Author: Josephine Corcoran

Josephine Corcoran is a writer, originally from the north west of England and now based in the south west. Her professional credits include two poetry collections, a stage play, and two BBC Radio 4 credits (for a short story and afternoon play). She is founder and editor of And Other Poems (www.andotherpoems.com)

On getting poems published

Josephine Corcoran3 Comments
The image is of a pink hydrangea flower in a china mug

A few notes from recent chats The poetry group I belong to, Trowbridge Stanza, met earlier this month to talk about routes into publishing, sharing our own stories of publication, and chatting about the different options available in the UK. We’re a mix of published and unpublished writers of different ages, backgrounds and experiences. Most… Continue reading On getting poems published

On Reviewing

Josephine Corcoran7 Comments
The image is a painting of a woman reading a book

The poetry group I belong to was talking about reviews. I said that one of the good things about writing reviews is the way it helps you to grow your poetry community, bringing you into contact with other poets and with publishers. It’s of value to your reading practice since it encourages close reading of… Continue reading On Reviewing

Time for a Pause

Josephine Corcoran9 Comments
The image is the shadow of a hand holding a jar of flowers held against a plain wall.

(Thoughts on refreshing more than my newsfeed). I've also shared this post to Substack. I’ve joined Mastodon although I’m finding it slow and glitchy. I’m gently learning how to find people I want to interact with there but I’m also using this ‘wondering what is going on and what will happen at Twitter’ time to… Continue reading Time for a Pause

The impact of receiving funding on my creative practice: update about a 2018 Local Artist’s Bursary

Josephine Corcoran7 Comments
The image is a photo of Stonehenge taken from a car driving on the A303. The ancient stones can be seen in the near distance with faded green grass in the foreground and a blue sky with white clouds above.

Poetry is a slow business, at least it is for me. In 2018 I was awarded a local artist's bursary of £2000 from Ginkgo Projects/Bloor Homes to write poems in response to the landscape in and around Amesbury. I wrote a little about the bursary and my research for the poems on this blog as… Continue reading The impact of receiving funding on my creative practice: update about a 2018 Local Artist’s Bursary

Poem of the Day at the National Poetry Library, UK.

Josephine Corcoran6 Comments
The image is of four dried-out sweet william plants, parched of all colour because of hot weather and no rain, laid out on a white page in four lines as if four lines of a poem. At the top of the page, handwriting in blue ink reads 'poem with no rhyme or rain'.

One of my visual poems, an ecopoem called 'poem with no rhyme or rain', was selected as a joint winner in a competition for Instagram poems on the theme of 'the environment' - which was the theme for National Poetry Day (UK) this year - run by the National Poetry Library. It was also chosen… Continue reading Poem of the Day at the National Poetry Library, UK.

National Poetry Day (UK) 2022

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The image is of fallen leaves, flowers and berries from the garden, arranged in three lines as if a haiku, with seven, five, seven items on each line. The text reads 'Autumn Haiku, National Poetry Day 2022'.

This year the theme for NPD is 'The Environment'. Here's a visual poem I made today, using fallen leaves, flowers and berries from the garden. Visual Poem by Josephine Corcoran I've made more visual poems like this and posted them on Instagram @andothermaterial and I also blogged about making visual poems with flowers here. Happy… Continue reading National Poetry Day (UK) 2022

A Poem in Poetry Ireland Review

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The image is of issue 137 of Poetry Ireland Review which features a painting of two blurred figures clambering up the side of a hill or sand dune beneath a vividly blue, clouded sky

I have a new poem published in Poetry Ireland Review, issue 137 edited by Gerald Dawe. The poem 'High Summer World of Light' takes as its starting point a 2009 abstract painting of the same name by Gillian Ayres. High Summer World of Light, 2009 by Gillian Ayres It's my first time in the magazine… Continue reading A Poem in Poetry Ireland Review

Two New Poems in Magma Poetry and Raceme magazine

Josephine Corcoran6 Comments
The image shows a published poem by Josephine Corcoran hidden behind a yellow notebook and a pen

I have new poems out in current issues of two poetry magazines. Magma has published my poem 'Seen while walking: one high-heeled boot, black suede, in a public flower bed' in its 'Solitude' issue. This is my first time in Magma after submitting multiple times. This poem was one of a series I wrote last… Continue reading Two New Poems in Magma Poetry and Raceme magazine

Two poems from my book

Josephine Corcoran6 Comments
The image is of my poetry book 'What Are You After' which has a blue and orange cover.

I've shared a couple of poems from my poetry book on Twitter recently because the poems seemed relevant to different items in the news. Like many people, I was irritated by Dominic Raab's criticism of Angela Rayner (in Parliament, during Prime Minister's Questions) for attending an opera - Glyndbourne, in fact. For those who don't… Continue reading Two poems from my book

An awful lot of waiting to hear

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The image is of flowers and weeds growing in a garden

As I type this post, there are oxeye daisies, nasturtiums, sweet william, roses, mexican daisies and sunflowers growing in my garden. The hydrangea has turned on its lights again, the dog rose we planted last year to climb up a trellis is satisfyingly rambling. Since my last post, I've been up and back to London… Continue reading An awful lot of waiting to hear