Becoming a writer
Dorothea Brande hit on something in this early book that has inspired writers for nearly a century
Jeff Phelps
Unsung people and places
My review of Emma Purshouse’s Unsung, published by Offa’s Press. The review is available on the Ink, Sweat & Tears website Emma Purshouse‘s third full collection of poetry is a tribute to the distinctive places and voices of the Black…
Old Friends
It must have been 1984, the year after Kazuo Ishiguro published his first novel, A Pale View of Hills. Most of us hadn’t heard of him, but he came to the then Cannon HIll Arts Centre in Birmingham to run…
Making it all worthwhile
‘The best moments in reading are when you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – which you had thought special and particular to you. And now, here it is, set down by…
Notebook Magic
making notebooks with hardly any cutting or gluing
Things are Looking Up
Looking Up - poetry anthology produced by Trowbridge Stanza poetry group in aid of Dorothy House charity
City Voices at twenty three
I headed up to the Lych Gate Tavern, Wolverhampton for City Voices on 9th December, which Simon Fletcher has been hosting since its beginning in 2002. It was Simon’s last evening hosting City Voices. He is moving onto new projects.…
Trees anthology
I received a copy of this latest poety anthology from Offa’s Press, edited by Simon Fletcher and Kuli Kohli. Native trees, deciduous trees, evergreens, foreign trees, climbed trees, remembered, forgotten and fallen trees, haiku and prose poems. So many ways…
Coming Up
Some writing events I’m involved in over the next few months: Sunday 2nd Feb. 2020, 10.30am – Square Routes. As part of Wolverhampton Literature Festival I’m leading a walk to look at some of the city’s squares and public spaces.…
Poetry Postcards
It’s the twentieth anniversary of Poetry on Loan and to celebrate PoL commissioned poets from across the West Midlands to write on the subject of Anniversary. Poems had to fit on a postcard – so not too long in the…
Poetry Bus Magazine
Delighted to have two poems in Poetry Bus Magazine, Issue Eight. This magazine from Ireland really looks great. I loved the clear type face. The cover is The Crown by Carl-Martin Sandvold, which was runner up in the 2019 BP…
Postcard Poems
New Poetry on Loan postcards coming out in October 2019