first rejection of the year #erasurepoems

Some good poetry news to start the year, and 3 poems published today in The Fig Tree. Thank you to @timfellows.bsky.social for publishing them. Go check it out if you like poems about stars, swans, and the destruction of bronze age villages. figtreepoetry.substack.com/p/the-fig-tr...

Some good poetry news to start the year, and 3 poems published today in The Fig Tree. Thank you to @timfellows.bsky.social for publishing them. Go check it out if you like poems about stars, swans, and the destruction of bronze age villages. figtreepoetry.substack.com/p/the-fig-tr...

'He was more proud than my dream credits him and he was less sad than whiskey might make him seem.' bloody love Richard Hugo, no matter the day of the week

I’m delighted to announce that my debut poetry collection, ‘The Way the Water Held Me’, will be published by The Emma Press in the Spring. Available to pre-order now!

Tomorrow night! Come along if you want some poetry

...on a Sunday

Catch me next week reading some poems over in Cheltenham. delighted to be reading with Hannah Lowe at University of Gloucestershire on 13th November 5.45PM. Free entry.

Looking forward to this event on Saturday, when I'll be taking part in a panel discussion on poetry, landscape, and a certain forest. The F.W. Harvey Society's annual event takes place at Minsterworth Village Hall this year, and focuses on the influence of Minsterworth on Harvey's writing.

Great night last night at Gloucester Cathedral at their Evening of Remembrance Poetry, reading some of my own poems on the theme, plus a couple by FW Harvey. It was great to hear moving and inspirational poetry from a wide range of voices last night.

I've never had a poem title been called "dauntingly complex" before! (but kudos to the editor for the comments and quick submission response ❤)

Farewell Cambridgeshire, hello Forest! The long-promised house move has (finally) happened, and I'm now back home in the Forest of Dean. Here's some pictures from today of why I moved and what it's like here. DM or email me for more info.

Listen to the previously-unreleased version of "Born in the U.S.A." from the "Electric Nebraska" sessions, now available to stream: brucespringsteen.lnk.to/BITUSAElectr... "It was kinda like punk rockabilly. We were trying to bring 'Nebraska' into the electric world."

rainbows on the riverside

writing a poem

When is a door not a door? When it's j'adore

Botha takes us with them as they are initially struck and later, further surprised, by a woman in a brilliant yellow coat. Exploring longing and beauty among other things, this image rich poem shines. Read it here: inksweatandtears.co.uk/cindy-botha-5/ #InkSweatandTears #PoetryCommunity #Submission

Time takes out the fire but leaves in the warmth.

choose your own adventure diversion

I had a great night at CB1 Poetry last night! There was a good turn out, and it was great to do some Forest poems as well as test out some newer ones. Thanks to Angus, Trish and the team for keeping the show on the road, and thank you to Alice for the photos.

Delighted to be the guest poet at CB1 Poetry open mic in Cambridge this Sunday. Come along to hear me read poems about forests, rivers, and missing constellations. Last chance for Cambridge(shire) folk to hear me for a while as I'll be moving soon. Sunday 3rd August, Town and Gown, Cambridge 18:30

I'm going to be reading some poems tomorrow in Cambridge at CB1 Poetry. Come along to hear poems about forests, rivers, and missing constellations. Plus open mic if you fancy taking part facebook.com/events/s/cb1...

Hello @finishedpoetry.bsky.social ! Give them a follow, and "trespass" into their inbox with you Trespass-themed submissions

Delighted to be the guest poet at CB1 Poetry open mic in Cambridge this Sunday. Come along to hear me read poems about forests, rivers, and missing constellations. Last chance for Cambridge(shire) folk to hear me for a while as I'll be moving soon. Sunday 3rd August, Town and Gown, Cambridge 18:30

'The statement quoted an aid worker in Gaza who said: “Children tell their parents they want to go to heaven, because at least heaven has food.”' www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

🚨 RIGHT NOW opposite Labour Party HQ in London. We’ve turned their street into Jabaliya camp in Gaza. A genocide is happening, but the Labour government is supplying weapons, intelligence and diplomatic cover to the perpetrator. Protesting this is not terrorism.

