On having allies

I once heard a senior British poet warming to a riff during a reading on the topic of the acknowledgements … More

Advent meditation 3

This time last year, I had begun a third period waiting for a response to a new manuscript of poems. … More

I was privileged to meet and work with the late writer and critic Kevin Jackson in 2011. We tutored a … More

What’s been happening? Well, not much. Which is another, deflecting, way of saying quite a lot, actually. So much that … More

For several weeks before Christmas I had these words from Ian McMillan’s peerless ‘Stone, I Presume’ rattling around my head. … More

Just a few hours left of 2021. Time to reflect on what this year has been. Until a week or … More

Here is a list of various found poems that I have made over the years. Happy holiday reading and looking … More

after Shawna Lemay Write a poem about the rain. Or the wind.Write about what you learned at university.Or did not … More

Dear Friends Like the closed down (but still creative) shop window of Top Shop I saw on an early morning … More

One of the touchstones that I would add to those I blogged about last week is a marvellous section from … More

The problem with having had the gleam is that for it to mean anything, work has to ensue. I hate … More

When someone asks me am I working on something, I never really know what to say. I want to answer … More

Just over a year ago I wrote a blog post talking about my ‘tired frame of mind’ and intention to … More

The Fear of Poetry In this moment when we facehorizons and conflicts widerthan ever before, we want our resources,the ways … More

I have walked into the grief. I have walked into brave space, mine and others’. I have sat in … More

I am tired. Though I write from a place of privilege and of safety, I am tired. Tired of feeling … More

I can’t be alone in experiencing the coronavirus crisis and resulting lockdown as something of an infringement on my … More

Young Poets’ Stories project update: Today we add a reading resources for young poets page to the Young Poets’ Stories website. … More