Ten pounds gets you a signed copy of The Knives of Villalejo with free p&p!
Endorsement for The Knives of Villalejo
"Matthew Stewart is a poet of consolidation, truth, and freshness, with a mastertful sense of economy. His poems matter, and his first collection has been too long in coming. These poems have the rare quality of resonating a long way beyond their modest physical limits."
I live between Extremadura, Spain, and West Sussex, England. Full collection, The Knives of Villalejo, with Eyewear Publishing. Two pamphlets, both now sold out, with HappenStance Press. You can get in touch with me via e-mail: matthstew@gmail.com.
There’s a long piece (6,759 words) by Sarah Resnick in the new issue of the
*LRB* on Ágota Kristóf, following the publication by Penguin last year of
Kri...
FHP 16perched precariouslybetween freeze and baked-red bloody seamy
key-bodyI foliage—out of every tragedyby C. Oulens GOP – 16 Train Bringing
me back to y...
Hardy called Swanage Knollsea. In this photo there's a concrete pillbox,
crab and lobster pots, and a folly from London. The ships that took
Portland sto...
“Cherries on a Pomegranate Tree” wears the weight of bureaucracy lightly
and uses satirical humour to make a serious point. Fanhua – translator Dave
Haysom...
The Literary Business, Peter Finch, Parthian Books, 2025, ISBN:
978-1917140522, £20.00 How do you sell books? Get the customer to pick up a
copy and then g...
Not long now until my 50th birthday…The last few weekends have seen (and
the next few will see) a swathe of 50th birthday celebrations. Despite the
insanit...
As much as the first cuckoo ever was, the (almost) annual brouhaha over the
choice of winner of the UK’s National Poetry Competition (NPC) is a sure
indica...
I have the great pleasure of inviting Saraswati Nagpal to drop-in today to
reflect on a poem from her stunning collection, Drench Me in Silver (Black
Bough...
It is a great pleasure introducing guest poet Kate Noakes. The four poems
are from her new collection Sublime Lungs, published this month by Two
Rivers Pre...
I wonder if there has ever been a study of how poets’ work alters as they
age. I don’t mean in terms of life experience or a switch of political
interpreta...
This is a collection by what you might call a doubly displaced poet:
brought up in England, he moves to Spain and experiences being seen as a
foreigner ...
Just a quick plug for Livi Michael’s new book , Elizabeth and Ruth (Salt
Publishing 2026). Livi was my supervisor when I was studying at Sheffield
Hallam a...
Wow! It's been a while since I've posted in here!
In this modern age of Substacks, Bluesky, Insta ect etc the humble blog
seems incredibly retro. I s...
Rishi Dastidar has always been an accessible and entertaining poet, with
asides in satire and political comment. Since his last book, however, he
seems to ...
My blog has been rather neglected of late, in part because of my low energy
levels, followed by cataract surgery and then a nasty chest infection, but
I am...
Here…
...and it was so beautiful. Imagine!
There are landscapes I’ve never been in before, and this was one. A high
lake in Sweden, frozen to 40-50 cm ...
Today is World Book Day 2026, and while the day is primarily intended for
children and young people, it seems sense to broaden the boundaries.
The co...
This review – or a shortened version of it – first appeared in The Times
Literary Supplement, 25th December 2025. Many thanks to Camille Ralphs for
commiss...
Roads go ever on and on, Over rock and under tree, By caves where never
sun has shone, By streams that never find the sea; Over snow by winter
sown, A...
Since my last post about the huge spike in this site’s visitors and views
(up over 500%) I’m pretty sure that it’s not my content but another, more
malicio...
I’ve never warmed to Shelley as a man, and when I’ve tried reading his
poetry in bulk I’ve found the process curiously unsatisfying. This is odd:
his writi...
Perhaps it is my southern hemisphere background, but I find it hard not to
feel gloomy in the cold, dark, dreary months of northern winter. This
December h...
We’ve been away for a holiday – and a good rest after a turbulent time in
the last eighteen months, and on our way home, I achieved a life-goal (as
my youn...
I've a new essay over at the *North Sea Poets* substack, addressing the
decline of reviewing culture, the rise of the poetry prizes, artistic
standards a...
Little SongFirst year: words left, like Gods returning to the underworld.In
the second, I lived as if I we both were dead.The words returned around
year th...
My poetry pen has to be set aside for a while after a book comes out, or
allowed to rest under whatever I’m reading, listening to, looking at. This
happens...
My poetry pen has to be set aside for a while after a book comes out, or
allowed to rest under whatever I’m reading, listening to, looking at. This
happens...
Today is National Poetry Day in the UK, and this year's theme is 'Refuge'.
On a global scale, the world is experiencing the highest levels of
displaceme...
Generally Speaking (about Bookshops) Although there is undoubtedly a few
collections of poetry that are criminally bad, you wouldn’t head to the
crime se...
The concept of poetic ecological collapse has been widely discussed, and so
I add here only a few additional notes of personal reflection. Readers will
kno...
It’s been a while since I did once of these, but maybe there’s something
here to tempt you. Christmas is just around the corner… If you’re
interested in an...
I thought I'd posted this a couple of weeks back, and realise now that I
didn't, but better late than never – this is an excellent tribute to the
poet Ma...
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