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

Naomi Jaffa’s ‘Some of the Usual’ (LentBlog28)

Today is Saturday, and as with other Saturdays this Lent I am reposting a favourite blog post from my archive. … More

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

She started as a name. There I was, following my nose, minding my own business, trying to ignore all instincts … More

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be Here First I don’t know my trees but I know my trees. Their angling for what has spurned them; their spitting … More

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

Dan O’Brien began by saying he wasn’t really a poet, but a ‘moonlighting playwright’. Selima Hill took out her glasses, … More