Why we need Aldeburgh

Dan O’Brien began by saying he wasn’t really a poet, but a ‘moonlighting playwright’. Selima Hill took out her glasses, … More

The woman at the workshop

I am at a thing. Not a famous thing, but an important one nevertheless. People are there, people you and … More

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

I am delighted to have a new poem Writing Research Across Borders (2014): Poster Sessions in Hinterland With thanks to Judi Sutherland … More

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

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

This is Jörn Cann. He was my ward doctor at the haematology unit where I was treated for non-Hodgkin’s … 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

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

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … More

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … More

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

You think it will be about your childhood. It turns out to be about an onion. Or a night in … More

For now, at least, it has gone. The notebooks with promising phrases, the backs of envelopes with doodles: they are … More

Seven years ago I published The Year of Drinking Water, a pamphlet of poems, about my experience of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (Exeter … More

I met the furniture designer Duncan Kramer at summer camp. Not as kids but as what we laughingly called leaders. … More

The book is not in love with me. I shower it with love and promises of more stationery, but all … More