My virtual poetry programme, The Verandah, part of the UK/Australia Season of Culture 2021/22, kicks off in September / October and runs until late 2022. There’s high quality timely poetry workshops, masterclasses, debates, readings, mindfulness & poetry sessions – all led by and featuring top UK & Aussie poets.   The theme of the Season is Who are we Now? My take on this is given COVID-19, the immense environmental and social challenges we face both locally and globally, who are we now in relation to our connection with our land and people? How can we describe, challeng ..read more

Here’s a few recent places I’ve been published recently. Shout out to…  – The Weekend Australian (Review Section) –  The only Australia-wide weekend newspaper – ‘Best Australian Poems 2022‘ anthology, published by Australian Poetry in most book stores in Australia and purchased online of course. – ‘Modron Magazine’, Writing on Nature and the Ecological Crisis – Roland Leach’s anthology ‘Cuttlefish: Western Australian poets’ published by Sunline Press, launched 30th June HERE in Perth WA – A poem is coming out in the winter (November 2023) issue of&nb ..read more

The Verandah is looking forward to welcoming poets from both hemispheres for new exciting  programme.    We are taking a break over July & August, mostly because it’s summertime in the UK with loads of post-Covid travel. Though, of course, the ongoing small group poetry feedback workshops continue year-round. Here’s the programme for the second half of 2023. Masterclass bookings will be released over July, August, September – sign up to the newsletter to hear about them first.   The Climate of Change: UK Morning OR UK Evening timezones    Be at the forefront ..read more

The writing of the poem is an experience. It’s not the record of an experience. Even if you’re writing about something that happened before, it has to be a new experience… There has to be a discovery in recalling it. Marie Howe    The Climate  of Change poetry workshops, 2023 After two successful series, the Climate of Change workshops continue. This can be a difficult and overwhelming subject, but writing together is more enjoyable, nurturing, rewarding and productive. Find new and transforming angles into this complex crisis. Join live international zoom workshops ..read more

Hello hometown people – it’s been too long!   I’d love to see you…    Feature reading from The Shaking City Saturday 18th February, 2-4pm  The Moon Cafe, 323 William St, Northbridge https://www.perthpoetryclub.com/whats-on  (the details & link for my event won’t appear until about a week prior … but if you click on the week before’s event, you’ll see it listed at the bottom as coming up next !)    OR UK time via Zoom 6-8am for early birds!  Refer to the ‘What’s On’ page link above on the day for the Zoom link   This is the very long time c ..read more

Mindfulness and Poetry Uplift to get your year off to a good start and recharge your energy and creativity. Mindfulness has been shown to reduce stress and improve well-being, clarity, focus and creativity. Of course, I’ve thrown in a sprinkling of poetry and a period of writing together for a weekly uplift! Writing with mindfulness gives your writing a refreshing edge. Six short 30-45min sessions, weekly January to February.  Refresh 2022! The new year isn’t far away. It may not have been the easiest of years for many of us, so let’s refresh and reflect on another year w ..read more

Discovery is what I want when I write a poem, when I read a poem. I want to be left changed … If the poem is good, I am a different human being for having made the journey through that particular constellation of words, seeing, imagination, music and understanding. Jane Hirshfield Dive into Poetry, three sessions of reading and writing poetry together – is there anything more enjoyable and rewarding? Expert guidance, inspiration for writing and enriching discussion. Flex your creative muscle. Sundays, starting 15 May.  Poetry feedback workshops to help take your poems to the next level ..read more

Mark McGuinness has launched a fab new fortnightly podcast ‘A Mouthful of Air’ with close readings of single poems and discussions with contemporary authors about how one of their poems was created. He starts with Shakespeare, Yeats, Mimi Khalvati and me.  How did I get that line-up? Thanks Mark! Beautifully and lovingly produced. Listen HERE   Sign up on email, Spotify, Google, Apple etc.  Both Mimi’s poem and my poem discussed in the podcast are also included in Seren’s anothology ‘100 Poems to Save the Earth’. The post A mouthful of poetry! appeared first on C ..read more

Two more fabulous anthologies I’m featured in dropped through my letterbox this month, alongside Seren’s Books anthology of poems for the Earth. ‘Too Young, Too Loud, Too Different: Twenty Years of British Poetry from Malika’s Poetry Kitchen’, Corsair, 2021, was chosen by the Evening Standard has as one of its best non-fiction reads of the year so far. Reading this has been humbling and inspiring for me. It celebrates 20 years of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen collective. I’m so grateful to Malika Booker, Roger Robinson and others along the way, such as Jacob Sam-La Rose, Patricia Foster, Sundra Lawr ..read more