Quite heartened to find that the magazine is fully booked up until next Summer. I do tend to squeeze as many poems in as possible.  Recent submissions for the Summer issue have included some very fine poems  particularly a batch written by women which is a relief since the magazine tends to be biased towards men. I don’t know why the magazine doesn’t attract female writers especially since I advertised in Myslexia. So I’m hoping the word is being spread that the magazine is open to busi...

I’ve found over the years that lack of sleep is not conducive to writing: either wanting to or working effectively. So at the moment, I’m staring at pages wondering if I can have a nap at 4 am.  Similarly it puts the kybosh on ideas…my mind is currently a blank page …. I do think to negotiate poetry  both reading and  writing it,  ones  mind has to be absolutely at its sharpest as opposed to the blunt instrument  that  currently is the state of my poor brain.

There has been some recent debate sparked by an article on the prevalence of free verse over rhymed poetry. It was suggested that modern poets can’t rhyme and therefore are somehow lesser poets for it.

It’s something I do feel guilty about. I can’t rhyme. When I first started writing I instinctively went towards free verse. Now it is so entrenched I can’t think of writing in any other style. I find it hard enough trying to find the right words, remember to deploy ‘show doesn’t t...