Aldeburgh Poetry Festival blog posts page

In 2014 I was invited by the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival to be their guest blogger. I have added the blog … More

#NaBloPoMo 16 – To autumn

What I love about autumn is the night arriving early. What I hate about autumn is the day leaving even … More

Lifesaving Poems: WN Herbert’s ‘The Black Wet’

Continuing in this mini-series of poems I shared in my reading at the Greenbelt festival last weekend, here is The … More

Lifesaving Poems: Ted Kooser’s ‘A Rainy Morning’

A Rainy Morning   A young woman in a wheelchair, wearing a black nylon poncho spattered with rain, is pushing … More

Laskey

Some writers influence you through the pull of their imagination on your work, opening up new worlds as you read … More

Guest blog post: Christ the Diet Coke Man – why I read Aemilia Lanyer, by John Field

Continuing the series of guest blog posts on overlooked poets, I am delighted to welcome John Field of Poor Rude … More

Guest blog post: On moving on, by Dean Parkin

I have been sorting. I have been chucking. It’s been the recurring theme over the last eighteen months. I cleared … More

What you read in 2015

This blog would be nothing without its readers. Thank you to everyone who stopped by, made a comment or a … More

Aldeburgh going

‘Which is why Aldeburgh going is such a disaster. It took years to achieve what they did, years. Of slog, … More

Guest blog post: Endings and Legacies, by Naomi Jaffa

In terms of my poetry world, 2015 has turned out to be a year of endings and legacies. The Poetry … More

Naomi Jaffa on the legacy of The Aldeburgh Poetry Festival

Don’t miss tomorrow’s guest blog post by Naomi Jaffa, in which she reminisces about two of her favourite poets from … More

Oh, but you love writing!

When I write, I feel like an armless, legless many with a crayon in his mouth -Kurt Vonnegut A friend … More

To Michael Laskey

Dear Michael I picked up your book the other day and wanted to tell you how much I am enjoying … More

Guest blog post: Travelling without a visa, by Finuala Dowling

Travelling without a visa   It seems to me that all writing comes from a place of resistance inside – … More

Guest blog post: Hands like these, by Beverly Rycroft

This is the first in a series of guest blog posts by writers I admire. Having enjoyed speaking and reading … More

Another look at Lux’s ‘An Horatian Notion’

One of my personal, private highlights of last year’s Aldeburgh Poetry Festival was a Sunday morning breakfast hosted by The … More

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

Poetry highlights of 2014

  I have so much to be grateful for in 2014. The year began in one of my temporary fits … More