Tracks, by Tomas Tranströmer

Tracks 2 am: moonlight. The train has stopped out in the middle of the plain. Far away, points of … More

Breathing Space July, by Tomas Tranströmer

Breathing Space July The man who lies on his back under huge trees is also up in them. He … More

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

‘There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as … More

I am deeply grateful to Dave Russell of Survivors’ Poetry for his review of Lifesaving Poems in the current edition of Poetry … More

My deep thanks to Maria Taylor, who has written the most lovely appreciation of Lifesaving Poems. Thank you Maria for capturing its … More

The Sofas, Fogs, and Cinemas I have lived it, and lived it, My nervous, luxury civilisation, My sugar-loving nerves have … More

The central organising principle of Lifesaving Poems is that each poet is represented by a single poem. There are poets you … More

Lifesaving Poems has arrived Well, it has finally arrived. The anthology which began life as a blog, which began life as … More

Cups They know us by our lips. They know the proverb about the space between us. Many slip. They … More

Tomorrow I will be taking part at the Wenlock Poetry Festival in an event with Roz Goddard. We will be … More

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

On the Saturday afternoon of the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival, Festival Director Naomi Jaffa conducted an interew with Adélia Prado, and … More

Reading Thomas Lux’s magnificent new Selected Poems reminded me recently that I first heard his poems before I read them. One of … More

I first heard Thomas Lux’s poems before I read them. In the autumn of 2000 I was sent a tape … More

Photograph © Bloodaxe Books Ltd I am delighted to announce that my Lifesaving Poems series of blog posts has now become … More

I am driving to a thing. Not a famous thing, an out of the way thing. A classroom, perhaps. … More

Groundsmen The pile of cuttings puts on dreadful weight, swelters in the season, and leaks treacle. Beside it, the … More

Seth Godin says in The Icarus Deception that however many good reviews you are lucky to get for your work, it … More

I have been thinking a lot recently about Tomas Tranströmer’s poem ‘Alone’. When I first read it I was taken … More

If you’re not enough without the gold medal, you’ll never be enough with it. – John Candy, Cool Runnings I did not … More