I’m reading at the Indie Press Poetry Showcase at Birmingham University this coming Saturday, 19th October. Looking forward to hearing everyone else – there are sixteen of us reading for 5 minutes each. It should be a blast.
Craft of Writing Teacher Short Course
Very much looking forward to co-tutoring on the Craft of Writing Teacher Short Course for the Arvon Foundation with Jamila Gavin at Lumb Bank, November 1st-3rd 2019.
New Poems in Litter
I’m very pleased to have four new poems published in the excellent Litter. Thanks to Alan Baker.
New poems on M58
Good to have some new work published on M58, Thanks to Andrew Taylor.
Reading Round: a new reading group in Cheltenham
I’m delighted to be leading a Reading Round in Cheltenham and looking forward to starting it in September. Reading Round is a reading group with no preparatory reading or other homework. The focus is on reading and exploring a short story and a poem in each session: I will distribute copies and read them aloud, and we’ll discuss them in a relaxed, informal atmosphere. There’s more information here. The Reading Round will take place at School House Cafe, a community-based cafe in St Pauls, walking distance from Cheltenham town centre. Sessions will be on Tuesdays at 2.00-3.30pm starting 17th September 2019. The Reading Round is free to attend, but places are limited and booking is essential. If you’d like to book a place or find out more, please send me an email. There are thirty sessions in total. Reading Round is sponsored by the Royal Literary Fund.
Prose Poetry Anthology
Good to have work in this new anthology of prose poetry. Thanks to Anne Caldwell and Oz Hardwick. I thought it was going to be good and it is – well worth checking out here.
Arvon Teacher Week, July 2019
Very much looking forward to tutoring the Arvon Teacher Week with Catherine Johnson, July 22nd-27th at The Hurst in Shropshire. An Arvon course at Lumb Bank was hugely important when I started out writing. This is a great opportunity for teachers – and it’s subsidised.
The Golden Book: Fifty Years of Arvon
Good to have a piece in this, an anthology celebrating fifty years of the Arvon Foundation. Available here or free if you attend an Arvon course in 2019.
According to John James
This has just arrived. I’m pleased to have work in here along with such good company. Thanks to Kelvin Corcoran, and to Tony Frazer at Shearsman. The cover’s by Bruce McLean. Copies available from Shearsman.
From the Shearsman website:
‘Sadly, John James passed away in May 2018, just a month after launching his New & Selected Poems, Sarments (Shearsman Books) in London. Here friends, admirers and colleagues take their cue from 2 quatrains in James’s ‘Theory of Poetry’, and respond accordingly: Anthony Barnett, Kelvin Corcoran, Chris Cornwell, Lyndon Davies, Andrew Duncan, John Goodby, John Hall, Alan Halsey, Peter Hughes, Romana Huk, Linda Kemp, Mark Leahy, Tony Lopez, Anthony Mellors, Ian Patterson, Simon Perril, J.H. Prynne, Denise Riley, Peter Riley, Gavin Selerie, Simon Smith, John Temple, Nick Totton, Karlien van den Beukel, Robert Vas Dias, Geoff Ward, John Wilkinson, Cliff Yates, plus a painting by Bruce McLean on the cover.’
Safe as Milk
Here’s a short film of me talking about Captain Beefheart’s Safe as Milk and the importance of it for my writing, as part of the Royal Literary Fund’s Writer’s Talisman series. Thanks to the RLF and to Kona Macphee.
