An blog update for National Poetry Day! To celebrate, not only have I just recorded an interview with the immensely talented Tishani Doshi for Planet Poetry, but this evening I’ll be at Hastings Stanza for some poem sharing and workshopping. All very fitting. Everything’s cranking up now it’s the autumn: the publicity machine for variousRead more ⟶
Tag: frogmore papers
A finale, a winning poem and some forthcoming readings
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 ⟶
Subs, poddie, choirs & a greenhouse
When you login to your blog and see there are 16 updates required it can only mean one thing – it’s been a bit neglected! So here’s a somewhat belated update… The podcast is nearing the end of its fourth season! When it comes to the home stretch Peter and I tend to get aRead more ⟶
National Poetry Day (week of)
So Thursday is National Poetry Day, which I shall be celebrating with my Hastings Stanza group, doing what poets do… agonising over line-breaks, commas and what have you. Before that though, on Wednesday, I’ll be at the Fisherman’s Club for the prize readings of a local competition I was a judge for, on the themeRead 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 ⟶
Oh hello! Quick catch up
What was I doing all last month? Mostly singing (I passed my Grade 8 with merit – hurrah!), the odd party (friends with birthdays and/or launches), gardening (what was possible with the scaffolding up), executor stuff for my sister, making jam & chutney from all the rhubarb, and seeing an old friend from my adidas/NikeRead more ⟶
So this is Christmas, and what have I done?
Oh no! I can see I haven’t posted for several weeks, has there really been nothing to talk about? Let me see… First of all, nothing to do with poetry but my Covid experience was pretty mild in the end. So as far I’m concerned the jabs were worth it. Plus we’ve made it toRead more ⟶
On poetry magazines: Butcher’s Dog, Prole, Frogmore Papers
This is the first of a mini-series about print poetry magazines. Although I do my quarterly spreadsheet, there’s no room for any description of the mags, so I thought it would be nice to feature some of my favourites as a reader, where I like to submit myself and what I subscribe to. There areRead more ⟶
A birthday post and on magazines
Ooh. Lots of interesting discussion & comment around my last post. Thank you to everyone who engaged! (Feels a bit of a sham/shame to use that 21st century term but you know what I mean: commented, shared, liked/disliked etc). Meanwhile, on another blog (when I update it that is) I’m telling the story of ourRead more ⟶
Time for some good news!
I always seem to be having a moan about submissions-constipation and other niggly stuff on here but I thought I ought to share some of the Big Positives for a change. (I was going to call this post ‘Good news for once’ after one of my favourite Brian Patten poems, ‘On time for once’, butRead more ⟶