The Invisible College

I have just come back from a thing. I am tired. A good afternoon of good conversation about large, important … More

Why must we write?

The poem that came into my mind on waking up this morning and hearing the General Election result is Mark … More

The terrible poem

The terrible poem starts with an idea. The terrible poem knows it is the best thing that has been written. … More

Packing to leave

‘Passport?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Flight info?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Euros?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Underpants?’ The book glares at me. ‘What do you take me for?’ ‘It … More

In the waiting room

The book has had a fall, and now we are sitting in a waiting room, waiting to be seen. This … More

A new poem: Sunlight

I am delighted to have a new poem, ‘Sunlight’, for my dear friend Peter Carpenter, published at The Stare’s Nest. … More

Why do it?

because of the words and because of the books because of the woman in the anorak at the swimming baths … More

Visiting hours

I am visiting the book. We have already been through a lot together, including the part where I killed it and … More

Murdering my darling

I have murdered my darling. Like a bird of a certain blue vintage, it is ex, dead, kaput, finished. The … More

Another look at Lux’s ‘An Horatian Notion’

One of my personal, private highlights of last year’s Aldeburgh Poetry Festival was a Sunday morning breakfast hosted by The … 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

Cut through

Cut through to what happens when you listen. Cut through to making it happen, listening for it, failing, then doing … 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

The woman at the workshop

I am at a thing. Not a famous thing, but an important one nevertheless. People are there, people you and … More

Mostly all the time nearly everything

Everyone who enters the stage begins by saying thank you * That silence * Mostly nearly all the time * … More

Poetry and tennis

On the Sunday morning of the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival I breakfasted with poets discussing the theme of writing poetry and … More

Prizewinning young poets from Suffolk

The opening night of each Aldeburgh Poetry Festival is about young poets stepping into the spotlight and taking the applause … More