Discovering Geoffrey Summerfield’s Worlds

In support of crowdfunding our new anthology of poems, No One You Know, with Unbound, Sue Dymoke and I are … More

Interview with the book

  ‘Aren’t you going get the phone?’ I say. ‘It won’t be for me.’ With a little groan the book … More

Guest blog post: Whose life is it anyway? by John Foggin

  A few weeks ago I was writing in my own blog, the great fogginzo’s cobweb, about the way I … More

Inside Lifesaving Poems

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

Thomas Lux’s syntax

I first heard Thomas Lux’s poems before I read them. In the autumn of 2000 I was sent a tape … More

Lifesaving poems of summer

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

Lifesaving Poems: David Scott’s ‘Groundsmen’

Groundsmen   The pile of cuttings puts on dreadful weight, swelters in the season, and leaks treacle. Beside it, the … More

Lifesaving Poems: Edwin Morgan’s ‘One Cigarette’

As I have said before, Geoffrey Summerfield’s Worlds (Penguin, 1974) is one of the most important books of my life. It was … More

Lifesaving Poems: Norman MacCaig’s ‘Aunt Julia’

Norman MacCaig’s ‘Aunt Julia’ was the first poem I remember reading which made me think ‘I need to do this’.  … More

Lifesaving Poems: Thom Gunn’s ‘Autobiography’

Thom Gunn’s ‘Autobiography’ (from Geoffrey Summerfield’s Worlds: Seven Modern Poets, 1974), along with Norman MacCaig’s ‘Aunt Julia’, was among the … More

Lifesaving Poems

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