A few hot days of summer are here, yay! We had a dip in the sea this morning at a secret location, keeping well clear of the little seal colony that was basking on the rocks, bellowing to each other now and then, probably annoyed to see humans on their beach! Then I was justRead more ⟶
Category: Poems
New poem up at Ink, Sweat & Tears
I’m very pleased that Helen Ivory chose my poem ‘I’m looking through a lattice of magnolia’ for Ink, Sweat & Tears recently. It’s from my collection which is coming out later in the year from Pindrop Press. The poem began when Nick and I spent the night of our wedding anniversary at Gravetye Manor inRead more ⟶
Midsummer update: poetry projects, novel stuff, podcast…
It’s been a busy few weeks. Today started very well by my getting the Wordle in one – third time this year! If you don’t know what Wordle is then I apologise. But a ONE is pure luck. I danced around the room – Nick probably thought I’d got a book deal. Speaking of which:Read more ⟶
Why I missed the TS Eliot readings, plus the good and the bad of January
Hurray! Spring is on its way! Well, the days are lengthening at least….It’s been a busy start to the year although I don’t seem to have got any poetry written. I’ve actually mostly been reading and researching a story which might turn into (whisper it) a novel – I know, I know, and me alwaysRead more ⟶
Chaucer
One of the highlights of my first year on the York MA in 2020 was being introduced to The House of Fame by Chaucer. I just found it such a revelation – completely original, hilarious in parts, very relevant to current ‘celebrity’ culture, and kind of bizarre. My only previous encounter with Chaucer was atRead more ⟶
Orford Ness
Some years ago now I visited Orford Ness Nature Reserve, a strange and mysterious place on the coast of Suffolk. Strange in the same way as any place with ‘Ness’ in the name, mysterious because of its history as an atomic test site and before that as a place of experimentation in radar and ballistics.Read more ⟶
Thinking about poem and book titles
How easily do poem titles come to you? How about book/pamphlet titles? I’ve always found titles quite hard to come up with. I’ve been through all kind of exercises to try to break the back of it. I look at other people’s titles to see which ones jump out at me (or not). And IRead more ⟶
Not drowning but waving
Did I mention I’d signed up for some swimming lessons? I saw a poster for a six-week long (school holidays) once a week group course, at the place where I swim, and jumped in at it. It’s not that I can’t swim, but I want to swim with style. And I want to learn howRead more ⟶
Lighthouse launch: reading a new poem and its prequel
Tomorrow evening is the online launch of Lighthouse Journal #22 in which I have a poem called ‘Let’s pretend to go shopping together’. This poem revisits an older one entitled ‘Closure’ which first appeared in (the late lamented) Envoi in 2014 and then again in my Cinnamon pamphlet All the Relevant Gods (only £2.09 atRead more ⟶
Current reading and other news
Current reading … and a parrot Camilla’s Bookshop is open again in Eastbourne after an arson attack, and I can report that the parrot is still alive and greeting you as you enter, and the stacks of books are as tightly packed as ever – in fact even more so! Here’s how the poetry sectionRead more ⟶