Lifesaving Lines: Fosterage, by Seamus Heaney

I was very saddened to hear of the death of Brendan Kennelly this week. He had been a long-standing presence … More

Lifesaving Lines: The Gift, by Brendan Kennelly

I was at a thing. Very rarely for me, it was my own thing, only my second in front of … More

Earlier this year my Lifesaving Poems blog enjoyed something of a milestone. Not as momentous as Jimmy Anderson taking his … More

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

Here are the most read Lifesaving Poems of 2014. For the first time I have been able to compare last … More

My friend and colleague Anna Craft has died. She was famous -if that is the right word- as a researcher … More

Thanks to the vision and generosity of Jean Sprackland, between 1999-2001 I had the privilege of working with the great … More

I began writing the Lifesaving Poems posts in May, 2011. Below is a list of the twenty most popular poems … More

These are the most read Lifesaving Poems posts of 2013. Mary Oliver, ‘The Journey’ I first read this on … More

I began writing the Lifesaving Poems series of blog posts in May 2010. The idea was to celebrate the poems … More

May the Silence Break Because you do not speakI know the shockof water encountering a rock. Supremacy of silence is … More

I was struck by a remark of Seamus Heaney in an interview he gave some years ago now. He was … More