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

This time last year, I had begun a third period waiting for a response to a new manuscript of poems. … More

I’m delighted to announce that The Wind and the Rain, my sixth collection of poems, will be published with Blue … More

I was privileged to meet and work with the late writer and critic Kevin Jackson in 2011. We tutored a … More

What’s been happening? Well, not much. Which is another, deflecting, way of saying quite a lot, actually. So much that … More

But first came Plath. After Ursuala Le Guin, the only female author we studied (OK – Jane Austen). Her name … More

So this is a bit spooky. All week I had in mind these marvellous final words from Lucille Clifton’s poem … More

I am delighted to announce the publication of some new poems, which you can find at the links below. Having … More

after Shawna Lemay Write a poem about the rain. Or the wind.Write about what you learned at university.Or did not … More

To continue this season of not, where I have been reposting old blog posts and links to some others, I … More

As the book might say, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? As the book also might say, I have been … More

Dear Friends Like the closed down (but still creative) shop window of Top Shop I saw on an early morning … More

One of the touchstones that I would add to those I blogged about last week is a marvellous section from … More

The problem with having had the gleam is that for it to mean anything, work has to ensue. I hate … More

When someone asks me am I working on something, I never really know what to say. I want to answer … More

I don’t want to pretend for a second that it was great. It was full of rawness and grief and … More

Before No shoes and a glossyred helmet, I rodeon the back of my dad’sHarley at seven years old.Before the divorce.Before … More