On reputation (2)

It’s complicated. There I am in the bookshop, the one we all love, looking for a book. No one is … More

A review of Lifesaving Poems

I am grateful to Victoria Field of NAWE for reviewing Lifesaving Poems in the current edition of Writing in Education. You can download … More

Thirteen ways of remembering Ted Hughes

Teachers’ words should not be ‘How to write’ but ‘How to try to say what you really mean’ – which … More

Mowing the lawn with Maura Dooley

‘There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as … More

Why poetry matters

The value of poetry is that it should matter … first to the writer and then to the reader.  Michael … More

KBO

‘80% of success is showing up.’ -Woody Allen I was chatting with a student the other day when I said … More

Guest blog post: Poetry and Work, by Shawna Lemay

Poetry and Work   I recently took out a book via Interlibrary loan called, The Mind at Work: Valuing the … More

Lifesaving Poems: Fleur Adcock’s ‘The Soho Hospital for Women (IV)’

The Soho Hospital for Woman (IV)   I am out in the supermarket choosing – this very afternoon, this day … More

Ignore everyone, absorb everything

During the mad phase, when everything was a tweet or a share or a retweet, one of my favourite discoveries … 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

Lifesaving Poems: Myra Schneider’s ‘Goulash’

Goulash A crucial ingredient is the right frame of mind so abandon all ideas of getting on. Stop pedalling, dismount, … More

A few days

The afternoon was drawing to a close when I knew I had hit the wall. On its own terms there … More

Lifesaving Poems: Charles Wright’s ‘After Reading Tu Fu, I Go Outside to the Dwarf Orchard’

After Reading Tu Fu, I Go Outside to the Dwarf Orchard   East of me, west of me, full summer. … More

Guest posts and summer reading

As I did last year, I will be taking a break from uploading new posts to this blog over August. … More

A review of Lifesaving Poems

I am deeply grateful to Dave Russell of Survivors’ Poetry for his review of Lifesaving Poems in the current edition of Poetry … More

Guest Post: How I put The Art of Falling together, by Kim Moore

How I put The Art of Falling together In May 2012 my first pamphlet If We Could Speak Like Wolves … More

Lifesaving Poems: Michel Quoist’s ‘Thank you Lord, thank you’

Thank you Lord, thank you. Thank you for all the gifts that you have given me today, Thank you for … More

The missing poet

I have been at a thing. Poets I love and trust were there. We laughed. We invented scurrilous Twitter-profiles. It … More