It is Halloween. Turnip Head Will soon be given his face, A slit, two triangles, a hole. His brains litter the table top. A candle stub will be his soul. Michael Longley, 'Halloween'

Two poems by Juana Adcock were the focus of the SPL's regular Nothing But The Poem podcast, hosted by @samueltongue.bsky.social A 16 minute treat of poetry gorgeousness for your ears. Listen to it here: www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/podcast/noth...

Still time to get your tickets for this event at Glasgow's @AyeWrite festival on Friday 7th November - Bill Herbert and myself with some fantastic poetry! Just £6.72 for an evening's entertainment... www.glasgowlife.org.uk/event/1/word...

HEADS UP! Last night Isabelle Baafi won the @forwardprizes.bsky.social for Best First Poetry Collection. Congrats, Isabelle. Today we're putting a brand new Nothing But The Poem podcast online featuring @samueltongue.bsky.social taking an immersive dive into 2 poems by Isabelle Baafi. Stay tuned!

🎙️NEW SPL PODCAST: Isabelle Baafi Our resident Nothing But The Poem host, @samueltongue.bsky.social leads an immersive analysis of 2 poems from Forward Prize winning poet Isabelle Baafi's debut collection Chaotic Good. www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/podcast/noth...

stmungosmirrorball.wordpress.com Gaelic poetry showcase 6th November at Aye Write -not to be missed

I've written a little bit about grief [spoiler, it's lonely and unbearable] in this kind of fragmentary short piece about waves. open.substack.com/pub/elsewher...

🎙️ NEW SPL PODCAST! The latest edition of our Nothing But The Poem podcast, hosted as usual by @samueltongue.bsky.social, features an engaging critical dive into two poems by Juana Adcock. 🔥 The Task of the Translator 🔥 The Guitar's Lament www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/podcast/noth...

So, people are going to have to pass A level english to live here are they? I hope they study what I did at A level, Translations by Brian Friel, about the colonial evil of the English forcing people to adopt the English language

A frog poem from Reflector - my limited edition art book collaboration with #Dundee artist Stephen French: stephenfrench.art

Climate change though. Absolutely insane lack of panic about this www.theguardian.com/environment/...

According to Skewering History: The Odious Politics of Counting Gaza's Dead by Dr Richard Hil and Dr Gideon Polya, they say that as of April 2025 there are 680,000 dead in Gaza, this includes an estimated 380,000 children under the age of 5. This is based on all the data collected.

He is out of his fucking mind & I have to assume all those others know it. He’s in some movie he thinks he’s starring in. It’s truly insane. We need to speak up on this. He has some Dr Strangelove shit going on & it’s beyond freaky.

Just a reminder that the Cafe Writers International poetry competition is open. Our wonderful (sole) judge this year is Jessica Mookherjee. Top prize is £1000 www.cafewriters.co.uk/home/poetry-...

POETS. DO. NOT. MISS. THIS!! Audition SOON for a chance to appear in @iambapoet.com in either 2026 or 2027. Everything you need to know to join some of poetry's most celebrated names is on the Audition page. Fewer than 40 spaces available now. You'll need to be quick! iambapoet.com/audition

It’s official (again): Climate change is real, it’s caused by us, and it’s dangerous The science isn’t new www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

entire press has gotten bullied into treating charlie kirk as if he was one of the most important americans alive and not a modestly popular podcaster

NEW DATES! Child Bereavement UK has partnered with Getting Through It, a powerful, one-person show by Michael Rosen Tour dates & booking information 👉 childbereavementuk.org/michael-rosen-show 🟡Halifax, 26 November 🟡Oxford, 9 January 🟡Edinburgh, 29 January 🟡Mold, 8 February 🟡Liverpool, 22 April

A new law could give millions of us better rights at work, but corporate lobbyists & politicians are trying to gut it. Tell the Government: protect workers, not profits! you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/uk...

