Why do it?

because of the words and because of the books because of the woman in the anorak at the swimming baths … More

Just another Wednesday

Days Each one is a gift, no doubt, mysteriously placed in your waking hand or set upon your forehead moments … More

Hamlet The buzz subsides. I have come on stage. Leaning in an open door I try to detect from … More

The Secret Two girls discover the secret of life in a sudden line of poetry. I who don’t know the … More

Be Here First I don’t know my trees but I know my trees. Their angling for what has spurned them; their spitting … More

The Collection The Matter of This World: New and Selected Poems (Slow Dancer, 1987) I found The Matter of … More

The Burning Of The Houses Tottenham is on fire and I work in an arts centre where the sky is … More

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

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

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 at a thing. A historic thing. (An historic thing? I will never know). Poets are there. Household names. … More

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

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

One of the poets I am most looking forward to listening to at the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival in November is … More

The Art of Disappearing When they say Don’t I know you?say no. When they invite you to the partyremember what … More

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

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