Lifesaving Lines: The Bight, by Elizabeth Bishop

‘Awful but cheerful’ is the final phrase and line of ‘The Bight‘, by Elizabeth Bishop. I’ve always felt that the … More

Towards a model of poetry writing development

As promised last week, here is my presentation of the paper I co-wrote with Sue Dymoke in which we argue on … More

‘It’s even true of Ted Hughes.’ I look across at the book, whose head is now slumped on my desk, … More

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

Recently I have been reading the exquisite prose of Janna Malamud Smith, in her book-length meditation on creativity: An Absorbing Errand: … More

I first came across ‘Birth of the Foal’ at the recommendation of the great Cliff Yates. He told me he’d been … More

The funniest thing you will ever read about Elizabeth Bishop (or teaching, or anything else) is Mark Halliday‘s essay Moose … More

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