2023 marks 25 years since Peter Mortimer’s Iron Press published The Iron Book of British Haiku, still available on the Iron website, here. It was co-edited by David Cobb and Martin Lucas, both of whom are no longer with us. I seem to remember reading somewhere that it sold over 5,000 copies. It certainly found … Continue reading On The Iron Book of British Haiku
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New poem – ‘Dentistry’
With thanks to editor Ben Banyard, I’m pleased to see my first publication of the year, over at Black Nore Review, here. It recalls a very strange day; one which, I expect, most people alive in the UK then – especially in the south – will remember well.
‘Smallpiece’
I was recently very fortunate and glad to see four of my poems published in the most recent issue of the lovely journal Pennine Platform – three short ones plus a longer one, ‘Smallpiece’, named after the gardener at Cecil Beaton’s Wiltshire home, Reddish House. A recording of me reading ‘Smallpiece’ is now on the … Continue reading ‘Smallpiece’
OPOI reviews of John F. Deane. Clare Best and Mark Wynne
The last batch of one-point-of-interest reviews for 2022 were published on Sphinx yesterday, here. They include my reviews of pamphlets by: John F. Deane, here; Clare Best, here; and Mark Wynne, here.As ever, though, there are lots of reviews, by and of a diverse range of voices, to enjoy and pique your interest.Thanks for reading … Continue reading OPOI reviews of John F. Deane. Clare Best and Mark Wynne
On On Poetry by Jackie Wills
I’ve been saving this up as my last non-collection/pamphlet read of the year. I bought and much enjoyed Wills’ collection Woman’s Head as a Jug (Arc) 10 years ago, and during the pandemic I got copies of three of her other five collections, which I also really enjoyed. So I had to buy a copy … Continue reading On On Poetry by Jackie Wills
My (sort of) year in haiku
As I said recently, I write precious few haiku nowadays and never try to force them out. It’s surprising for me to find, then, that this year I’ve written as many as 16 which I like to think have some merit to them. By some distance my favourite among them is this one, which Tanya … Continue reading My (sort of) year in haiku
On obscurity
A BBC website piece on the international appeal of Detectorists, available here, provides some instructive reading, in how superb writing can transcend supposed barriers: that, far from obscure cultural references being deterrents, they can actually possess intrinsic appeal because of their obscurity.I’ve had similar thought when reading We Peaked at Paper, subtitled ‘an oral history … Continue reading On obscurity
On disillusionment
On one Saturday morning shopping trip to Guildford when I was 14, while my parents spent ages in Debenham’s, I went into a secondhand bookshop and bought, for about 75 pence, a Penguin Modern Classics copy of Little Herr Friedemann and Other Stories by Thomas Mann. The only story I half-remember from it is a … Continue reading On disillusionment
Review of Greta Stoddart
My review of Greta Stoddart’s collection, Fool is up on The Friday Poem, here. It was a labour of love to undertake all the requisite back-catalogue re-reading before I read Fool and eventually started to write. As ever, the Friday Poem website has lots of really interesting reviews, articles and, of course, poems to read. … Continue reading Review of Greta Stoddart
On Fokkina McDonnell’s ‘Safe House’
The first and only occasion I’ve met Fokkina McDonnell in person was at the tail-end of the last century, at a British Haiku Society conference in Ludlow. At the time, I don’t think I knew that Fokkina also wrote longer poems; gradually though, in the last decade or so, and especially from her blog, available … Continue reading On Fokkina McDonnell’s ‘Safe House’
On the haiku of Caroline Gourlay
With thanks to Chris Boultwood and Judy Kendall, my essay on the haiku of Caroline Gourlay, published in Presence #73 in July, is now on the journal’s website, here. I owe a personal debt to Caroline, for a good deal of encouragement and friendly advice when I was starting out as a haiku poet 30 … Continue reading On the haiku of Caroline Gourlay
On (Eavan Boland and Colm Tóibín, again, on) Elizabeth Bishop
Having savoured Colm Tóibín’s book On Elizabeth Bishop, I then re-read words on Bishop by another great Irish writer, Eavan Boland: the chapter ‘Elizabeth Bishop: an unromantic American’ in her wonderful book A Journey with Two Maps (Carcanet, 2011), available here.The focus of that book is on Boland’s own poetic journey and how women poets … Continue reading On (Eavan Boland and Colm Tóibín, again, on) Elizabeth Bishop
On a haiku by Sheila Butterworth
all daythe drop and roll of acornson a tin roofThe benefit of having the Haiku Calendar on my work desk is that the monthly selections quickly seep into my consciousness. This one, one of the three runners-up for October in this year's calendar, must’ve been written, probably twenty-five or so miles to the north-west of where I am, … Continue reading On a haiku by Sheila Butterworth
On (Colm Tóibín on) Elizabeth Bishop
There’s a good case to be made for October being the loveliest month, in England at any rate; though only really when the sun shines and the plentiful golden yellows are at their best, like Samuel Palmer landscapes before your eyes.It’s also a month of melancholy, too, which suits me just fine. The ideal time … Continue reading On (Colm Tóibín on) Elizabeth Bishop
Haiku Society of America Haiku Award
Thanks to Chuck Brickley, I’ve recently had the great honour of co-judging, with Kat Lehmann, the Haiku Society of America’s annual haiku competition, named in memory of Harold G. Henderson, who played a pivotal role in helping to popularise haiku in English.I’ve been reflecting on why it's such a great honour. The answer is complex. … Continue reading Haiku Society of America Haiku Award