I Hope all #promptcombo folk will forgive one of my very occasional forays among your number 🙏..... just couldn't resist the current #workinglove prompt from @hool415.bsky.social !!!

With much gratitude to all at Wee Sparrow Press for including me in their latest anthology 🙏 www.theweesparrowpoetrypress.com/lines-of-com...

Near Cheltenham on Nov 13th? A great free poetry event with Hannah Lowe & Stewart Carswell 😊 👇

Fab recent interview/reading by Diane Seuss on the Red Door Poets youtube channel - well worth an hour of your time 👍. Thanks to @reddoorpoets.bsky.social

Haven't done anything imagist for a while so rather rusty, but couldn't resist the new @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social Halloween competition! 14 word max... More dust, more mist, more melted than before, he admires curlicues on his headstone. 🪦

Looks fun! ............ 👻 👇

Big congrats to all prize winners & commended 👏👏.... & to all longlisted - including me 🤗🤗 - who'll appear in the comp anthology

For this week's #promptcombo from @dragonslayerma.bsky.social about #simplepleasures a true story!!

Wednesday mornings, 30-40 writers gather online (cameras off, cameras on, always with coffee) for Marjorie’s Table. We look briefly at craft then write - poetry or prose or essay or memoir - to 3 prompts. Join us for £8 per month via Marjorie’s Table on Substack: substack.com/@marjorielot...

Hi to all at #promptcombo 👋. Here's my bash at this week's prompt, #visitor from @hool415.bsky.social

't will be a good 'un !! 👇

Can think of no more appropriate a way of saying #HappyNationalPoetryDay to all poet'ers than by reposting this beauty..........

Latest collection from a super poet! 🤗

It's nearly time again ... If you've been looking for a home for that 'after' or ekphrastic poem, @afterpoetry.com is the place for you. Submissions reopen tomorrow – October 1st 2025. You then have the entire month to send in your poem for a chance to feature in After... in 2026. Good luck! 🤞🏼

Celebrating a successful poetic secondhand haul from the excellent Westwood Books in Sedbergh 🤗.

Here's a spur-of-the-moment bash at responding to today's #poemsabout prompt from @thebrokenspine.co.uk - #riots ... Riots How anything can serve a purpose other than it was created for - a bottle, a paving slab, a streetside cafe table, a young man, a song.

Doubtless will scribble a poetic something after a memorable visit today to an underground sculpture exhibition at Clearwell Caves in the Forest of Dean!!!

Happy Monday! For a poetic #lifttothesky with @thebrokenspine.co.uk today I'd like to throw a light on this poem by @victoriaspires.bsky.social that was commended in last year's TPW Poetry Prize - a beautiful piece of 3 stanza observation & a 💥 finale!

Mary Oliver poems - whats not to like?!!!

It's here! Over 150 calls for literary competitions & submissions incl. poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, art, photography & more - contests, literary journals, residencies, bursaries etc - open or with deadlines in August 2025. Good luck & pls share. www.thisiswordbox.com/wordbox-blog...

Competition time! Our latest competition is on the theme of Turning Points judged by Rebecca Watts. All info available on our website. #poetrycompetition #poetry

Every Wednesday morning from 7:30-8am, a group of writers gather round my virtual table to explore the work of one poet, noting craft, and then write to 3 prompts (w/ recording available for those who prefer to write at another time). Join us via my Substack - shorturl.at/Ox9P4

I find depictions of age more interesting as I get older!!! This one, a Stanley Spencer self portrait, is among works of his acting as an inspiration for me to write a series of poems based around his art

I know folk have mixed reactions to the world of literary prizes, but I welcome their shortlists as a nudge towards what I wouldn't otherwise read. Currently enjoying 'Southermost Sonnets' by Leo Boix as a result of its Foward shortlisting

In the last couple of days I've been captivated by this poem by Edward Salem in the current Poetry Review ...... that last line!....... so here it is as my #lifttothesky for @thebrokenspine.co.uk today

A little poetic response to a flower display...........

Another interesting poetic post from the North Sea Poets 👍

It's here! Over 160 calls for literary competitions & submissions including poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, art, photography, & more - contests, literary journals, residencies, bursaries etc - open or with deadlines in July 2025. Best of luck & pls share! www.thisiswordbox.com/wordbox-blog...

