Falling in love with Holub’s ‘Love’

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

Iain Crichton-Smith’s ‘Poetry’

It was summer. I found myself on the top floor of the library, on the recommendation of a friend: … More

One year I decided that I would decorate one of my teaching rooms with my collection of Poems on the … More

And sometimes you don’t know where it comes from. It appears as a heat, prickly, under your skin, your scalp. … More

I first met Lawrence Sail at a private view at a gallery just outside Exeter. My family and I … More

I came across Hubert Moore’s fantastic book of poems The Hearing Room (Shoetstring, 2006) via my friend and neighbour Lawrence Sail. In … More

I found John Burnside‘s ‘A Private Life’ in a poetry magazine some years ago. I wasn’t much interested in … More

Readers who have followed my Lifesaving Poems series will know by now that there isn’t and wasn’t a plan about … More

June 30, 1974 for Jane and Joe Hazan Let me tell you that this weekend Sunday morning in the … More

It is odd to speak of missing someone you never met, but this is how I feel about the American … More

I wrote here recently about losing my ambition as a writer. In case readers are in any doubt, the stuff … More

Towards the end of my treatment for cancer in 2006 I had one of the most profound conversations of my … More

In February, 1999 I was sitting in a car park with Naomi Jaffa when she asked me what I … More

I have been thinking a lot recently about the career trajectory of poets, including my own, whose work briefly becomes visible … More

I wrote recently about poets who disappear from view, specifically Susannah Amoore, from Faber’s Poetry Introduction 6. My point is far … More

Sometimes people, including poets, ask me how my writing is going. The difference between a poet and a non-poet asking … More

Yesterday I wrote here about poets disappearing. Partly this came to mind via news of Salt’s decision to discontinue publishing … More

Seven Ways of Reading Gillian Allnutt: How The Bicycle Shone: New and Selected Poems (Bloodaxe; 216pp; £12) 1 It’s … More