Influences: my first reader

My first reader was a man called Fergus. A friend of a flatmate at university, I never got to … More

Poetry highlights of 2014

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

During the Christmas period I am reposting some old posts from my archive. Wishing all my readers a very … More

During the Christmas period I am reposting some old posts from my archive. Wishing all my readers a very happy … More

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

Everyone who enters the stage begins by saying thank you * That silence * Mostly nearly all the time * … More

In preparation for this year’s Aldeburgh Poetry Festival I was asked some questions about my blogging by Festival programmer Dean … More

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

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

Below is a collection of my blog posts for the 2014 Aldeburgh Poetry Festival. I will update it as I … More

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

A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness. Robert Frost … 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

Now that we have finally had one in the UK, I found myself wondering recently how many of my Lifesaving Poems choices … More

I have not read a book in six months -Raymond Carver, ‘Drinking While Driving’ I can still remember the shock … More

The Day After I made a leek and potato soup the day after, prompted by the look of the peeled … More

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