A Call Out for Foyle Young Poets

Calling all Winning & Highly Commended Foyle Young Poets 2012 – 2019 If you are a young writer who … More

Goodbye to being a poet

For reasons I cannot go into here, I am finishing 2019 in a tired frame of mind. (I am not … More

Greenbelt Festival, Friday 23rd August Outside, it is a very warm 28º. Inside our tented venue the canvass and stage … More

‘Hello,’ says the book. ‘I’ve missed you.’ ‘I’ve missed you, too,’ I say. I look at the book for a … More

Thank you to the heroic bloggers and poets Josephine Corcoran and Robin Houghton for their recentish posts about their desks. … More

Shute Festival, 13 September, St Michael’s Church The audience in pews. September sunlight and warmth still in the air, light … More

I am delighted to announce that my new book of essays Deck Shoes is now on sale. You can buy it direct … More

Settee in Autumn The leaves change colour and fallon the russet settee. Sticky buds are stuckdown the back of the … More

I nearly went back on Twitter the other day. Not once, but several times. One of my very lovely relatives … More

Paul Brookes at Wombwell Rainbow has posted an interview with me about my reading and writing life, my influences … More

Bike You, who have borne three sons of mine, still bear my weight routinely, transporting me. An odd … More

I am love with making notes. I makes notes in the morning, at bedtime, in the private places, in meetings, … More

Dear Friends I am thrilled and delighted to be launching my two new books, The Afterlife (Worple Press) and … More

Though I know him, his name escapes me. He is really a friend of a friend of a friend, … More

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

I love this time of year. The city still seems to belong to itself. Mornings are still mornings, not a … More

I write a lot of things down. In part this is because I no longer remember anything. If I do … More

I love this time of year. There is a wonderful Anne Lamott line somewhere about the welcome of the cooler … More