Heaven on Earth Now that it is night, you fetch the wash from outer space, from the frozen … More
Tag: Reading Poetry
Why do it?
because of the words and because of the books because of the woman in the anorak at the swimming baths … More
Just another Wednesday
Days Each one is a gift, no doubt, mysteriously placed in your waking hand or set upon your forehead moments … More
Lifesaving Poems: Boris Pasternak’s ‘Hamlet’
Hamlet The buzz subsides. I have come on stage. Leaning in an open door I try to detect from … More
Lifesaving Poems: Denise Levertov’s ‘The Secret’
The Secret Two girls discover the secret of life in a sudden line of poetry. I who don’t know the … More
After Paris
I found two blog posts especially moving in the aftermath of last week’s attacks in Paris, both by the same … More
Lifesaving Poems: Ellen Doré Watson’s ‘Be Here First’
Be Here First I don’t know my trees but I know my trees. Their angling for what has spurned them; their spitting … More
Finding Sharon Olds’s The Matter of This World
The Collection The Matter of This World: New and Selected Poems (Slow Dancer, 1987) I found The Matter of … More
Making Poetry Happen
Announcing the publication of Making Poetry Happen: Transforming the Poetry Classroom (Bloomsbury, 2015). Making Poetry Happen provides a valuable resource … More
Influences: my first reader
My first reader was a man called Fergus. A friend of a flatmate at university, I never got to … More
Lifesaving Poems: Chrissy Williams’s ‘The Burning of the Houses’
The Burning Of The Houses Tottenham is on fire and I work in an arts centre where the sky is … More
New Year letter
Dear Ant Looking forward to 2015 it’s tempting to think it will never reach the heights of 2014. Big mistake. Huge. … 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
The most read Lifesaving Poems of 2014
Here are the most read Lifesaving Poems of 2014. For the first time I have been able to compare last … More
Why we need Aldeburgh
Dan O’Brien began by saying he wasn’t really a poet, but a ‘moonlighting playwright’. Selima Hill took out her glasses, … More
‘When I read poetry’: in memory of Mark Strand
I am sad because the great American poet Mark Strand has died. Among the tributes to him in the last … More
On generosity
By the time you read this I will be far away from here. It has not happened yet, but I … More
Allan Ahlberg’s genius
Photo credit: Felix Clay, The Guardian Heard I can’t remember a time in my teaching career when there wasn’t … More
Lifesaving Poems 