Guest blog post: Christ the Diet Coke Man – why I read Aemilia Lanyer, by John Field

Continuing the series of guest blog posts on overlooked poets, I am delighted to welcome John Field of Poor Rude … More

Living and breathing Arvon

  ‘I’ve been at the field.’ This, spoken by one of the teachers on last week’s writing residential at Totleigh … More

Guest blog post: On moving on, by Dean Parkin

I have been sorting. I have been chucking. It’s been the recurring theme over the last eighteen months. I cleared … More

The voice you hear when you write

Writing is about hypnotizing yourself into believing in yourself, getting some work done, then unhypnotyzing yourself and going over the … More

Guest blog post: A Mentor: Anthony Glavin, by Mark Granier

Recently, I took our 11-year old boy to see the Turners in the National Gallery of Ireland. These 31 watercolours … More

‘I’m your new book!’

‘Hullo!’ says the book. ‘Have we been introduced?’ I say. ‘I’m your new book!’ ‘But I haven’t finished the last … More

Out of the Crocodile’s Mouth: a discussion of poetry, education and children, with Michael Rosen and Marina Boroditskaya -from MPT Magazine

Last year MPT Magazine published a brilliant edition wholly dedicated to children’s poetry (Number 2, 2015), titled I Wish… It was one of … More

Researching writers’ engagement with teachers: the Teachers as Writers research project

    Along with colleagues from the Arvon Foundation, The Open University and University of Exeter I have just begun … More

Aldeburgh going

‘Which is why Aldeburgh going is such a disaster. It took years to achieve what they did, years. Of slog, … More

To my fearless guest bloggers

One of the great joys of writing this blog in the last year has been to invite some of my … 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

Why poetry matters

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

Influences: Alan Booth

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … More

Writing and silence

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … More

The woman at the workshop

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … More

The burnt horizon

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … 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

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