We are drawing to the close of the Ouse Muse season for 2013/14 but there is one last chance to join us - for a special Australian celebration - on the 19th (8pm, Harpur's, MK40 2RD). Over on the Ouse Muse page (under the events tab in the headline navigation) you will find the emerging details of … [Read more...]
Happy Strokestown
May 1, 2014 By
Off to the lovely, intimate, Strokestown Poetry Festival this weekend. One of my poems is on the shortlist, which means I get a 20 minute reading and even (oh wonders!) a fee. I was lucky enough to do this in 2008 and I'm really looking forward to returning to the friendliest of festivals. You … [Read more...]
The gift economy
March 28, 2014 By
It's not every day poetry appears in the news - even the local news - so I'm very grateful to Bedfordshire on Sunday for the short profile they ran on me recently. Which brings us to the subject of self-promotion. Yes, I feel guilty and embarrassed to be calling up the press and angling for … [Read more...]
The Venture Award
March 4, 2014 By
I'm delighted to be short listed (as one of four) for the Venture pamphlet award run by Flipped Eye. Poetry competitions are odd things - in some sense the very idea that poetry could be competitive seems wrong - but at the same time they have always been with us. Poetry was, of course, one of … [Read more...]
Poetry by Heart
February 27, 2014 By
I was very pleased to be asked to act as compere for the Bedfordshire round of Poetry by Heart - a schools poetry recital competition - on February 8th. Bedford Central Library provided venue and organisation, we recruited three excellent, varied judges and the competitors were a delight. The event … [Read more...]
Me! Me! Me!
January 14, 2014 By
It was a busy Autumn - big thank yous to all those friends who supported the launch events for Intermittent beings, and Magma 57. Both still on sale from Magma and Cinnamon. Apologies for the egocentric information roundup that follows. It promises to be a busier New Year in Bedford and around. … [Read more...]
Long Poem Magazine 10
November 21, 2013 By
LPM strikes me as a necessary magazine in all kinds of ways. Its dedication to publishing longer poems and sequences makes it unique in the ecosystem of poetry in the UK (I don't know if there is a US or international counterpart). The 'sequence' or 'project' has become an vital area of new poetry … [Read more...]
Look it’s a Book
September 13, 2013 By
It's here! Copies of my new book from Cinnamon arrived this morning. Now I know this is not the end of the process - to wax Churchillian it might just count as the end of the beginning - but I'm enjoying it all the same. It's pretty much twelve months since the manuscript was finished and the most … [Read more...]
Events for Autumn 2013
September 6, 2013 By
Well here we are again, Autumn chill in the air and time to huddle around and warm ourselves by the little guttering candle of poetry. In other words here's some events folks. The new Ouse Muse season kicks off on 19th Sept with a regular open mic at Harpur's in Bedford, 8pm in the cellar. After … [Read more...]
One Year of Open Mics
July 1, 2013 By
So after all those years saying 'why isn't there a poetry scene in Bedford?' now there is - at least a bit. First of all thanks to all those who have supported Ouse Muse, and our good friends at the Poetry Cafe sessions, over the last season. We've had 9 open mics, with audiences between 10 and 30, … [Read more...]
I am a poet writing in a range of styles from performance-led to page-based and limerick to avant-garde.