As promised, The Reading List continues … District & Circle, Seamus Heaney (Faber, 2006) Everything you’d expect from a Heaney collection: poignant but unsentimental recollections of the past, images you can’t get out of your head days later, a familiar strangeness, the ghosts of various characters from Edward Thomas and Dorothy Wordsworth to HarryRead more ⟶
Author: Robin Houghton
Post-holiday news, blues and beginnings
Back from holiday less than a week and plenty has happened. While I was away I received three rejections (boo!) and one ‘long listing’ (hurray!), so now I’m faced with a big hole in my sending out schedule. I haven’t written anything new for a while and am about to go into another busy periodRead more ⟶
Different ways of promoting your blog posts on social media (reblogged from Social Media for Writers)
This is the last of my re-blogs from ‘Social Media for Writers’ while I’m on my hols. Please do still leave comments, which I love reading, although I won’t be able to reply immediately. Social media can be a big time-suck, if you let it. So it’s worth knowing about automation – what tools areRead more ⟶
Making the most of Twitter lists (from Social Media for Writers blog)
This is the second of my re-blogs while I’m on my hols and trying to take a break from the internet! My ‘Social Media for Writers’ blog has many useful articles on it but I’ve never gotten around to promoting it much, which is a bit of a waste, and I’m not proud of the admission! Please doRead more ⟶
Tips for choosing a WordPress.com Theme (from Social Media for Writers Blog)
While I’m on my hols I’m re-posting one or two articles from my ‘Social Media for Writers’ blog in case they are of interest. I’ve promised myself to stay off the grid while we’re away, so please do still leave comments, which I love reading, although I won’t be able to reply immediately. Here are myRead more ⟶
The Reading List, week 3
Things have gone a tad pear-shaped these last 2 weeks and I’ve managed to read only 3 books –but I have various excuses, ranging from (ahem!) work, getting ready for our holiday (imminent), selling our house (exchange of contracts WE HOPE imminent), flat-hunting for new flat to replace the one we had to pull outRead more ⟶
‘Making Poetry Work’ at the Poetry Cafe
Yesterday evening I was at the Poetry Cafe for a Poetry Society/Society of Authors event called ‘Making Poetry Work’, billed as a discussion about the ‘business’ of poetry. Being a member of both organisations I felt drawn to it – plus of course I have an interest in the business of poetry in the shape ofRead more ⟶
Some news about submissions, latest Telltale pamphlet
I see it’s been ages since I gave an update on submissions and what not. And it’s also been a while since I talked much on this blog about what I’m up to outside of my ‘read a poetry book a day’ challenge. So here goes. Submissions I recently had a poem accepted for aRead more ⟶
The Reading List, week 2
The weather has been so good lately it’s tempting to go out for a walk (or a pub lunch!) rather than read. But I’m enjoying the discipline – I find last thing at night and first thing in the morning are good times to read. This week I read through five more collections. Hangman’s AcreRead more ⟶
Tennis, 1976-style
Encouraged by Jayne Stanton’s marvellous ‘this is not about poetry’ blog post, I’m going off-piste today. Which is a stupid metaphor really as this is not about skiing, but TENNIS. I enjoy watching a bit of Wimbledon although to be honest I went off it big time during that period when all the women wereRead more ⟶