Rory Bremner mocks President Trump's attack, "I don't believe in regime change except in Venezuela.. Iran.. Greenland"

Interesting choice of words on the BBC News app: ‘On Friday night, the Met Office expects sub-zero temperatures to blanket the country’. #EnglishLanguage

I relate to this! Thank you to anyone who reads, likes and comments on my blog wastiesspace.co.uk/blog/ and @andotheritems.bsky.social’s too!

Looking forward to my extended interview on @blackcountryradio.co.uk Xtra, Sunday 4pm & Monday 6pm. Talking about my love of Black Country dialect, my latest poetry collection & listening to music by my band, formed in mid 1970s, about to change its name!

Gearing up for my interview on Ian Henery’s show this Sunday 4pm. More details to follow! www.blackcountryxtra.co.uk

Breakfast with the Birds, 1934 by Expressionist painter Gabriele Münter, #womensart

Kidderminster carpet museum closure leaves artist 'heartbroken www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Keir Starmer is our most musical prime minister since Edward Heath. He must take up the baton for the arts | Martin Kettle

Word of the day, should you be feeling a little huffish, is ‘apanthropy’ (18th century): a love of solitude and the desire to be away from other people.

In 2013 I became Writer in Residence at the new Museum of Carpet in Kidderminster. I had the most wonderful journey, meeting lots of people & writing pieces for them. So it's especially sad for me that the Museum is to close. Please visit while you can! wastiesspace.co.uk/2025/12/11/m...

The Poetic Licence has a 24-day advent calendar event.... every day a FREE post with a poem to consider and the chance to discuss it with other members. Here's the first! www.patreon.com/posts/advent...

Many thanks for the review, Sarah!

It's #GivingTuesday, and CFTA's Big Festive Fundraiser has just begun ✨ This week, and this week only, your donation is doubled. Help us raise £25k and step it up for the arts in 2026. 👉 donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

A perfect demonstration of how the arts are crucial to life. @campaignforthearts.org

Ian Marrey has put together an 'eclectic mix of words and music' with a wintry theme to raise funds for Acorns Children's Hospice. Please go to his page to donate. Then you can listen to all the tracks, including one of mine. www.justgiving.com/page/from-ac...

Government’s last chance to keep control of digital Digital sovereignty isn’t optional anymore. We sold our water to foreign billionaires. Now we’re handing them our health data By Philip O'Brien

Word of the day is ‘quockerwodger’ (19th century): a puppet politician whose strings are pulled entirely by someone else.

Only a few days left to enter the Cafe Writers poetry competition. Our sole judge is Jessica Mookherjee. First prize is £1000 and there are other prizes too. #poetry www.cafewriters.co.uk/home/poetry-...

Here's a video of the v well organised Black Country poetry gig I was part of on Monday. Nice one @emmapurshouse.bsky.social! I especially enjoyed reading one of Dave Reeves' poems. Wish he was still with us to read it himself. www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2Ar... #BlackCountry #poetry #dialect #rhyme

we close at midnight tonight ( sunday ) please submit your best poems .... prizes include a slot at @cheltpoetfest.bsky.social on line - read more and enter www.ticketsource.co.uk/cheltenhampo...

Just one day left to send your poems to the @cheltenhampoetryfestival Festival's International Poetry Competition! We welcome poems from all over the world! To enter and find out more info visit: www.ticketsource.co.uk/cheltenhampo...

I’m struggling a little bit mentally at the moment. I hope this poem brings you love and light, wherever you are. #poetrycommunity

Shopping in #Worcester today? Do drop into @scripthavenltd.bsky.social and browse the #poetry shelves! My You Are Here is there.

The letter the BBC could send back to Trump - brilliant stuff from @davidallengreen.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/emptycit...

And while we're here... a reminder that this year's #WolvesLitFest poetry competition is now open. Judges @helenivory.bsky.social and @martinfigura.bsky.social. £400 first prize. All the info you need is here: pandemonialists.co.uk/wolves-lit-f...

