“We badly need a grown-up way of talking about scientific uncertainty, uncontaminated by a long philosophical & theological tradition in which truths worthy of the name must be certain & eternal.” - Lorraine Daston in @lrb.co.uk www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

if you don't know how to end a poem you can just write BANG

Currently writing a lot of poems referencing shipping containers. Think it might be a whole thing.

A proper dad, well he never really had one It’s not on file if the child was a glad one There was no trial for whatever it was the lad done And if that’s a Good Friday, I wouldn’t want a bad one. — John Hegley

I have a story in here. Enjoy!

Writing a lot of poems about shipping containers recently. Anyone else?

o can you not feel what another feels | no said the hard philosopher + do not even try to think yourself a bat much less a plant From ‘Daybook’, a poem by Maureen N. McLane. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Sunday. 5am.

Please don't post photos of dead children, or videos of dead children, or yell DONT LOOK AWAY. You are sick. Log off. Touch grass. You have PTSD and are inflicting it on us all. If you are not in media/ a conflict researcher/ etc you do NOT need to consume Horrors. Blocking lots right now.

The perils of having a toddler in your 40s: she’s 2 years old and learning to walk and climb, but also learning how to grunt like a slightly out of shape 42 year old as she does so.

A poem that wont be published anywhere else. One for those paunch carriers, binge eaters, shame bringers. Lots of love x

Again

Again I say what

When drafting poems my favourite thing to do is to remove any extraneous words and then slowly add them in again over a period of several months before having a massive moan about not having that poem published and then slowly removing all extraneous words again. Anyone else?

@mrjamesob.bsky.social Bedford CC dealing with the bigots like an absolute boss.

Whitehawk Food Bank: Our foodbank is at a critical moment. Funding has run out, but the need hasn’t. Help us keep our doors open for our community. Whitehawk is in the top 10% deprived neighbourhoods in the country. 45% of local children live in poverty. www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-keep-...

‘In my first year at university, I had taken the bus through Gaza City every day. Now we were travelling through streets and neighbourhoods that had once been familiar to me, but I barely recognised anything.’ Hassan Ayman Herzallah eats shawarma in Gaza City. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/fe...

If Jeff Bezos could afford to spend $75 million on the Melania movie & $500 million for a yacht to sail off to his $55 million wedding to give his wife a $5 million ring, please don't tell me he needed to fire one-third of the Washington Post staff. Democracy dies in oligarchy.

What www.scientificamerican.com/article/myst...

The funny thing about a certain type of angry conspiracy guy is that they’re literally being confronted with an elite paedophile ring and a tyrannical government at the same time right now, and because it isn't being done by the people they wanted it to be done by they’re all being pussies about it

‘Without engagement in projects, activities and vocations that one values, one would hardly be leading a human life. Attachments give life its content and its meaning. They also make us vulnerable to loss.’ Thomas Nagel on how we live within time. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Excited to say my fifth collection of poems, Crowd Voltage, will be published by @bloodaxebooks.bsky.social in March 2026. It's a high-energy book about class, crowds and community. This specially designed cover is by the brilliant queer artist, Villain.

First Kiss, performed at Hammer and Tongue Brighton January 2026.

From the back page of the Essential WS Merwin

Also reading in between, which I highly recommend, is Hermione Lee’s biography of Tom Stoppard.

Currently reading War and Peace a chapter a day with a book group and it really feels like I am living in two parallel worlds that are sort of the same.

A poem that wont be published anywhere else. One for those paunch carriers, binge eaters, shame bringers. Lots of love x

“We have embedded a notorious US military surveillance company whose founder is a close ally of President Trump into the heart of our military at a moment in which the US is threatening to invade our NATO ally, Greenland.” – @carolecadwalla.bsky.social on Palantir https://bit.ly/4sHG9al

I'll be running the Zoom at this event NEXT WEEK for @dragonflyflight.bsky.social Includes readings from @encyclopaediac.bsky.social @jumpingjulespoetry.bsky.social @petestrongpoet.bsky.social @secretsoliloquies.bsky.social Anila Arshad-Mehmood www.trybooking.com/uk/FMQU

Huge thanks to @secretsoliloquies.bsky.social in Sussex for this photo of Forest Girl with @petestrongpoet.bsky.social. All books from @dragonflyflight.bsky.social and you can hear us read at the Showcase on zoom on 25th November 7.30pm. Can’t wait for this. Smudge would like to come too 🥰🖤🤍

I need to get rid of my earphones and get some headphones because they are bad for my ears and I get wax build up and infections. Anyway here’s a poem about my earbuds I wrote in a uni workshop a few years ago. #poem #poet #poetry #poetrycommunity

Good news about the cutting-edge AI tools from the $3-trillion-dollar company.

Finally got round to reading some Deborah Levy. Hot Milk and Things I Don’t Want to Know. Sublime writing.

Thank you Phil!

Herbs and poetry, remembering Fanny Howe & more w/ @kent-nj.bsky.social @petestrongpoet.bsky.social @kimmoorepoet.bsky.social @lesleymwheeler.bsky.social @victoriamoul.bsky.social @burnedthumb.bsky.social @robmclennan.bsky.social @billymills.bsky.social 2/3 www.vianegativa.us/2025/07/poet...

Out now on my website my review of Greenfinch’ by @petestrongpoet.bsky.social Don’t miss it. #poetry

Hello. New Substack up. Running, binging and fatherhood in approx 1500 words.

I’m looking for poetry collections and pamphlets to review in 2026 published by small poetry presses. If you’ve a collection or pamphlet published in 2025 or due in 2026 DM me. #poetry. Checkout my website to sample the process.

You won’t be disappointed.

Hello Read here a review of my book Greenfinch by poet and reviewer Nigel Kent @kent-nj.bsky.social . He liked it, I hope you do too. Available from Flight of the Dragonfly Press. nigelkentpoet.wordpress.com/2025/07/19/r...

On my website tomorrow @petestrongpoet.bsky.social drops in to talk about a poem from his pamphlet‘Greenfinch’. Don’t miss it.

Writer’s block. When will it end?

My pamphlet Greenfinch is available from Flight of the Dragonfly: flight-of-the-dragonfly.sumupstore.com/product/gree... “assured and poignant…fizzes with energy” John McCullough “deadpan, surreal, wryly comic, tender and mournful - often in the same poem” Andy Breckenridge

Commission for a guy who likes camping, gherkins, The Beatles and Norwich FC. I now have space for some more so contact me if you’d like me to draw something for you.

Substack - pros and cons? I feel like I missed the boat and now everyone has one. I’ve a vague idea of using it to publicly hold myself to account as I create my next bit of live work. Who has one and is it worth it? Is any of this worth it? Should we all just put ourselves in a big bin?

We’re hiring. Please help us share this far and wide.

Grab a ticket for the FIRST EVER Late Nite With William Stone in Brighton. I will be hosting four great comedians and chatting with them at the Caroline of Brunswick. Tickets here : www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/late-nite-...

My pamphlet Greenfinch is available from Flight of the Dragonfly: flight-of-the-dragonfly.sumupstore.com/product/gree... “assured and poignant…fizzes with energy” John McCullough “deadpan, surreal, wryly comic, tender and mournful - often in the same poem” Andy Breckenridge

Tell Government to drop plans to allow #bigtech companies to scrape creators’ work for use in AI models without their consent or payment! One week left to complete the Copyright and #AI consultation. Take action now👇 www.equity.org.uk/campaigns-policy/stop-ai-stealing-the-show