For #lifttothesky today with @thebrokenspine.co.uk I'm lifting a poet who needs no lifting from me!! ...... but I saw this Kim Addonizio poem over the weekend & loved it, so here it is!

My candidate for #lifttothesky today with @brokenspinearts.bsky.social is this great pamphlet by Davina Prince pub. by New Walk Editions - poems that explore 'average moments'! ..... deceptively straightforward poems that reward chewing over 👍

A beautifully written piece by Niall Campbell 💎

Very happy to be featured on Mark Owen's @markantonyowen.com 'After.....' project for ekphrastic poetry 😊

Chuffed that Mark has included my ekphrastic take on Cornelia Parker in his excellent 'After...' project - many thanks @markantonyowen.com

For a #lifttothesky with @brokenspinearts.bsky.social today I'd like to highlight this by a smashin' poet, Molly Twomey @mollytwomey.bsky.social (from her collection 'Raised Among Vultures')

For #lifttothesky today with @brokenspinearts.bsky.social I'd like to highlight a new poetry journal, 'The Little Review' ..... pocket-sized but with a punch!! thelittlereview.co.uk for info The sample poem is by Carrie Etter

If anyone, between now & midnight on 15/6, orders Come Here to This Gate directly from Carcanet, then sends proof & an address to me in a DM/email, I'll send you a signed copy of its predecessor, Sweet Nothings (or another of my books, if you have that). www.carcanet.co.uk/978180017396...

Are you following #NorthSeaPoets on Substack? Subscribe for reflections on poetry, poetics and the writing life that compliment our online courses and events delivered straight to your inbox ✉️ Sign up at northseapoets.substack.com 🌊 #PoetrySky #PoetryCommunity

Spent glorious moments last week in Yorkshire watching & listening to skylarks...... thank you John Glenday, @johnglenday.bsky.social this is better than a photograph to remember them by!

@brokenspinearts.bsky.social @alanparry83.bsky.social For #LiftToTheSky I must celebrate the brilliant JJ Bola, I heard him read this poem on Saturday morning and will not forget open.substack.com/pub/jjbola/p...

My #lifttothesky this week with @brokenspinearts.bsky.social is this lovely looking collection by Ian Humphreys - reads as well as it looks!!!

Spent some time this week re-acquainting myself with this collection - not disappointed!

Was grabbed by this amazing image today & am taking advantage of #poemsabout to post it! I've attached my snap response & offer it for the #defeat prompt from @brokenspinearts.bsky.social ....... I suspect it'll read quite differently after a few days contemplation & fiddling!

Was grabbed by this amazing image today & am taking advantage of #poetsabout to post it! I've attached my snap response & offer it for the #defeat prompt from @brokenspinearts.bsky.social ....... I suspect it'll read quite differently after a few days contemplation & fiddling!

Many congrats to @samueltongue.bsky.social on winning this monthly comp 💥... a real gem of a poem 💎. This Verve monthly is a great comp - if youve not seen it, it's worth a look 👍 www.instagram.com/p/DKPFf9gMvc...

This......

Absolutely chuffed that a poem of mine is being included in 'Rites & Trials: Coming-Of-Age Poetry' — the fifth edition in The Broken Spine’s Thematic Slimline Poetry Anthology Series..... and alongside many much-admired poets 😊😊. Many thanks @alanparry83.bsky.social

A #lifttothesky with @brokenspinearts.bsky.social from me today for New Walk Editions based in Leicester ...... enjoying their recent pamphlet by Polly Walshe newwalkmagazine.com/wp-content/u...

A pilgrimage with a performance of cello, poems & art around every English cathedral......... happening now in a cathedral near you!

Good morning to all at #poemsabout today! with thanks again to @brokenspinearts.bsky.social for holding this weekly gathering. Here's my go at this week's prompt #glory

New post 📰 The Fog House: Lesley Harrison on foggy retreats and making a home in the shadows Read the full piece here: buff.ly/AUsPHbF #NorthSeaPoets #PoetryCommunity #PoetrySky