The poor weather has meant I’ve not been spending time in the garden as I normally would at this time of year. Still too cold to plant out courgettes and tomatoes! So instead I’ve been keeping myself out of mischief with ‘deskwork’… A poet friend whose website I created a few years ago has askedRead more ⟶
Category: Readings
National Poetry Competition and a Finished Creatures launch
Just grabbing a few minutes on Easter Saturday to write this. There’s only so much gardening you can do before needing a break. So, now I’ve tackled the wayward honeysuckle… Last week, Peter Kenny and I treated ourselves to an informal ‘works do’ by going along to the prize giving for the National Poetry CompetitionRead more ⟶
Poetry at the Betsey
Hard to believe it was over ten years ago that I first stumbled on (or rather out of) The Betsey Trotwood pub in London’s Clerkenwell with my long-suffering willing-to-be-taken-to-poetry-readings friend Lucy. It’s certainly a stalwart of the poetry scene. A week or so ago I was there to hear readings from students on the PoetryRead 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 ⟶
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 ⟶
Readings, decisions, fresh starts
I’m feeling very uplifted by real-life in-person poetry events. Last week in Lewes was the launch of three Frogmore Press publications: The Naming by Jeremy Page, Marion Tracy’s Evidence of Love and Neil Gower’s Meet me in Palermo. Strong readings all round and a cautiously-convivial atmosphere. Fast on this comes tomorrow’s Needlewriters event, our firstRead more ⟶
Happy days
Some lovely poetry stuff recently – firstly the launch of Finished Creatures in Lewes, the first in-person poetry reading I’ve been to for (pretty much) years. Editor Jan Heritage created a warm atmosphere as always and invited contributors to read their own poem plus another one from the magazine. Although Paul Stephenson and Roy MarshallRead 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 ⟶
Launches, recent and forthcoming
There have been some interesting launches and other events in the last few weeks. I suppose all those books that were out last year are playing launch catchup. Kudos to all the poetry book and magazine publishers that have kept things going, despite the fact that most books are sold at readings, so sales mustRead more ⟶
Butcher’s Dog launch reading 5th June
One of the (very few) good things to have come from this whole lo****wn is being able to attend launches and readings that would normally be a huge mission to get to. (Although if it’s possible in terms of cost of travel/overnight stays then can be exciting – for example the wonderful trip I hadRead more ⟶