Over at The Poetry Shed, Abegail Morley's astute editorial eye has selected a terrific poem by Mat Riches for publication today. You can read it by following this link.
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.
2nd May - Poet Ross Ayres, poet Philip Dunkerley, and novelist and
short-story writer Helen Claire Gould, plus panel chair columnist and
broadcaster Pete...
Our culture’s obsession with property – as self-expression, as glamorous or
quirky backdrop, as literally solid investment, as anything beyond mere
shelter...
*You took a reid threid [red thread] and knetis [tied] it about your cow’s
tail. Which is also a special point of witchcraft.*
This is an account of wit...
GPH30 The Cleethorpes Rock Company MO30 FHP30 FHP30The Wolf WithinIn the
hour before dawn,When nothing has decided itself yet,Something shifts under
the la...
“Afterlife” is a selection of new poems and poems from previous
collections, “Kiss” (2000), “Take Me with You” (2005) and “Farewell My
Lovely” (2009)”, in ...
I can happily recommend Paul Muldoon’s anthology of old and new sonnets
Scanty Plot of Ground, which I read with real pleasure. Before opening it I
thought...
My poem Interior with a Table has been awarded equal Fourth Prize in the
2026 Kent & Sussex 2026 Open Poetry Competition. I was delighted,
especially as th...
How Culhwch Won Olwen, Liam Guilar (trans.), Shearsman Books, 2026, ISBN:
9781837380121, £12.95 Book of Inversions, Kit Fryatt & Harry Gilonis
(trans.), Ve...
This, Ian Storr’s second, beautifully-titled collection of haiku (and
haibun), has been a long time coming, 16 years in fact, since Seeds from a
Larch Cone...
I am proud to share news of the publication of a lyric essay that I have
co-authored with my colleague and friend Patricia Debney (also a survivor
of child...
I am proud to share news of the publication of a lyric essay that I have
co-authored with my colleague and friend Patricia Debney (also a survivor
of child...
[This morning’s attempts to make sense of it all.] THE JUGGLER It’s a
curse. I can’t escape it. I juggle.(Some who remember yearn to forget.)A
scientist ha...
Readers of the April edition of The Candyman’s Trumpet, edited by the
remarkable Sanjeev Sethi, will have been reminded of the rich seam of
poetry and abun...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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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