It was going to be great. I wrote it more than seven years ago, in two bursts after work with … More
Tag: Writing
On going back in
I’ve been thinking of Anne Lamott’s line in Bird by Bird recently, where she talks about the writing life not … More
On publishing and Christmas
I don’t make new year’s resolutions. I used to, but not any more. It’s not that I don’t want to … More
James Schuyler at 100: ‘Schuyler and Mitchell’, by Tamar Yoseloff
Thank you to Tamar Yoseloff for contributing this fourth post in celebration of James Schuyler’s centenary. In Paris last year, … More
Advent meditation, 11 December 2023
On publishing This year I published a book of poems. It is about grief, love and anger. It seems to … More
Advent meditation, 2 December 2023
On waiting I grew up in a house where we were not encouraged to talk about our accomplishments. (I blame … More
The Wind and the Rain
I am delighted to announce the publication of The Wind and the Rain, with Blue Diode Publishing. Thank you to … More
The Wind and the Rain is coming
Next month I will publish my sixth collection of poems, The Wind and the Rain, with Blue Diode Publishing. I … More
Launching The Wind and the Rain
I am delighted to announce that I will be launching my new collection, The Wind and the Rain, published by … More
James Schuyler: Centenary year celebrations
Open call for guest blog posts celebrating the life and work of James Schuyler This November, we celebrate the centenary … More
On having allies
I once heard a senior British poet warming to a riff during a reading on the topic of the acknowledgements … More
What you read in 2022
Here are the blog posts from 2022 that you read most often Lifesaving Lines: The Death of Fred Clifton, by … More
Advent meditation 3
This time last year, I had begun a third period waiting for a response to a new manuscript of poems. … More
The Wind and the Rain – due in June 2023
I’m delighted to announce that The Wind and the Rain, my sixth collection of poems, will be published with Blue … More
The Kevin Jackson Award
I was privileged to meet and work with the late writer and critic Kevin Jackson in 2011. We tutored a … More
Not much
What’s been happening? Well, not much. Which is another, deflecting, way of saying quite a lot, actually. So much that … More
Lifesaving Lines: Edge, by Sylvia Plath
But first came Plath. After Ursuala Le Guin, the only female author we studied (OK – Jane Austen). Her name … More
Lifesaving Lines: The Death of Fred Clifton, by Lucille Clifton
So this is a bit spooky. All week I had in mind these marvellous final words from Lucille Clifton’s poem … More