Actually January was pretty good overall. Not for the pelargoniums in the garden that have been reduced to a frostbitten mess. But our goldfish Brahms and Liszt have both been spotted alive and well so the cold snaps haven’t done for them yet. Also I’ve been illness-free (write it!) and the collection is coming along.Read more ⟶
Category: Angst
Keeping track of poetry magazines: getting down and dirty
I’ve just finished trawling through hundreds of poetry magazine websites. It’s my quarterly mission: to update the spreadsheet that I send out to a few thousand poets. Every time it seems to become more challenging: the process of pulling up-to-date information from a magazine’s web presence requires a kind of forensic mindset: never believe theRead more ⟶
And there goes February flying past…
This is not my favourite time of year I confess, although I love all the early signs of Spring – the first sunny days, the first buds, daffodils and birdsong. Just look how grand the beach looked the other day! We even had breakfast outside on Friday! But this month in particular I’ve been plaguedRead more ⟶
In the summertime when the weather is fine…
July seemed to pass in a soggy blur How’s your summer going? As I recall, I went to several concerts last month, as well as a dress rehearsal at Glyndebourne, doncha know, although we couldn’t stay till the final act as Nick had a rehearsal to play for and we only have the one car.Read more ⟶
And in other writing…
Not much new to report on the poetry writing front, except for a dozen or so poems in submission (“in submission”? Should it be “under submission”? I won’t say ‘Under consideration” because that suggests the darn things are actually being read by someone, and there’s no knowing if that’s the case. Anyway I think IRead more ⟶
How to be successful…enough
As I was cleaning my teeth this morning for some reason I remembered a boy called Andrew* at primary school who was always either 1st or 2nd in class rankings (oh yes we had those). For any subject: maths, English etc. I remember because it was me who was 2nd when he was first andRead more ⟶
Self-sabotage, womansplaining and other poetry joys
I should be preparing for a recording session this afternoon, for a Planet Poetry episode that’s going out on Thursday, but I’m feeling a bit guilty about neglecting this blog. So herewith a quick update. Subheadings are here to help you skip forward (or skip it all if you so wish!) Reasons/excuses for not writingRead more ⟶
Season of mists and new starts
Autumn creeping up, and with it, as always, changes. I’m upset about the Queen’s death, more perhaps than I thought I would be. It may be something to do with delayed (or reignited) mourning for my sister, or my parents. But it’s also something I’ve been worried about for a while – it’s like aRead more ⟶
At last, some (a)live poetry events
Having missed three Hastings Stanza meetings due to a choir commitment, next month I’m so looking forward to workshopping with everyone again around a table and the odd cup of tea or glass of wine. We restarted face to face meetings last autumn, and after all the months of having to ‘meet’ online it wasRead more ⟶
A little tough love for poetry magazines
Today and yesterday have been spreadsheet days – visiting poetry magazines websites and trying to dig out the info that I (and anyone wishing to submit there) needs. I finally got it finished and sent out this morning. I think I’ve been doing this for four, maybe five years, and what started out as anRead more ⟶