Happy Holidays (or non-denominational winter festival, etc). Wouldn’t it be great to end the year on a ‘good news’ note? You know – I’ve suddenly been snapped up by Faber, or something – but I’ve nothing exciting to report on the submissions front, sadly: yet another no from Ambit, and a very swift no fromRead more ⟶
Category: Books
A literary lunch, a rejection and a Robert Frost mystery
Emerging from the fug of the common cold, what should greet me but a ‘no thanks’ notification from Ambit. It seemed like an automated/standard reply this time, so I think I have to give up on it for now. The last rejection I had from them felt more personal and encouraging. I think three orRead more ⟶
Links to useful poetry resources (publishers, magazines, competitions etc)
I thought I’d post some links to poetry resources I’ve been bookmarking. I’m sure these are just the tip of the iceberg so if you know of anything similar to add to this list please let me know in a comment – thanks. These are mostly UK but I’ve included one good US resource also.Read more ⟶
A poem by Lynne Hjelmgaard
I first met Lynne Hjelmgaard at a Brighton Stanza meeting, and knew straight away she was a poet I wanted to hear more of and would enjoy workshopping with. Lynne has had an extraordinary, almost nomadic background – from New York via Denmark, Paris, Rome, London and the sea. The range of her experience andRead more ⟶
Anthology launch, plus Hilda Sheehan at Tunbridge Wells
A busy couple of days: Monday evening saw the launch of the Brighton Stanza anthology, a labour of love for editors Antony Mair, Miriam Patrick and Andie Davidson. Andie’s company, the Bramley Press, published the book and it looks excellent, though I say so myself. Twenty six poets are in the anthology, and nine ofRead more ⟶
A poem by Jenny Lewis
At Ty Newydd recently I was fortunate enough to be working alongside some wonderful poets, and with their permission I’ll be featuring some of them here. The first is Jenny Lewis. I think Jenny was the most experienced of all of us, with many, many strings to her bow, and yet she wore her expertiseRead more ⟶
A day at the (Poetry Book) Fair
Having answered a call for volunteers on Facebook, I found myself yesterday at Conway Hall in London, donning a blue badge and helping out at the Free Verse: Poetry Book Fair. Organised by Chrissy Williams and CB Editions, with a lot of help also from Joey Connolly, the Fair is in its third year andRead more ⟶
BlueGate Poets Anthology
Swindon is a hotbed of poetry! I actually live 130 miles from there, but this year I’ve been drawn into its orbit and am very pleased to be a member of BlueGate Poets. Founded in 2008 by the extraordinary and indefatigable writer and arts event organiser Hilda Sheehan, BlueGate Poets hosts events, readings, workshopsRead more ⟶
A bit of a rave about Sam Willetts
On the train to the Poetry Review launch the other week I looked through the magazine to remind myself of the poems which I’d enjoyed on first reading, or that I remembered (not always the same thing of course). Consequently I found myself re-reading Claire Crowther, Sam Willetts and Jean Sprackland, checking their biographies inRead more ⟶
I mislaid my poetic mojo in a Ghent hostel
Having been away for four days ‘helping’ with a college trip to Belgium (my husband was the tour leader – his A level students) I’m finding it hard to get back to poetry. I suppose it’s partly because I’m having to catch up with work as well, and not having a proper night’s sleep theRead more ⟶