I’ve just finished reading The Letters of Ted Hughes (Faber 2007 edited by Christopher Reid). There is so much in this book that I’ve found illuminating and inspiring. Yes, there were quite a few detailed accounts of fishing trips which I couldn’t quite get into, and I’m sorry to say a fair bit of theRead more ⟶
Category: Writing
Gut feeling
Confession: my poem-a-day pledge has stuttered. I’ve actually been a bit ill, although there’s little evidence for it, and if I worked a 9 – 5 job I would have gone home happy on Friday evening and turned up fine this morning. So a weekend illness hardly seems to qualify. And yet on Saturday nightRead more ⟶
Writers and the fear of social media
When talking to writers I meet at workshops and readings, the question of what I do for a living sometimes gets asked. And no sooner do words like ‘internet’, ‘social media’, ‘communications’ etc start popping out than I get stories about how the kids spend all their time on Facebook or their mobile phones, orRead more ⟶
What Ted said when asked ‘what does it mean’
After my recent musings on answering the ‘what does it mean’ question, I was happy to come across this in the Letters of Ted Hughes: To Lydia Clement and Alison George 29 July 1985 Dear Miss Clement and Miss George Thank you for your letter. If I answered your question it might stop you worrying,Read more ⟶
Poem-a-day, Days 3 – 4
Dear Reader For a minute I thought I was struggling already, but the Guardian came to the rescue, or rather whoever it was who posted a link on Facebook to this article, about stealing a line from an existing poem and using it as the basis for something of your own. I had Emily DickinsonRead more ⟶
Setting myself a new challenge
After a chat with a wonderful poet friend yesterday I had a bit of a lightbulb moment (albeit over a couple of beers, funny that). She told me of another poet who had just had a poem accepted by Poetry Review and was over the moon because she had been trying for ages. TryingRead more ⟶
Submissions, the monstrous poet-ego, etc
Yesterday was one of those days when I felt I should have been working (ie paid work), but instead was faffing about with several poems all of which were nearly there or in the I’m not sure about these but I can’t stare at them any longer and I must just get them out pile.Read more ⟶
Notes from Mimi Khalvati workshop
Yesterday was the first of our monthly workshops with Mimi Khaltvati this year, and as usual I came away with plenty of new insights and reminders. Here are some of the things Mimi said which I jotted down, as usual I’ve tried to stick to ‘universal’ comments rather than those to do with specific poems.Read more ⟶
Lovely example from Ted Hughes’ letters
It is now 1974. At least, that’s how far I have got with Ted Hughes’ letters, through which I’m getting a stronger impression of him than I think I’ve ever got from another source. Perhaps that’s not surprising, as he valued his privacy. And in the letters, there’s a clear sense of his growing frustrationRead more ⟶
How to tackle the “What does it mean?” question
“Poems need room for the imagination to engage” says Roselle Angwin in a interesting blog post on creating ambiguity in a poem, not telling the whole story. So here’s a problem I have, and I can’t be the only one! When I take a poem to a workshopping group I really don’t like explaining. Anything.Read more ⟶