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

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

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

By the time you read this I will be far away from here. It has not happened yet, but I … 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

Alan Booth wasn’t the first teacher to teach me something, but he was the first who drew me into the … More

In 1991 we moved to a house in Brixton, south London. Of all our welcomes, that of our neighbour, the … More

One of the biggest influences on my life, let alone my writing, is Martin Wilson. I should know; he’s my … More

It all started with two remarks, one by a friend, the other by a stranger at work. ß The friend’s … More

Someone who knows me very well knocked me sideways with a comment the other day. Remarking on this blog, … More

I am not at a thing. The things have dried up (or I have stopped going). I am thingless. I … More

The review isn’t exactly vicious as such, merely purely personal and savage. It stops short of questioning your parentage, but … More