I’ve reviewed two collections for the Summer 2020 issue of the excellent Poetry Wales: Matthew Haigh’s Death Magazine (Salt Publishing, 2019) and Roberto Pastore’s Hey Bert (Parthian, 2019). Here’s a couple of teasers: On Death…
As if interspecies paranormal relationships weren’t enough, I’ve written for The Rumpus on the parallel insecurities in writing and kink. “Playing A Part: Imposter Syndrome in Kink and Writing” is an exploration of the pressures we…
Poetry publishing can be fun, rewarding and inspiring, but it can also prove tough, isolating and tiring. With that in mind, I’ve written this short piece for the wonderful BookMachine about the need for poetry…
There’s a brilliant vignette in Adam Warren’s graphic novel Empowered in which the insecure hero’s boyfriend Thugboy lets us in on his theory of quantum hotness: It’s a prime cut of comic book truth that’s…
You can’t sit on your laurels as a writer, they say. Get out there on social media, they say. Plug your work. Brag your achievements. Promote promote promote. And they’re right. Sort of. Poetry doesn’t…
About a month ago, a contact on LinkedIn posted a link to a TED talk by writer Oscar Schwartz, titled “Can a computer write poetry?” Schwartz is one of the co-creators of the site Bot…
In a book shop, poetry is at most divided by single author v anthology, or by time period. Most times, it is not divided at all, simply arranged alphabetically by author, which means unless you…
Living in London, we’re surrounded by TFL’s abominable Travel Better London posters, with their godawful doggerel. First, you spot one and sigh gently to yourself. Then you notice another. And another. Ye gods, they’re all…
A confession. I hate shopping for poetry. At least in physical shops. Don’t get me wrong. I love and adore bookshops. They are a joy and absolutely crucial to the publishing industry. And I love…
