Losing My Ambition

Towards the end of my treatment for cancer in 2006 I had one of the most profound conversations of … More

What really matters?

I was on the phone to a writer friend the other week. In itself this is a rare occurrence: normally … More

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

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

Thanks to the vision and generosity of Jean Sprackland, between 1999-2001 I had the privilege of working with the great … More

It was the best of times. Jean Sprackland and I were tutoring the dream group at Totleigh Barton for a … More

It was the best of times. Jean Sprackland and I were tutoring a poetry course at Totleigh Barton, the Arvon … More

I wrote here recently about losing my ambition as a writer. In case readers are in any doubt, the stuff … More

I Am a Finn I am standing in the post office, about to mail a package back to Minnesota, to … More

I was sad to read yesterday via Twitter that the leading Dutch poet Rutger Kopland has died, aged 77. He … More