Way back in late 2016 – when myself, Emma Purshouse, and Dave Pitt founded the Poets, Prattlers, and Pandemonialists collective – one of our major goals was to take poetry out of its small-but-beautifully-formed niche and plonk it down in…
Well, kind of. I was busy making a hot chocolate late last night (yes, that’s how wildly rock’n’roll life at mine is right now) and it suddenly occurred to me that I hadn’t updated the website in… what? Weeks? Ye…
A huge (and slightly belated) thanks to everyone who came along to last week’s benefit gig for Paulette Wilson. It was a last-minute venture, and we didn’t really know what to expect, how many people would turn up, or how…
This Thursday I’ll be taking part in a benefit gig in Wolverhampton. It’s got one simple aim: to raise money for Paulette Wilson, a grandmother living in Wolverhampton who’s currently under threat of deportation. If you don’t know anything about…
I don’t know quite how it happened, exactly how it is I fell through the cracks and found a way of life which allows me to put bread on the table while doing things I enjoy (rather than slaving at…
Like a lot of poets, I genuinely struggle with self-promotion. Really. Writing poems? No problem. Sharing them? Yep, that’s fine. Appreciating other people’s work? Of course. But when it comes to making a song and dance about – say –…
Here it is. The new book. a fine fine place. To say I’m proud of it doesn’t begin to do it justice, but – if I’m honest – the pride is shrouded just a little in a fog of exhaustion…
OK, where did the summer go? Last time I sat down to write a blog, August still stretched out before me with the promise of golden days and summer heat. Now, there’s mist in the mornings and I’m putting on…
The day is almost upon us. From Friday, I’ll be in Edinburgh. Saturday is the first date in a one-week run of ‘Poets, Prattlers, and Pandemonialists’ the spoken-word-show-piece-of-theatre type thingummy I’ve been rehearsing with Dave Pitt and Emma Purshouse. I…
Sometimes, an idea blurted out on the spur of the moment in the course of a few drinks down the pub, a nothing, a casual aside you never really expect will go anywhere, well, it proves to be a moment…
In 2012, my book ‘Island Songs’ was published. It had been a good while since I’d dipped my toes into the world of performance poetry, and I ordered way more books than I was ever likely to sell. Ah well,…
It’s a worrying moment. You’ve just about made it to the end of your poem, and you know you’ve nailed it. Tone of voice? Bang on. Body language? Perfect. You’ve even remembered all the words, and got them in the…