My End of Year Books

A picture of two books

(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

A new pamphlet in 2023

A bouquet of flowers with the message 'Congratulations with love from your family'.

I’m very happy to share the news that I was one of three winners in Live Canon’s 2022 Pamphlet/Chapbook Competition and a pamphlet of about 20 of my poems will be published in 2023. These poems have been accumulating in my notebook since the 2018 publication of my full collection What Are You After? (Nine… Continue reading A new pamphlet in 2023

On getting poems published

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 We’re a mix of published and unpublished writers of different ages, backgrounds and experiences.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

Time for a Pause

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

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

A Poem in Poetry Ireland Review

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

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

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

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

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