A video from the Rogue Strands reading in London

Thanks to Mat Riches' dexterity with his flash phone, here's a video of me reading a poem from Whatever You Do, Just Don't at the recent Rogue Strands event in London. My YouTube channel seems to be functioning very well as a way of reaching new readers, and I'd be grateful if you could subscribe...

On Establishments

As soon as an old establishment is shunted aside by a new one, the new establishment's days are numbered. Its aura immediately starts to lose its shine, and another establishment, as yet unidentified, begins an ascent to replace it in turn.

And so the process continues. Favours are always traded. Nests are forever feathered. The names and faces and labels might vary, but the dynamics of power remain the same...

Two new poems in The Spectator

I've had two new poems in The Spectator over the last couple of weeks. It's always good to place poetry in an outlet that reaches so many general readers, but I'm especially happy on this occasion, given that these are my first publications since Whatever You Do, Just Don't came out.

Nigel Kent's generosity

Thanks to Nigel Kent's generosity, there are two features about Whatever You Do, Just Don't up at his website. On the one hand, there's a "Drop-in", written by myself, in which I focus on one of the poems from the collection, which is also reproduced in the same article. And on the other hand, there's Nigel's exquisite review of my collection. Here's a quick quote, but you can read it in full via this link...

Stewart’s collection shows what can be achieved when a poet doesn’t ignore most people: when a poet engages with universal concerns in poems that are apparently artless yet finely crafted, in poems that are ambitious yet always accessible, relatable and meaningful.