To the Mincing Poets

Last Sunday I attended the last ever group meeting and reading of the Mincing Poets, in Exeter. A classic … More

Guest blog post: A Mentor: Anthony Glavin, by Mark Granier

Recently, I took our 11-year old boy to see the Turners in the National Gallery of Ireland. These 31 watercolours … More

Mark Doty had it. And John Hartley Williams. And Esther Morgan. And Roy Blackman, introducing Mark Doty talking about Whitman. … More

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

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

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

I was saddened to hear of the death of Gerard Benson last week. A poet and anthologist, he was probably … More

I was at a thing recently. Not my thing, a good thing. Luminosity filled the evening. In the pouring of … More

I’m grateful to you, you see. I wanted to tell you. –Raymond Carver (‘For Tess’) A kind, wise man once … More

The most fun I have ever seen a poet have at their own reading (with the possible exception of Jackie … More

In September 2006 my treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma came to an end. I was not told I was officially in … More

I was lucky. I was taught English in one of those classrooms with complete sets of A Taste of Honey, … More