Two poems from ‘Love and Stones’ at New Writing (UEA)

I have two poems from my new chapbook Love and Stones on New Writing, an online project showcasing new writing from alumni, staff and students from the University of East Anglia (where I completed my MA in Creative Writing in 1997). I’d recommend that you read the poems on a laptop or similar, if possible, rather than a mobile phone in order to see my intended line breaks, particularly of my sunflower poem.

My first poem ‘In Lockdown, Solitude Becomes a Flying Lover’ was inspired by a postcard of the painting ‘Over the Town’ by Marc Chagall, and refers to the first lockdown in 2020 when my solitary writing life was interrupted by my family returning home.

The second poem ‘sunflowers exist, sunflowers exist’ was written during the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine when I saw a widely shared clip of a Ukrainian woman telling Russian soldiers to leave her country and offering them sunflower seeds “so that sunflowers will grow when you all lie down here.” This poem is after the book-length poem Alphabet by Inger Christensen, translated by Susanna Nied.

I’m launching Love and Stones this Sunday, 21 May at The Bedford, Balham, London SW12, when I’ll be reading with Matt Bryden and Isabella Mead who were also winners in Live Canon’s chapbook/pamphlet competition. Here is a link for free tickets to attend in person or watch on livestream.

I’ve also added a Readings page to this website with a list of other places I’ll be reading this year.