Three forthcoming readings

Right, so I’ve got three in-person readings coming up. The details are as follows:

Saturday 28^th Feb. Guest Poet at Ver Poets in St Albans (with Mat Riches). Venue is St Albans General Library, kicking off at 11 a.m.. This is a free event.

Monday 2^nd March. Rogue Strands Poetry Reading at The Devereux in London (with Mat Riches, George Szirtes, Christopher Reid, Jemma Borg and Katharine Towers). This event begins at 6.45 p.m. and it’s free.

Tuesday 3^rd March. Guest Poet at Ouse Muse in Bedford. The venue is the Eagle Bookshop, starting at 8 p.m..

It would be great to see you there!

Rogue Strands event on 2nd March...

✅George Szirtes ✅Christopher Reid ✅Jemma Borg ✅Katharine Towers  

I can't quite believe we've brought this stunning line-up together for our forthcoming Rogue Strands event. It would grace any of the top literary festivals in the country. And on top of that, it's free! Here's the poster with all the details (2nd March at 18.45 at The Devereux Tavern in London)...

An open goal?

Endings to poems that tap it into an open goal seem to me far less interesting than ones that bend it into the top corner when the keeper wasn't even expecting a shot.

The book knows...

The book knows that, just like humans, it's destined to be born and die alone. But it also knows (again, just like humans) that it would far prefer to be accompanied in the meantime.

The book trembles with anticipation when the poet finally places it in an envelope and heads for the post office, launching it on a journey to its reader, though that's nothing in comparison to the feeling of being held at last, its pages caressed and maybe even folded back if one or two of the poems really hit home... 

Faction

Faction (n). A blend of fact and fiction that transforms anecdote into craft and then art.

The Irish Centre for Poetry Studies

I'm very grateful to Maurice Devitt at the Irish Centre for Poetry Studies for posting my poem, ‘Heading for the Airport’, on their Facebook page (see here). I gather it's now garnered over 22,000 views and more than 270 likes. Who said there's no latent readership for poetry...?!

Getting to know your own collection

Many poets seem to leave their book behind as soon as it's published, but at that point I feel I'm only just getting to know it.

First of all, the reviews it receives (if the poet's lucky!), provide an excellent sounding board. Which poems do reviewers highlight? What elements are cast into doubt? And secondly, what about the readers who buy the collection? These days, they often select a favourite poem or two from the book and post them on social media. Which ones are chosen? And thirdly, the poems that the poet might also decide to share. Which generate most traction? Which are most popular? Which garner most sales of the book? And then there are in-person readings. As mentioned previously on here, those events enable the poet to explore their collection again, to test which poems go down best in person, and which appear to disappoint.

And finally, the poet often benefits from time to weigh up all this feedback, to gauge it, to avoid dramatic, knee-jerk reactions to it, to compare and contrast it, to consider how it might (or might not!) contribute to the writing of their next collection. Of course, none of this process is possible if they turn their back on the book and immediately embark on another creative project as soon as a copy reaches their hands. The seemingly fallow period that follows publication is, in my view, a necessary pause, a pause that may be filled by the satisfaction of engaging with readers.