With a real sense of summer coming to an end, I just wanted to mention a few things before August is up, and that feeling of moving on to the start of a new year. (Still haunted by school terms, decades on…) Excellent Events Back in July, I didn’t manage to make it to TheRead more ⟶
Tag: New Writing South
A new pamphlet & all the angst of getting there
It’s taken a while coming but I’ve found a home for my second pamphlet, ‘All the Relevant Gods’. Those lovely, hardworking folks at Cinnamon Press (Jan Fortune and team) have offered to publish it, due out early next year. What I’m feeling right now is a mix of gratitude and relief, and a wonderful senseRead more ⟶
News round-up: the good, the bad & the ugly
Facebook blackout – the verdict It’s now been two months since I stopped checking in with Facebook and I’m enjoying the freedom it’s given me. I’ve been writing, little by little, not an avalanche of new stuff, but a lot of reworking of old material. I’ve also found new possible projects popping into my head, which may orRead more ⟶
Quick update – submissions, good news, real life stuff
The big news this week is that we finally completed our purchase of the new flat, and we’re now wondering what we can afford to do to it in the five weeks before we move in. Within an hour of getting the keys I’d already stripped wallpaper from an entire wall – it came offRead more ⟶
What I’ve been up to, and look ahead to Aldeburgh
Just a quick update and a look ahead to the weekend … I was excited to see the T S Eliot Prize shortlist, especially as it included the excellent debut collection from Sarah Howe – Loop of Jade – which I mini-reviewed on this blog a short while ago. I’ve already signed up for Katy Evans-Bush‘s excellent previewRead more ⟶
Readings, launches & seeds of a new project or two
We’ve been in Eastbourne a month. It probably sounds daft but I’ve been struck at how mild it seems to be here compared to Lewes or Brighton. The latter in particular. And yet they’re only a few miles away. Maybe we don’t get those biting Brighton winds here? But today I’ve spent all day atRead more ⟶
Poetry Book Fair excitement, plus my poetry gets a leg up
September so often seems like the shortest month – why is that? At the moment it’s also looking like the craziest this year. We have to move out of our house by 23rd, which is little more than a couple of weeks away. And no, we haven’t started packing yet, because we don’t have anyRead more ⟶
News round-up: poetry submissions, readings etc
Just a quick update… I haven’t been blogging as much lately as I am knee-deep in a job, and paid work must be paid attention to! But a few things to report: Submissions Those nice chaps at Prole magazine are taking a poem of mine for their April edition, which is fab news, and THANKRead more ⟶
Launches, readings, online course, a new book … busy autumn
Someone posted recently on Twitter that poetry seemed to be “mostly about reading, writing and waiting”. I know I’ve certainly had that kind of year up until a few weeks ago. I’d have to wait to do one of my ‘stock takes’ to see if I’ve been sending out less work this year than last,Read more ⟶
On keeping the anxiety in check and forthcoming events/plans
Yikes, the poetry world can be dangerous place, can’t it? Who’d be one of those poor ‘Next Generation Poets‘? Blimey. I wonder if people forget sometimes that letting rip on Facebook is less like having a bitch down the pub, and more like broadcasting all your inner demons on one of those sheets that get strung out across theRead more ⟶