If you're a poet looking for a top-quality competition, judged by the impeccably wonderful @helenivory.bsky.social and @martinfigura.bsky.social, then you're in luck! The #WolvesLitFest poetry competition is now open!! 😊 All the info's here: pandemonialists.co.uk/wolves-lit-f...

I wonder what this derelict, and rather creepy, canal lock is like today. Here's a poem I wrote after exploring it in 2017. wastiesspace.co.uk/2025/11/04/a... #FundBritainsWaterways

The rainbow diffraction effect on a blue tit, taken yesterday with the fab new OM 50-200. Can’t wait for my OM interview at 5pm GMT Friday on YouTube @omsystem.bsky.social @shropshirewildlife.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @natgeophotos.bsky.social

‘Autumn dawn is the colour of old bruises with a moon like a nail print in a neck.’

UK launches search for ‘town of culture’ among places ‘written out of national story’

Occasionally my blog stats tell me that someone has viewed a post I had forgotten writing, like this one from Feb 2018. It shows how visiting a scary place enabled me find emotional connections for writing a poem. wastiesspace.co.uk/2018/02/21/f... #FundBritainsWaterways

The president earlier in the week challenged her to take the test, which he incorrectly called an "aptitude" test.

Excited to be included in this collection from @thebrokenspine.co.uk

Thank you for reading and sharing today's poem - And Eliza by @heatherwastie.bsky.social

Looking forward to this one already. K-Teas Cakes do fantastic cakes...yum!

Thanks so much, Roger.

I’m so pleased that my poem ‘And Eliza’ is published by @atriumpoetry.bsky.social today. The #BlackCountry theme is close to my heart. #chainmakers #chainwomen

Very pleased with this performance of my song 'Thanks to the Women', originally written for the 'I Dig Canals' show I co-wrote with Kate Saffin @alarumproductions.bsky.social www.instagram.com/reel/DQTwOOC...

Looking forward to delving into Issue 15 of Flights which includes 3 of my #poems, two from my latest collection YOU ARE HERE and the third, 'A disappearance', published for the first time. flightofthedragonfly.com/flights-2/

#Poem written after encountering one man and his dogs wastiesspace.co.uk/2025/10/21/c...

I love this poem by Tina Sederholm posted by @atriumpoetry.bsky.social today atriumpoetry.com/2025/10/21/a...

Thoroughly enjoyed reading @emmapurshouse.bsky.social new #poetry collection which includes this prizewinning piece vimeo.com/695494894 I love Emma’s performance of it. The book cover artwork by Keith Turley is stunning too. @poetrysociety.org.uk

We are OPEN for poetry subs for our our newest anthology - Poems for Protest! We're going to be going through some today so potential responses going out! We are also open for our poetry prize - details on the website #poetry roughdiamondpoetry.com/submissions/

Have you checked out my Soundcloud account? There are lots of songs and poems there. I've just uploaded a #song I wrote in 2013 after meeting a man called Bill at one of my regular visits to #dementia cafes. soundcloud.com/heatherw.../... Sadly, these cafes no longer exist which is a crying shame.

Words and music for a wounded network – Dominic Fisher @domfishpoet.bsky.social atriumpoetry.com/2025/10/14/w...

Chris Packham, "This country voted in a party with a massive majority and a mandate for change" "All we see is Labour kowtowing to the far right. This causes me enormous concern" "I'm frustrated, I'm angry, and I've frightened" "And I get more scared every single day"

We will be opening a tiny but welcoming submissions window on Monday 13th October, just for a week. Full details of how to send will appear on the website on the day. We're already excited!

We love it that the Christopher Bland Prize recognises debut novelists and non-fiction writers over 50. Not all of us are spring chickens 😁 Now open for entries. #WomenWritersNet

I grew up in Lozells, just a stone’s throw from Handsworth. Robert Jenrick called it “as close as I’ve come to a slum” and complained he “didn’t see another white face.” This is white-supremacist thinking dressed up as “legitimate concerns”.