It begins

God this poem is haunting me again.

"A spectral picture, composed of shadows; a phantom picture, a picture which did not last for long and, therefore, struck his imagination far more powerfully than would have done a motionless picture hung for him to look at all day long." - Marcel Proust, JEAN SANTEIUL

If you listen to poetry podcasts, there is a new in-depth interview with me by @gregorykearns.bsky.social out today on The Poems We Made Along The Way. I talk about queer joy, neurodivergence and the techniques I used to begin poems in Crowd Voltage. (Available on most podcast platforms.)

“my old suspicion that health and love are brief irrelevancies,” On the burden of having to pretend, Linda Pastan. In a world led by charlatans cheered on by the gullible the notion of compulsory happiness has never been more tiresome. #poetry #WritingCommunity

I like these two . Thank you to Sarah Dixon for today's #FoxOfTheDay

Come to Manchester Central Library to meet Stairwell Books at the 2026 Northern Publishers' Fair! 📍 Manchester Central Library 📅 25th April 2026, 11am - 3.30pm 🎟️ Book now at fly-on-the-wall-press.eventcube.io #northerncreatives #northernpublishersfair #publishing

We'll be among the 60+ poetry publishers at Free Verse on Saturday 25 April (Knightsbridge, London): hope to see you there.

Sometimes Louise Glück’s poetry hits you like a punch in the stomach, only it stays with you longer. #poetry #WritingCommunity

A neurologist once made med students write down 3 things: somebody they love, something they look forward to, a skill they're proud of. Randomly she then tore up some of the bits of paper. That, she said, is what neurological diseases do. In a year of loss and cancellation, I think of this so much.

I've just extended the deadline for Mental Health Poetry to 30th May! Lots going on right now :) roughdiamondpoetry.com/submissions/

"And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow," W.B. Yeats #poetry #landscapephotography

Given over 21,000 entries I'm grateful and still staggered in equal measure to be among the poets longlisted in the @poetrysociety.org.uk National Poetry Competition. Congratulations to all and thanks to the organisers and judges for shining a light on poets we may otherwise miss. #poetrycommunity

"Poetry is words in their least lucrative order." (Recalled by Earle Birney)

This is sublime. Awoke with this poem and it might already be the best part of the entire day.

Billy Collins - Introduction To Poetry #poetry #writingcommunity

Happy #WorldPoetryDay Let's celebrate together, use the LOVEPOETRY code at the Nine Arches checkout for 25% off #poetry books when you spend £15+ What's missing from your shelves? ninearchespress.com/shop #ReadMorePoetry

“And, while death claims all things at the end, There were such precious times between,”

“The tragedy is not that we are alone, but that we cannot be. At times I would give anything in the world to no longer be connected by anything to this universe of men.” —Albert Camus #writingcommunity

John Clare’s genius in capturing the ineffable so exquisitely - the wonder of our connection with nature, a connection we’re so tragically losing.

"That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet." ~ Emily Dickinson Songbird on Blossom Branch 🎨 Ohara Koson

The Magma Open Poetry Pamphlet Competition 2026 is now open for submissions! Deadline: 1st July 2026 This year's judge is @marjorielotfi.bsky.social "I’m looking for crafted poems that grab my attention and won’t let go." magmapoetry.com/open-poetry-...

After decades of dithering - the constant urge to write poetry pushed away by self-doubt, of not feeling worthy enough - 2 years ago I began submitting. Now published in The Manchester Review, Dream Catcher, The Frogmore Papers and more to come. Never give up, never think it’s too late. #poetry

Poem for your Sunday 🌸 ~Lisel Mueller THERE ARE MORNINGS —I step outside and the sky opens and pours itself into me as if I were a saint/But the plot calls for me to live, be ordinary, say nothing—

I like this beautiful poem from the latest @newyorker.com

"Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it." ~ Mary Shelley

Linda Pastan: always on the money; always prescient. #poetry #writingcommunity

Charles Simic, for your late-winter blues

“and turning the corner at what you thought was the end / of the road, you found just a simple reflection,”

Timely as ever…

Looking forward to this: now more than ever it’s such a tonic it ought to be available on prescription. Sunday, 17:10, UK, available elsewhere on BBC website, BBC Sounds etc shortly after. #theverb #poetry www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Winter pairs this music with its own Insistent monody, a beat behind. Light falls in staves through old venetian blinds - John Richard Reed, "Leaves from a Partbook: Fantasia for a Viol Consort"

New York doesn't have a monopoly on this kind of picture. Construction of Co-operative Insurance Society tower, Manchester, 1960s (Manchester Libraries).

The story behind Poems on the Underground

From David Lerner’s Mein Kampf: “all I want to do is make poetry famous all I want to do is burn my initials into the sun all I want to do is read poetry from the middle of a burning building...” #poetry #writingcommunity

On the value of sorrow: #poetry #writingcommunity

Beyond the bare honesty there's much truth in this, and for anyone who needs it, some beautiful encouragement to stick with it.

Something beautiful for you. • Linda Pastan •

What we call the beginning is often the end and to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from. T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets Happy Solstice

Dear all, Please find issue 28 of the Manchester Review at the link below. Thank you to our wonder writers and readers who continue to support the review. The Editors www.themanchesterreview.co.uk

“Sometimes I am so surprised I show up to write a poem completely empty and yet, something shows up. Just keep making space for your work. Even if it doesn't make sense.” -- Kelli Russell Agodon

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Liminality In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between them, there are doors. William Blake

still my favorite poem "Black Sea" by Mark Strand

Two of our giants of poetry--Charles Wright & Mark Strand,conferring in,& toasting,the late light. Masters of the line,masters of the image--(& if Merwin & Simic had been there that Oct 9,2014,you'd basically have the corner on the"deep image"in the mid 20th C).We miss Mark, gone 11 years. Read him.

Linda Pastan

Check it out!! Hodder & Stoughton have an open submission window for all fiction genres. Get in quick. Details in link. Please share :)

For those (like me!) who aren’t quite up to speed with some of the year’s excellent poetry releases, this round up by Rishi is a delightful read. And a useful heads-up when it comes to gift ideas for the poetry lover in your life!