One of my personal, private highlights of last year’s Aldeburgh Poetry Festival was a Sunday morning breakfast hosted by The … More
Tag: Aldeburgh Poetry Festival 2014
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
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
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
Mostly all the time nearly everything
Everyone who enters the stage begins by saying thank you * That silence * Mostly nearly all the time * … More
On poetry and blogging
In preparation for this year’s Aldeburgh Poetry Festival I was asked some questions about my blogging by Festival programmer Dean … 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
Poetry and disobedience
Early on Saturday morning of the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival (Tom Pickard threatened not to get up in time) Robert Seatter … More
An interview with Adélia Prado
On the Saturday afternoon of the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival, Festival Director Naomi Jaffa conducted an interew with Adélia Prado, and … More
The soldier, the cauliflower, the walking, the monkey and the man’s bottom
Sitting over toast and marmalade with Peter Sansom yesterday morning he said to me: ‘I don’t bother with novels any … 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
Introducing Chrissy Williams
The Burning Of The Houses Tottenham is on fire and I work in an arts centre where the sky is … More
Aldeburgh and silence
Mark Doty had it. And John Hartley Williams. And Esther Morgan. And Roy Blackman, introducing Mark Doty talking about Whitman. … 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
Ellen Doré Watson’s ‘Be Here First’
Ellen Doré Watson was a new name to me until recently. ‘Be Here First ‘ is a good example of … 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
On judging
I have been asked to judge a thing. A good thing. A serious thing. (But this isn’t about that. We … More
Thomas Lux’s syntax
I first heard Thomas Lux’s poems before I read them. In the autumn of 2000 I was sent a tape … More
Beverly Rycroft’s missing
The other day I was asked what I look for in poetry. Needing to give a quick answer I said: I … More
