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
Tag: writing
Two poems from my book
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
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
Towards Spring
What has changed since my last blog in January? Well, the world has changed dramatically, hasn't it, but, here in my small corner of west Wiltshire, the news is less distressing. Since I last wrote here, there have been two in-person Trowbridge Stanza meetings, after a break of two years. Our monthly gatherings, on first… Continue reading Towards Spring
My Poetry Submissions System
My system for keeping tracks of poetry submissions is a spreadsheet-free zone. It involves paper, pen and coloured pencils. It isn't for everyone but it works for me and I thought I'd share it with you. First, I keep track of all of my submissions in a little book. It was a freebie from a… Continue reading My Poetry Submissions System
New poem in 14 magazine
Making visual poems with flowers
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
New Poem in the 2021 Live Canon Anthology
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
July Update
I have two new poems coming out in The North magazine, should be very soon. In the same issue, I've reviewed poetry collections by Maria Taylor, Katherine Stansfield and Jackie Wills. I've also had an acceptance for a poem in 14 magazine which will be published later this year. Many rejections which I won't list… Continue reading July Update
End of month blog and some wildflower poems
An end of month blog just to say hello. I'm not blogging much at all but quite often posting a picture or two on Instagram - which I think of as a micro blogging site. I have a pamphlet of poems without a publisher - that is, I haven't found a publisher who wants the… Continue reading End of month blog and some wildflower poems