Their Age Now

I went home the other day. I mean home-home, where I was born, and where my parents still live. … More

A curry with Matthew Sweeney

I am in the pub with Rupert. We are talking about planning a thing. It’s definitely going to happen. A … More

I’m grateful to you, you see. I wanted to tell you. –Raymond Carver (‘For Tess’) A kind, wise man once … More

Hysteria As she laughed I was aware of becoming involved in her laughter and being part of it, until her … More

Just about everyone I know who reads and writes poetry seriously owes a debt of one kind or another to … More

When I speak to trainee primary school teachers about their views of poetry I am often struck by their divergent … More

I count myself lucky to have been taught by a team of English teachers who I have no doubt … More

To safe and almost universal silence I published How Far From Here is Home? (Stride) a few days before Christmas in … More

Photo: Rob Starling ‘Fishermen’, by Alasdair Paterson, is one of my Lifesaving Poems. I first read it as a new teacher, … More