Go-to poet?

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the ‘poets I go back to’ idea, that I first came across in … More

Open letter: in memory of Janet Fisher

And though I only met you once, your influence on me is massive, or should that be was I don’t … More

It’s gone

‘It’s gone.’ ‘What has?’ ‘It. This. Everything.’ ‘The chair is still here. I’m still here.’ ‘I don’t mean the chair. … More

Alone, by Tomas Tranströmer

Alone I One evening in February I came near to dying here.The car skidded sideways on the ice, outon the … More

No one you know

‘You look upset.’ ‘I am upset,’ I say. ‘Well, not so much upset as disappointed.’ ‘Want to talk about it?’ … More

The point is the silence

  ‘I’ve stopped listening to the radio!’ ‘What, completely?’ the book says. ‘Not completely, I’m not an idiot,’ I say. … More

Gazing out of someone else’s window

‘Where have you been?’ the book says. ‘Where have you been?’ ‘Here, waiting for you,’ the book says. ‘Working.’ ‘Same … More

Breathing Space July, by Tomas Tranströmer

Breathing Space July   The man who lies on his back under huge trees is also up in them. He … More

Lifesaving Poems: Marie Howe’s ‘Prayer’

Concluding this mini-series of poems I shared in my reading at the Greenbelt festival last weekend, here is Prayer by Marie … More

Lifesaving Poems: WN Herbert’s ‘The Black Wet’

Continuing in this mini-series of poems I shared in my reading at the Greenbelt festival last weekend, here is The … More

Lifesaving Poems: Sharon Olds’s ‘Looking at Them Asleep’

Continuing in this mini-series of poems I shared in my reading at the Greenbelt festival last weekend, here is Looking … More

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

Lifesaving Poems: Christopher Southgate’s ‘High Fidelity’

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

All of The Book blog posts in one place

Thank you to all my readers who have been asking to see a page with all of The Book blog … More

A list of found poems

Here is a list of the found poems I have been posting over the summer, including older posts from last … More

Who would we be?, by Susan Sontag

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

When poetry moved underground, by Czeslaw Milosz

When poets discover that their words refer only to other words and not to reality which must be described as … More