Current reading and other news

Current reading … and a parrot Camilla’s Bookshop is open again in Eastbourne after an arson attack, and I can report that the parrot is still alive and greeting you as you enter, and the stacks of books are as tightly packed as ever – in fact even more so! Here’s how the poetry sectionRead 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 ⟶

Recent reading: Janet Sutherland, Poetry magazine

Alongside making updates to the look and feel of this site (and general online spring cleaning) I’ve been enjoying some stimulating reading lately. The January edition of Poetry has yielded up a lot of interesting material, including extracts from ‘A Frank O’Hara Notebook’ by Bill Berkson, which made for rich reading on a train journeyRead more ⟶

Roundup: 16 US poetry journals with submissions details

In my last post I explained that although I haven’t seriously tried submitting to US poetry journals, I’d like to, and have started doing the research. What follows here is a list of sixteen journals – obviously far from comprehensive, but it’s a starting point. Many of these publications have large, rich websites with articles,Read more ⟶

Submitting to US poetry journals, part 1

You know how it happens – you start following a link, then you get so engrossed in something you end up forgetting about your current ‘to do’ list. So there I was, reading a poet’s biog, I followed a link to a magazine I didn’t recognise, and got thinking ‘hmm, my XYZ poem could workRead more ⟶

Dealing with Literary Rejections: Six Viewpoints

I was asked yesterday ‘how’s the writing going?’ which is always an interesting one to answer. First you have to gauge if it’s a genuine enquiry, or a generic ‘how’s things?’ A non-writer friend probably doesn’t want to hear a long moan about rejections. But submissions, and in particular rejections, is one of the unavoidable andRead more ⟶

Notes from a Don Share masterclass

What is it about poets called Don? There’s Don Paterson for starters. Don. Paterson. And now Don Share.  Maybe it’s the the power/mafia connotations (Don Corleone). Or the suggestion of raffishness (Don Juan). Or the hidden warning: not DO but DON’t. So here’s the thing: picture sixteen or so poets perched in a circle, hothoused in aRead more ⟶

Riordan & Share on ‘100 years of the don’ts’

Yesterday evening I was at Keats House in Hampstead listening to a Poetry Society debate on the subject of Ezra Pound’s enormously influential article ‘A Few Don’ts’, first published a hundred years ago. As the respective editors of Poetry Review (UK) and Poetry (US), Maurice Riordan and Don Share could be said to represent the behemothRead more ⟶

Magazine focus: Rattle

I (oh no, starting a blog post again with ‘I’) was just thinking it would be fun to occasionally feature a specific poetry magazine: mention what I like about it, give a flavour of what’s in it, fill you in on their submissions policy etc. I’m currently a tad stressed. First I’m trying to stayRead more ⟶

More new reading material, and some happy happenings

Some classic internet-enabled moments this week. Firstly, my post about having received a free copy of Poetry magazine was picked up by Steven Critelli who alerted Don Share, senior editor of that venerable publication, who promptly lived up to his name and tweeted it … Then one of the other participants going to the TyRead more ⟶