Martyn Crucefix - Works and Days of Division

Over at his excellent blog, Martyn Crucefix has just embarked on an ambitious project. Titled Works and Days of Division, it's made up of 29 original poems by Crucefix himself that will be published on a daily basis from today (see here) to 29th March.

Of course, we're all only too aware that 29/3 is Brexit day, and these poems will portray and address the current divided state of the U.K., both directly and indirectly. Bearing in mind that I've long admired Martyn's work, the chance to follow the publication of 29 new pieces - all inviting the reader to engage with painful current affairs - seems to me a top-notch example of politically aware poetry at its best. Here's hoping that over the coming weeks this exciting project receives the recognition it so richly deserves...

Martyn Crucefix on The Knives of Villalejo

I'm grateful to Martyn Crucefix for featuring the title poem from The Knives of Villalejo on Instagram the other day. He also highlighted the collection as a whole in the "Recent Reading" section of his website, stating...

"...Few recent books are as economical and delicately allusive as Matthew Stewart’s debut, The Knives of Villalejo, from Eyewear Publishing..."

You can read more here.

Two poetry bloggers on their fathers

Two of my favourite poetry bloggers have written exquisitely about their fathers in the last couple of months. Both tell us something of their respective family histories, complemented by one of their own poems. The stories and contexts might be very different, but each blogger offers their readers a moving poetic achievement. You can read Martyn Crucefix's post here and Liz Lefroy's piece here.

Martyn Crucefix on metrics

So many emerging poets (and even a few workshop leaders) seem to think that metrics are an irrelevance when creating verse, as if we can break every single rule before learning any of them, as if almost all top-notch abstract artists weren't first excellent draughtsmen. As a consequence, it's been a real pleasure to read Martyn Crucefix's blog over the past week or so.

Crucefix has been doing some teaching for the Poetry School, concentrating on metrics, and has then written two terrific posts on the back of his sessions. You can read them here. Apart from being entertaining and accessible, they are backed up by a formal rigour and knowledge that can only help any poet to understand the nuts and bolts of how verse is constructed. Wholeheartedly recommended!

Poems for Europe on The Stare's Nest

In the run-up to the E.U. referendum, Judi Sutherland has launched a Poems for Europe feature on The Stare's Nest. From now till 15th June, a daily poem will be posted to celebrate all the good reasons for staying European. I'm pleased to report that my work is scheduled to appear next week (more news about that in due course) alongside excellent pieces such as today's poem from Martyn Crucefix.

Martyn Crucefix and his blog

Martyn Crucefix is hardly a newcomer to the U.K. poetry scene. In fact, I've been a reader of his verse since the early 1990s. His blog, however, has been a more recent development and is one that I very much enjoy. 

Highlights include his posts on the experience of judging a poetry competition (see here) and on nostalgia (see here). The latter is of particular interest to me, as I feel nostalgia plays a key role in my own verse. Crucefix weaves general poetic points through specifics and through his own experience of his father's failing memory. The following quote is crucial to his argument, but I do recommend you have a read of the whole thing:

"Remembering our past serves to remind us of who we are, what we have been, what intimacy we have achieved, what we are capable of , then and now, in the future. It builds resilience because, although often concerned with trauma and sadness, it is posed in a redemptive sequence..."