a purple patch
It’s nice to be having one of those. One of my poems was chosen as winner of a competition, with another being longlisted too. You can read and hear them here, but this is the one that won:
Read MoreIt’s nice to be having one of those. One of my poems was chosen as winner of a competition, with another being longlisted too. You can read and hear them here, but this is the one that won:
Read MoreAs the competition anthology is now out (To Make Us Real), I can publish this poem here. It was commended in the Winchester poetry prize. As you will see, it’s another from the series about my mum. I hope you like it (if that is the right word!):
Read MoreHello dear readers. It’s very cheering to be able to say I won a prize in a competition (although you have won third prize in a competition sounds very much like Monopoly!). ‘getting the summer clothes out of storage’ is one of the poems from the new book (light-of-day date as yet unknown), but you can read it here, if you’d like to.
Usual post will be up tomorrow. See you then.
And shit has been more and less together in the meantime, but at last I’m able to anticipate regular posting again. Hurrah! I thought I’d start with a simple one, partly because it’s about my other work as a therapist (which has swallowed a lot of my time in the last year) and partly because I’m chuffed that it was chosen as an entry in the Samaritans Book of Hope anthology. Here it is:
Read MoreGosh, more stuff on the interweb: I’m writing a guest post for fellow-poet Nigel Kent, who is also going to review shades of blue. Nigel will shortly be a guest columnist here for us. I know he’s going to be introducing a poet new-to-me, so I very much look forward to that.
In the meantime, my piece will be up on the 17th April, and will look at one a poem from shades of blue and how it relates to my work in general. I’ll be saying the kind of stuff I’d normally have been saying at readings over the last year as I introduced the book. It’s nice to have a chance to do that. Go to Nigel’s site on the 17th to read my post.
Like most people, I imagine, I’ve found it hard to keep going with my usual activities these last few months—including writing, though it’s central to my life both as process and product. There’s just so much energy needed to keep so much stuff at bay; so much effort going into not shouting with rage or terror or sheer frustration (well not in public anyway)… Time, I thought to do some celebrating. Share some good news for a change.
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