never knowingly without a pen
(Books I find myself reading at the end of the year). My favourite books of the year are, of course, books published by my friends in 2022 and I’m not going to list those here since lists of that kind are already liberally dotted throughout social media. Instead, this post is about two books I… Continue reading My End of Year Books
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
A quick note to say that my poetry book What Are You After? has received a gorgeous review by Jonathan Edwards at Poetry Wales. You can read the whole review here. Stowaway (Seren, 2018) by Richard Gwyn and Feral (Bloodaxe, 2018) by Kate Potts are also reviewed by Jonathan Edwards. It's fair to say that,… Continue reading ‘What Are You After?’ reviewed at Poetry Wales
The cover image of Hugh Dunkerley's new poetry collection (Kin, Cinnamon Press, 2019) is of a newborn baby emerging from a birthing pool so I was expecting to read poems about human vulnerability, frailty, pain, the complexities of parenthood, anxiety and joy, among other things, and I wasn't disappointed. Poems in the first two thirds… Continue reading Book Review: Kin by Hugh Dunkerley
Town Hall Poets are a Poetry Society Stanza group who meet regularly at Trowbridge Town Hall, and other places, to read and talk about poetry, workshop each other's poems and arrange open-mic nights. We're also lucky enough to be the Trowbridge Chapter of the Candlestick Press Collective, which means that we receive complimentary copies of… Continue reading ‘Ten Poems from Ireland’ (Candlestick Press)
Reading Ruby Robinson’s debut collection Every Little Sound (Liverpool University Press, 2016) in the early days of the EU Referendum result, my ears were still ringing with one of the Leave campaign’s key slogans: “Take back Control,” an imperative phrase masquerading as a promise of freedom, and a reminder of the power dynamics at work in… Continue reading Review of ‘Every Little Sound’ by Ruby Robinson
Things have been quite slow in recent weeks as I've been looking after my husband, Andrew, who's recovering from surgery following his diagnosis of prostate cancer (and doing really well), plus it's been the Easter holidays for our two teenagers, always a mixture of chaotic delightfulness, late night taxi duty, complicated sleeping arrangements and noise.… Continue reading Slow, slow, slow-slow, slow.
As I mentioned before I've been on a 'sending off poems' spree recently so I'm now enjoying a lull in activities and catching up on some reading. This book (How (Not) to Get your Poetry Published, HappenStance Press, 2016) has had me gripped for the last few days. I bought it for several reasons: I think it will be… Continue reading A Self-Help Book for Poets
Thanks very much to Emma Lee Review of my poetry pamphlet 'The Misplaced House' at her blog.
I seem to be reading more and more recently, either poems and articles online or blog posts or poetry collections and poetry magazines. But I don't feel that I'm properly reading anything, not really absorbing the words, as if my head is just too busy and full to take very much in - and then… Continue reading Book Review: The Night My Sister Went to Hollywood by Hilda Sheehan
Josephine Corcoran 