Lifesaving Poems: Michael Laskey’s ‘Bike’

It was a huge privilege to share poems in workshops I gave at the Greenbelt festival last weekend. Here is … More

Lifesaving Poems: Ann Gray’s ‘mercifully ordain that we may become aged together’

It was such a privilege to read from the cornucopia of talent assembled in Lifesaving Poems at the Greenbelt Festival over … More

To celebrate the appearance of my dear friend Christopher Southgate at this year’s Greenbelt Festival, I am republishing my Lifesaving … More

A writer, I think, is someone who pays attention to the world. That means trying to understand, take in, connect … More

‘An amazing stillness this morning. A sense of impending exhaustion in the air. There was one robin as I went … More

In the last year, another government initiative has created a compulsory part of the curriculum: learning poetry by heart … More

In the summer of 1986, when he was poetry editor of New Statesman and not long after Writing Home had … More

I do not stammer, but some of my earliest memories of speaking at school (‘What are eight sevens, Wilson?’) are … More

A Rainy Morning A young woman in a wheelchair, wearing a black nylon poncho spattered with rain, is pushing … More

August 1914 What in our lives is burnt In the fire of this? The heart’s dear granary? The much we … More

By Any Other Name First, he called her My Little Aubergine as if she was … More

You say “drone” and I think of bagpipes refrigerators aeroplanes I think of bees a male bee in a colony … More

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied Who told me time would ease me of my pain! I … More

I am delighted to welcome Helena Nelson to continue our series on overlooked poets. Andrew Waterhouse and the Seventh … More

Some writers influence you through the pull of their imagination on your work, opening up new worlds as you read … More

Continuing the series of guest blog posts on overlooked poets, I am delighted to welcome John Field of Poor Rude … More

Last week I gave up writing. For about a day. I had been given a book by one of my … More

I am delighted to welcome Chrissy Williams to enthuse about a poet who may be unfamiliar to UK readers. – … More