Category craic

When it comes to public art, everyone’s an expert. No sooner has a statue been installed in a park or on a roundabout or in front of a town hall than somebody will stroll by – usually on social media,…

Ah, the life of a jobbing poet! Yesterday was spent sitting on a sofa in the autumn sunshine at BlackBerry Fair in Whitchurch in Shropshire, as myself and fellow pandemonialist Emma Purshouse offered Poetry on Demand to anyone who fancied…

The wonder of poetry is that it allows every individual the opportunity to express themselves, to share their unique take on things, to make their voice heard and – maybe – surprise themselves with what they have to say. For me,…

Yesterday was a busy day. In the evening, a first ever trip to Scribal Gathering – a glorious open mic night of music and poetry in Stony Stratford which is well worth checking out if you’re in the area –…

Excuse the trumpet-blowing, but it’s been a bit of a summer with my poetry and competitions. One poem got itself shortlisted for the Plough poetry prize, another was longlisted in the Write By The Sea poetry competition in Ireland, a…

I’ve been trying to find the words to articulate – to myself as much as anyone – why it is I feel so tired at the moment. Although ‘tired’ doesn’t really do it justice. Bone-weary might be nearer the mark.…

Yes, I know, it’s the afternoon. Don’t be picky. Here, for what it’s worth, is my take on what the general election results mean for the parties involved (and, indeed, for us). I’ve done my level best to make it…

Yesterday – by chance, idly clearing my poetry decks of admin – I discovered that one of my poems had been shortlisted in the Plough Poetry competition. This was a very welcome piece of news on a Thursday afternoon, and…

If you’re a regular visitor to my website you may have noticed that it’s been a little quiet here recently. I’ve not been posting any new poems, or getting up on my soapbox and sounding off about anything and everything.…

Over the past few weeks I’ve been out and about with my new book, doing gigs in pubs and in cafes, universities and independent bookshops. It’s been joyous – like most poets, I get a tremendous buzz out of putting my…

I don’t often get round to talking about my poetry. For the most part, I’d far rather my poems spoke for themselves: they’re likely to be every bit as eloquent, far less prone to heading off at a tangent, and…

Well, we are living in interesting times, aren’t we? At the start of this week, the news that West Belfast rap band Kneecap are taking Kemi Badenoch (currently Secretary of State for Business and Trade, though we’ll see how long…