never knowingly without a pen
Although not back to how it was before the pandemic, I am increasingly venturing out in the world to attend poetry events and readings, as well as still going to online things. Trowbridge Stanza, the monthly poetry group I organise, is meeting in person again, not monthly, as we previously did, but every other month… Continue reading Out and About Again
On this World Poetry Day, 2022 I wanted to mention that the wonderful Modern Poetry in Translation magazine has made its 2017 issue featuring contemporary poetry and essays from Russian and Ukrainian poets available free to read online - here's the link to the issue on MPT's website. Published in 2017, here's the opening paragraph… Continue reading Ukrainian and Russian Poetry at MPT magazine
I've already shared the following poem excerpts on Instagram and Facebook. They are lines from poems-in-progress written by members of Trowbridge Stanza, the monthly poetry group I'm part of that meets at Drawing Projects UK, a gallery, café, studio and art space in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. Our group met in person in February, for the first… Continue reading Poems in response to drawings
What has changed since my last blog in January? Well, the world has changed dramatically, hasn't it, but, here in my small corner of west Wiltshire, the news is less distressing. Since I last wrote here, there have been two in-person Trowbridge Stanza meetings, after a break of two years. Our monthly gatherings, on first… Continue reading Towards Spring
Hats off to anyone who managed an end-of-year post, or any kind of post, in the last few weeks. Hats off to anyone who managed anything this year, or last year. I feel that to have come through the past two years in more or less one piece has been an achievement. I'm counting it… Continue reading Light Ahead (maybe)
My system for keeping tracks of poetry submissions is a spreadsheet-free zone. It involves paper, pen and coloured pencils. It isn't for everyone but it works for me and I thought I'd share it with you. First, I keep track of all of my submissions in a little book. It was a freebie from a… Continue reading My Poetry Submissions System
Following the success of the inaugural Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation, the Poetry Translation Centre is delighted to welcome an esteemed line up of judges for the 2022 prize. The panel will be chaired by Rosalind Harvey, a critically acclaimed translator who co-founded the Emerging Translators Network. She is joined by the poet,… Continue reading Judges announced for Sarah Maguire Prize 2022
Last year, I entered poems into more competitions than usual. I wonder why I did this? Perhaps I was trying to win some money in a patchy year or trying to store up funds for whatever lay ahead? I'm not sure, but, in any case, it's a good job I wasn't relying on competition prizes… Continue reading End of month, rainy Sunday blog
I'm pleased to say that my poem 'A Baby Speaks on his Birthday in an Autumn Garden, 2020' has reached the shortlist in this year's Live Canon Poetry Prize and will be performed at the anthology book launch and prize ceremony, along with all shortlisted poems, online on Tuesday, 19 October, 20:00 – 21:30 BST.… Continue reading Live Canon Poetry Prize Book Launch and Readings
My review of My Mother’s Language/La langue de ma mère by Abdellatif Laâbi, translated and introduced by André Naffis-Sahely (Poetry Translation Centre, 2021), is online at MPT magazine. This is a generous selection of poems (in a neat, pocket-sized French/English edition - perfect to carry with me on a recent train journey) from a poet widely… Continue reading My review of a new selection of poems by Abdellatif Laâbi
Josephine Corcoran 