Visiting hours

I am visiting the book. We have already been through a lot together, including the part where I killed it and … More

On writing and illness

Reading Arthur W. Frank’s astonishing At the Will of the Body recently has given me pause to reflect on the relationship … More

I have murdered my darling. Like a bird of a certain blue vintage, it is ex, dead, kaput, finished. The … More

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

I found two blog posts especially moving in the aftermath of last week’s attacks in Paris, both by the same … More

The Collection The Matter of This World: New and Selected Poems (Slow Dancer, 1987) I found The Matter of … More

My first reader was a man called Fergus. A friend of a flatmate at university, I never got to … More

Cut through to what happens when you listen. Cut through to making it happen, listening for it, failing, then doing … More

Dear Ant Looking forward to 2015 it’s tempting to think it will never reach the heights of 2014. Big mistake. Huge. … More

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

I am sad because the great American poet Mark Strand has died. Among the tributes to him in the last … More

The poem and I are best friends. For ever. We hold hands in public and spend every spare minute with … More

In preparation for this year’s Aldeburgh Poetry Festival I was asked some questions about my blogging by Festival programmer Dean … More

Ellen Doré Watson was a new name to me until recently. ‘Be Here First ‘ is a good example of … More

I am at a thing. A historic thing. (An historic thing? I will never know). Poets are there. Household names. … More

I am delighted to have a new poem Writing Research Across Borders (2014): Poster Sessions in Hinterland With thanks to Judi Sutherland … More

Well, it’s happening. Happened, I mean. Stuff I thought would last forever -film titles, the actors in them, scenes of … More

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