never knowingly without a pen
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 We’re a mix of published and unpublished writers of different ages, backgrounds and experiences.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
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
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
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
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
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
A new poem 'Self-Portrait as a Green Silk Dress' has been accepted by 14 magazine (Vanguard Editions) and will be published in their next issue, now available to order. My thanks to editor Richard Skinner. Here is an image of the dress that inspired the poem:
I've used this blog before as a place to record workshop ideas, so I'm adding a post about some visual poems I've made as they would also work very well in a workshop. Here I've substituted flowers for syllables, words and rhymes in a few poetic forms (haiku, couplet, quatrain, end rhyme) but any found… Continue reading Making visual poems with flowers
My poem 'A Baby Speaks on his Birthday in an Autumn Garden, 2020' has been longlisted in this year's Live Canon International Poetry Competition and will be published in their annual anthology. Anthology cover photo by Anna Watson My thanks to the competition organisers, everyone at Live Canon and judge Jennifer Wong. More details and… Continue reading New Poem in the 2021 Live Canon Anthology
Josephine Corcoran 