For ever. We hold hands in public and spend every spare minute with … More
The Fenton Aldeburgh First Collection Prize 2014
On the basis of these five first collections, there is no reason to assume the careers of the poets who … More
Allan Ahlberg’s genius
Photo credit: Felix Clay, The Guardian Heard I can’t remember a time in my teaching career when there wasn’t … More
I quit
I am at a thing. A historic thing. (An historic thing? I will never know). Poets are there. Household names. … More
Writing Research Across Borders (a new poem)
I am delighted to have a new poem Writing Research Across Borders (2014): Poster Sessions in Hinterland With thanks to Judi Sutherland … More
Poetry and illness
Medicine The black hair of my Chinese doctor gleams like combed ink as he leans over his desk, with quick … More
