I’ve recently encountered some poetry that did absolutely nothing for me. It was very clever I’m sure. It was probably very well constructed but I couldn’t really tell the fault I fear of not having a classical education.   Of course everyone will say its brilliant ‘blah blah blah’ but to quote my very clever friend Sherrie (who I suspect has classical knowledge) ‘it’s the emperor’s new clothes.’

Either way this type of poetry that either flaunts its poet’s education or l...

I seem to spend hours reading poetry .  After a while it can pall. So recently I have returned (dizzies permitting ) to prose and find that it’s really refreshing .  I’m reading all the books I always promised myself I’d read . This is includes ‘Oranges are not the only fruit’  which I loved . After years of marking A’ level course work on the book, swearing to read it , I finally have.

The next challenge is Hemmingway. A friend who adores the writer lent me ‘A farewell to Arms...

I’ve always wanted to run a book and coffee shop. Don’t we all?  An impossible dream since the bully boys Waterstones has cornered the market. The last independent shop in Canterbury bit the dust some years ago. 

So I’ve decided to create a book page for the magazine where poets can display their new collections. I became quite ambitious by deciding to up load front covers and blurb which of course is causing a great deal of tutting on my part.

I’m amazed at how many collections so...

It’s so strange which work gets accepted where.  A poem that got kicked out of every magazine so that it had crawled into a corner whimpering with shame suddenly got a reprieve last week and by a prestigious magazine I’ve been stalking for years.

Thereby proving yet again how subjective poetry is.  Often a poem is rejected not because it is poorly written but the subject matter doesn’t chime with the editor. 

When I’m reviewing I’m careful not to decry work simply because the sub...

A couple of times I have found my work bobbing up in very strange places not least a horror magazine (not a magazine publishing horrendous poetry you understand). 

It was entirely my own fault because I didn’t inspect the publication thoroughly  by reading the work and looking at the track record of the other contributors. This may make me sound like a magazine snob but I don’t care.

Don’t be fooled by a dazzling website, some of the best e-zines are the simplest allowing the poems...