Category Archives: Reading

A lost friend, agent hunting, and new collections of short stories

Posted on November 16, 2018 by

My friend Janet Summerton died on October 1st at the age of 79.  I was heavily involved in her care during her last two months, and that of her husband Ken who survives her. Janet was a lateral thinking champion … Continue reading →

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Gregory Vincent St. Thomasino, and grappling with what’s difficult

Posted on June 26, 2018 by

When I meet a difficult text, it invariably makes me think of the Genesis story of Jacob and the Angel, or at least its depictions in art.  I like Jacob Epstein’s statue Jacob and the Angel (1940) in the Tate, … Continue reading →

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Poetry omnivore

Posted on February 21, 2018 by

For me, it’s all been about poetry so far this year. Sarah Barnsley, Robin Houghton and I have been putting together an anthology from Telltale, about which there will be more news shortly. Meanwhile I’ve been editing my own 24-poem, … Continue reading →

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He who saw the deep

Posted on November 15, 2016 by

I listen to half a dozen podcasts every week. One of these is from BBC Radio 4 In Our Time, which is hosted by Melvyn Bragg, takes a scholarly subject (from the sciences and arts) every week and discusses it with experts. … Continue reading →

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Jessica Mookherjee’s ‘The Swell’ – hear her with Judy Brown, Siegfried Baber and Michaela Ridgway 19th Oct in Lewes

Posted on October 16, 2016 by

Gillian Clarke’s remarks on the pamphlet flap for Jessica Mookherjee’s Telltale Press pamphlet  The Swell are spot on. Among them she says Jess’s poems are ‘Bold, fiery, truthful, they tell an original story with power’. Other than reading The Swell at a fairly late … Continue reading →

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More on project 154

Posted on May 22, 2016 by

I received my copy of the Live Canon Project 154 book a day or so ago. All of Shakespeare’s sonnets, with a response by 154 contemporary poets including friends like Robin Houghton, Antony Mair, Sue Rose and many more. As … Continue reading →

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Two short reviews: Tamar Yoseloff and Clare Best

Posted on November 29, 2015 by

A look at two recent publications. A Formula for Night, New and Selected Poems by Tamar Yoseloff, and Cell by Clare Best with art by Michaela Ridgway. New and Selected Poems: A formula for Night by Tamar Yoseloff from Seren Books. A New and Selected is … Continue reading →

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