This is precisely why the monarchy should be abolished. You can pretend they are merely decorative, but this video says otherwise. Rich white men love that aura of divine power

The German authorities said that Kristallnacht passed off well, but there was a lot of broken glass to clear up...

Entirely on form for Starmer but still absolutely mind boggling

The programme for this year's New College Festival of Books and Belief is now live! Book your tickets at divinity.ed.ac.uk/new-college-...

It looks like it’s going to be an even grimmer few years than any in the trans community could have expected … I’m thankful for the work of @goodlawproject.org and friends like @humanrightsvicky.bsky.social and for the hope that is found in the trans community (Hope is an action and a habit …)

‘Speech thaws into life’ – read Rebecca Tamás on how Passion celebrates Romany language, resilience, and our intimacy with the natural world www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

When you're visiting a friend and your friend's dog hears you say you're a poet

They’re going to call it Penguin Random Hovis

UPDATE: 10 of the 24 longlisted authors have now withdrawn from the Polari Prize. First Book: Jason Okundaye, Sacha Coward, Sanah Ahsan, Amy Twigg, Mae Diansangu, Ciara Maguire Main award: Olumide Popoola, Robert Hamberger, Andrew McMillan, Rhian Elizabeth Judging panel: Nicola Dinan, Bob Hughes

When they arrest poets as terrorists it’s time to start worrying. Alice Oswald arrested for SUPPORTing PALESTINE ACTION

Alice Oswald arrested yesterday...

Thrilled to have ‘Self-Portrait with Fire Ants’ in this special anthology Nature Matters edited by @monaarshiwrites.bsky.social & @karenmccarthywoolf.bsky.social a go-to text for teaching. Published by @faberbooks.bsky.social My poem is from my 2nd collection The Zoo Father @serenbooks.bsky.social

I had the pleasure of interviewing Miriam Margolyes earlier this week for @bigissue.com. 🎤 The full interview will be out soon, but due to the latest news on Palestine today, I thought I’d share this clip early. 👇 Miriam Margolyes: “I feel it particularly because I’m Jewish”. 💬

Comment is cheap. Facts are expensive.

Nothing But The Poem – Mick Imlah In this podcast, @samueltongue.bsky.social & the @byleaveswelive.bsky.social Friends Group look at two poems by Mick Imlah – “Iona” & “London Scottish”. Both can be found on the SPL website. www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/podcast/noth...

'Live, laugh, love -- and the greatest of these is love'

And now for today’s climate forecast …

This is very concerning news

As Artistic Director of Winchester Poetry Festival in letting you know our programme is now LIVE! 🧵 www.winchesterpoetryfestival.org/what-s-on

Thanks to Niall Campbell for including a poem in the latest Irish Pages, Scotland special

🎤 NEW PODCAST! The prize-winning and former Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, Naomi Shihab Nye is the subject of this month’s Nothing But The Poem podcast. Hosted as always by @samueltongue.bsky.social www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/podcast/noth...

Not been invited to any weddings this year.

Tell the Scottish Government to end funding for arms dealers complicit in Israeli war crimes. 👇 greens.scot/StopFundingG...

The SNP have just announced that they will continue to fund Israel's arms dealers here in Scotland. Since 2022 Scottish Enterprise has given arms firms linked to Israel nearly £3 million. Tax payers money should not be given to those profiting from genocide.

Thanks to dear poet @taylor-strickland.bsky.social for this deeply engaged & engaging 'Bottle Imp' review of my debut #poetry collection 'The Bone Folder'. It's a privilege to get a glimpse of how some of those set-adrift lines are landing. www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2025/06/the-... #newbooks #poems

This really gets me. And even weather presenters call it “the good weather” rather than rain, which is “bad weather”… Why do we pretend heatwaves are fun – and ignore the brutal, burning reality? | Zoe Williams

The crisis in UK school libraries is appalling, esp since public ones are in a catastrophic state too. Just remember these cuts are the direct result of a decade and a half of government policy designed to bankrupt local authorities, and no council *wants* to have to do things like this.