Readings, giving myself a talking-to and some early Spring cleaning

Actually January was pretty good overall. Not for the pelargoniums in the garden that have been reduced to a frostbitten mess. But our goldfish Brahms and Liszt have both been spotted alive and well so the cold snaps haven’t done for them yet. Also I’ve been illness-free (write it!) and the collection is coming along.Read more ⟶

A sick kitty, Arvon, podcasting and MA latest

Help! I’m just emerging from a fraught couple of weeks. Two weeks ago our cat Bobby suddenly developed a life-threatening condition. He’d only been officially ‘ours’ for less than a fortnight. He’s on the mend now, but I think the shock of it all (including not being insured, plus a week or so of cleaningRead more ⟶

The new ‘How to’ guide is finally done…

Things have been a bit quiet on this blog for the last month, mainly because I’ve been full-on with the new booklet which arrived from the printers today – hurrah! More about that below… a quick zip through other news: Workshops, readings etc Last month I went up to London for a Coffee-House Poetry workshopRead more ⟶

From Picasso to Garsdale: news roundup

Taking a leaf out of Peter Kenny’s book, here are seven items from the imaginary newsdesk at Kenny Houghton Towers (sorry Peter – but as Picasso said – possibly – ‘Good artists copy, great artists steal.’) Picasso is as good as any place to start, having just visited the Tate Modern exhibition featuring work from a yearRead more ⟶

Loose Muse & other news

Sorry about the title of this post – no, wait – never apologise! As I wrote it I was thinking ‘Hugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grump’ – aka the fireman in Trumpton. I’ve probably got the names a bit wrong but that’s how I remember chanting them as a child. An early poetic influence..?Read more ⟶

Launch of ‘The Skin Diary’ by Abegail Morley

What a privilege it is to be asked to read at a friend’s book launch. Abegail Morley has been something of a mentor to me, always generous in her support. She is a genuinely unselfish in her helping of other poets, and always interested in collaborations or new ideas. She’s also a prolific writer – in the timeRead more ⟶

Some poetry readings etc in next two weeks…

Just a quick shout out for some poetry readings & events coming up in the next couple of weeks … we’re always being told how people turn to poetry in times of trouble, so perhaps we need to start promoting poetry readings as an antidote to brexit woes. I already foresee a tranche of poems onRead more ⟶

Lewes & Oxford readings this week, plus poet friends’ success

Ah, National Poetry Day seems to be the unofficial kickstarter of the poetry season (is that ‘open season’)? Last week saw a flurry of competition results and exciting announcements: Facebook was groaning under the weight of congratulations and almost couldn’t keep up. First of all the Stanza Poetry Competition, won by Graham Burchell to whomRead more ⟶

An update on submissions, readings etc and a nail-biting aside

My fingernails are looking reasonable at the moment, which is pretty good considering that the house-moving stressometer is probably at its highest right now. A short aside about nailbiting – a bit off-topic and do not read if you are squeamish I can usually tell if I’ve got too much on my mind by theRead more ⟶

What makes you buy (poetry)?

First, a little story about sales. My first ever job was as a Saturday girl in the Lilley & Skinner shoe shop on London’s Oxford Street. I remember one of my first ‘training’ sessions with the supervisor, in which he told each of us our sales targets for shoes, matching handbags and ‘sundries’ – everythingRead more ⟶