All Blogposts

  • My bags are packed for Aldeburgh!

    So, farewell then, readers.  I’ll be back after 13th November. Hope to see some of you in Aldeburgh this weekend for the Poetry Festival.  Then I’ll be with my fellow Aldeburgh Eighters on our rural retreat! Read more

  • Ideas and prompts for NaBloPoMo

    I won’t be around for the whole of November (I’m going away for eight days) otherwise I would’ve been tempted to join in with National Blog Posting Month and publish a blog post a day for the whole of November.  However, if you’re on a NaBloPoMo mission and are looking for some inspiration, here are… Read more

  • Win £2,000 and a week’s residency at Charles Causley’s house

     The Charles Causley Poetry Competition 2015 Closing Date 3rd November 2015 Entries by post.  Entry fee £7 per poem.  1st Prize 2,000 plus one week’s residency at 2, Cyprus Well, Charles Causley’s house. 2nd Prize £250. 3rd Prize £100. Now in its third year, with poets Jo Bell and Angela Readman the previous winners, there is… Read more

  • Thoughts about workshopping poems

    As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been selected to take part in this year’s Aldeburgh Eight Advanced Seminar. In just over two weeks I’ll head off for three days at Aldeburgh Poetry Festival, followed by five days living at Bruisyard Hall with the other seven people in my seminar group and our two tutors, Peter Sansom… Read more

  • Ten Thoughts on a Friday Evening

    Sipping a glass of wine when you’re cooking is one of life’s pleasures. Making a big fish pie and adding leaks, sweet potato and spinach, (it’s scrumptious, truly), and asking your 14 year old son to wash up while it’s in the oven, means that there is a delicious, nutritious meal on the way and there’s only… Read more

  • Launch of ‘Cur’ by Martin Malone

    Just to say I’ll be reading a poem or two at the Albion Beatnik Bookshop (34 Walton Street, Oxford OX2 6AA) in Oxford this Friday, 16th October, 7pm, for the launch of Martin Malone‘s new book ‘Cur’, fresh off the press at Shoestring Press. Other poets reading include Hilda Sheehan, Richard Skinner, Roy Marshall, Robin Houghton… Read more