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 founded and edited the online poetry site And Other Poems until 2023.

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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

Out and About Again

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The image is of a country road surrounded by greenery

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

Ukrainian and Russian Poetry at MPT magazine

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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

Poems in response to drawings

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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