Back from a couple of days away at Standen, a National Trust house in the Sussex countryside about 45 minutes from where I live. The idea was for it to be a poetry reading & writing retreat, time away from the internet, work and house moving stuff. I love visiting Standen and it was a treatRead more ⟶
Month: March 2015
Regional Poetry Focus: Cumbria
This blog post has been some weeks in the prep – I realise my ambition to have a Regional Focus every month was a bit, well, ambitious! Anyway, here’s the second in the series (following on from the very popular Leicester Fiesta in January). In this episode I’m taking a virtual nose around that mostRead more ⟶
Time for some good news!
I always seem to be having a moan about submissions-constipation and other niggly stuff on here but I thought I ought to share some of the Big Positives for a change. (I was going to call this post ‘Good news for once’ after one of my favourite Brian Patten poems, ‘On time for once’, butRead more ⟶
Currently reading
Here’s what’s on my bedside table this month vying with the Sudoku book… The March issue of Poetry arrived the other day so I’ve only just dipped into it. A wonderful piece towards the end by Kate Farrell introducing an unfinished poem by her ex-husband Kenneth Koch written when he was in Rome in 1978.Read more ⟶
First experience of Coffee-House Poetry at the Troubadour
I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to get my lazy bod along to the Troubadour cafe for Anne-Marie-Fyfe’s Coffee House Poetry nights. I guess the journey was putting me off, but actually it was as sweet as a trip on Southern Rail could be. Trains on time. Changing at Clapham Junction. Two stopsRead more ⟶
A clutch of Spring readings
After reading Jayne Stanton’s uplifting post about all the things she’s got to look forward to and how glad she is to see the back of February, I couldn’t help but agree – Spring is on its way and several treats are on the horizon. Things kick off this evening at The Troubadour, where Anne-MarieRead more ⟶