On being shortlisted for the costa poetry award
This week it was announced that my third collection of poems, Reckless Paper Birds was one of the four books on the shortlist for this year’s Costa Poetry Award. I was, of course, thrilled. [...]
South Bank Poetry Competition – Terms & Conditions
Please read these terms carefully before entering the competition. Entering the competition constitutes an acceptance of these terms and conditions. About the business The promoter of this [...]
Poetry and your legacy
“What will survive of us is love,” writes the famously cynical Philip Larkin in “An Arundel Tomb.” This one line of poetry has always resonated with me. What survives of us is the networks and [...]
Poetry and your future
Do you see yourself as a poet? Many of us will not achieve international fame as poets, nor be able to make a living entirely from our writing. But if you’re a poet-and-you-know-it, then [...]
Poetry and identity
A while ago, I overheard someone say that they didn’t have a “cool identity”. They listed a few things they felt might make their identity cooler, like being a vegan, being a DJ or being gay (I [...]
Poetry and telling your story
Everybody- everybody– has a story to tell. You need only look at the popularity of something like Humans of New York (in which anonymous, random people on the street are encouraged to [...]