Can you use a misheard song lyric as an epigraph to a book? Asking for a friend.

Go send him your poems, Nigel is a kind and sensitive reviewer

A man in Leeds was arrested for having this sign, which is just a print out of a page of Private Eye magazine. Courtesy of the Labour Party www.instagram.com/reel/DMTTMAk...

The Forward Prize for Best Collection – We’re proud to reveal the #ForwardPrizes 2025 shortlist for Best Collection! Five powerful books from some of the most compelling voices in poetry today. 👏 Congrats to the poets & publishers! 🔗 Full list: buff.ly/SS35YlZ #PoetryAwards #BestCollection

"Compose one long poem in your head for a year. Keep your laptop closed, keep your phone off. Don't talk to anyone. Then, without ever writing it down, read your poem aloud from memory on a stranger's grave. Imagine being the dead. This is your gift." - Zachary Schomburg

Little Gidding

No book in the history of the world has made a child gay or straight or trans or cis. But they have provided hope and a future for those that already are. But of course, under Reform, all hope must be crushed. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

🎵 In the middle of Owl Street 🎵

🚨 Indie poets and small presses — get your work in front of real readers. No fees. No gatekeeping. Just visibility that counts. 📩 Submit today: promoteindielit.com/ Tag: @alanparry83.bsky.social #PromoteIndieLit #PIL

There's something about the clouds tonight that makes it look like they're all coming THIS WAY

Two events this week: 🍺 first up FUTURE KARAOKE Tuesday 6.30pm Devonshire Arms in Cambridge. Come along to hear poems inspired by Milton Brewery beers with @aruwriting.bsky.social 🪶 Then Thursday 7.30pm Ely last minute headline slot courtesy of FEN SPEAK All free, all fab

"Stop escalating the conflict" they say while simultaneously escalating through conflict started by a genocidal tyrant www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Footpath diversion as onions

Our first call for submissions for debut poetry chapbooks from UK poets is now up! We've set aside 20 free entries for low-income writers, and we're asking for an initial submissions of 3 poems/5 pages between 15 June and 15 July. Full details are on our website here: www.foxandstarbooks.org

Do not let this happen to you

"All good things come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy." ~ Norman Maclean

People of Worcester, come to this! Crime fiction and forensics. 2 June. With @joannadurrant.bsky.social plus forensics expert Jo Ward and writers Jackie Kabler, @melaniegolding.bsky.social and me. Tickets from @scripthavenltd.bsky.social. Link here: scripthaven.co.uk/product/jo-d...

⚡️I’m overjoyed to announce that our issue 5 subeditor for The Storms, the printed journal of poetry, prose & visual art is @rhonagreene.bsky.social, a Pushcart Prize-nominated writer from Dublin ⚡️ Read her bio at eatthestorms.com/storm-team/ Read her issue 2 prose, Gilt-Edged Secrets, here

May Blossom - woodcut, by wildlife artist and printmaker, Matt Underwood #art #printmaking #birds #nature #wildlifeart

You all need to treat Harry Potter IP like we’re treating the Tesla brand.

early (chilly, misty) start for @bbs-birds.bsky.social early spring survey in Cambridgeshire. counted 31 species, including lots of greenfinches, a pair of cormorants flying over (patch first), and several deer @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social

i think that films that are famous or well-known are always disappinting the first time you watch them. you build up an idea of what the film will be like from what you've heard or seen, and when you watch it (because of the film's brilliance) it's nothing like you expect and therefore disappointing

going to the library to borrow my book, but also borrowing another book so I don't look too conspicuous 😎

Those trying to understand the tariffs as economic policy are dangerously naive. No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief. 1/ A 🧵 to explain his plan and how we fight back.