Two evenings in two cities for two very different reasons with the one and only Imtiaz Dharker. Here she is reading for Inspire in Notty.

Join @rorywaterman.bsky.social at Louth Words Festival at 6.30 pm on Saturday 4th October where he will be reading from his Carcanet collection 'Come Here to this Gate'. The event is free to attend, but for more information see here:⬇️ www.zerodegreeslouth.org.uk/home/louth-s...

Join @rorywaterman.bsky.social at Louth Words Festival at 6.30 pm on Saturday 4th October where he will be reading from his Carcanet collection 'Come Here to this Gate'. The event is free to attend, but for more information see here:⬇️ www.zerodegreeslouth.org.uk/home/louth-s...

I'm also reading at No Limits Festival, Normanby Hall, on Sunday 21 September, 1.30pm. Thanks for Rabbit Hole Books for inviting me! Normanby Hall is gorgeous, and a lot will be going on.

Reading on 4 October, in Louth, which is somewhere close to the centre of the universe. When you're in it, anyway, by definition. Please come if you are in the area. I only bite when invited to do so. Free entry.

This was, I gather, well attended (online), but the video hasn’t been watched much since, so I thought I’d share it. To watch the launch (over a year late): www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dq2... 1/2

TONIGHT! Venue: everywhere. Be there.

It's not (quite) too late to sign up for this, tomorrow 11am-12.30pm, online. poetrybusiness.co.uk/whats-on/wor...

On Wednesday, I'm running this online poetry workshop for The Poetry Business: poetrybusiness.co.uk/whats-on/wor... All very welcome!

I'm judging the Buzzwords Open Poetry Competition this year, and will read all entries. I'm looking forward to it. You have two weeks to submit poems! buzzwordspoetry.blogspot.com/p/buzzwords-...

Join me for an online The Poetry Business workshop about writing poems in dialogue with photographs or visual art. 27 August, 11am, online! Absolutely anyone welcome. poetrybusiness.co.uk/whats-on/wor...

I'm giving a poetry reading, and leading a short workshop, in CHELTENHAM tomorrow (Sunday) evening. Open mic, too. I'd love to see you there. Info: buzzwordspoetry.blogspot.com?fbclid=IwY2x...

A new poem by Alan Jenkins, one of the finest poets we have, that is both timely and moving: www.freebloodybirds.com/after-london... This is on the website of Free Bloody birds, the new little (print) magazine he edits with Declan Ryan. The first issue is packed with excellent writing.

My review of Maurice Riordan's Selected Poems in the TLS: www.the-tls.com/literature/p...

Have a look at the Kickstarter for the New Nottingham Journal, a significant new publication - wherever you are - which will launch in October this year. I'm very glad to be on the board. The editor, Andrew Tucker, is developing something very special. www.kickstarter.com/projects/new...

Want to hear more about @lincsfolk.bsky.social ? Come to our free online #storytelling workshop Wed 16 July 12-1.30 with Anna Milon @hexnhart.bsky.social and @rorywaterman.bsky.social plus @sabinelittle.bsky.social from Traditional Tales, Untraditionally Told: www.eventbrite.com/e/cfrc-story...

I'm very much looking forward to judging the Buzzwords Poetry Competition this year. Submission deadline 30 August. I'll read everything. See below for guidelines, etc. gloswriters.org.uk/buzzwords-op...

I'm reading from my newest @carcanet.bsky.social collection in CHELTENHAM on Sunday 13 July. At the Exmouth Arms, for Buzzwords. I'll also lead a workshop. Workshop: 7pm Reading: 8pm Open mic too! I'd love to see you there, whoever you might be. buzzwordspoetry.blogspot.com

'Well worth perusing and returning to time and again as an aid to re-reading poetry from the last decade or so. It is informative and wears its learning lightly.' I'm very grateful to Kate Noakes for this review in London Grip of my book of articles, Endless Present. Link 👇

This might appeal to you if you are interested in folklore, hidden bits of England, Lincolnshire, etc. The 'folk tale map' bit is fun, even if I do say so myself. lincolnshirefolktalesproject.com

No, they're not in this building.

FREE CFRC online storytelling workshop 16 July led by Anna Milon @hexnhart.bsky.social and Rory Waterman @rorywaterman.bsky.social of the @lincsfolk.bsky.social study and Sabine Little @sabinelittle.bsky.social of Traditional Tales, Untraditionally Told! Details👇 www.eventbrite.com/e/cfrc-story...

For work, I had to list things I've done, and was reminded of this interview with Robin & Peter (Planet Poetry). Good interviewers know their stuff, & how to draw things out of you. They are VERY good. Here it is, among many excellent interviews: planetpoetrypodcast.com/258-2/

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...

I thought the reviews of my Come Here to This Gate (@carcanet.bsky.social 2024) had stopped coming. I'm very grateful for this perceptive piece by @jwikeley.bsky.social, in the new Poetry Birmingham/PBLJ. It is an honour to receive this kind of attention.

My dad would’ve been 85 two days ago. I was driving back from the Scottish Highlands, and stopped at a waterfall. The first time I was in a landscape like this, I was with my dad in Ireland, and waterfalls always make me think of him. He wasn’t wholly bad, just wholly flawed. 1/2

Do you live near Boston & love stories? Come to Boston History Book Festival & see @rorywaterman.bsky.social @hexnhart.bskysocial @@lincsfolk.bsky.social , Robert Etty Alex Harvey & me. Fydell House, Boston, PE21 6HT, Sun 8 June, 1.30 pm. I'll read my Radio 4 poem! www.google.com/search?ie=UT...

Please sign this petition if you care about such things. As you should. chng.it/FdFgQDQKd5

My copy of Poetry Birmingham landed yesterday. It is at least as good as any of its predecessors, and long may that continue (see last image). And thank you to Jeremy Wikeley for his review of my newest @carcanet.bsky.social collection, Come Here to This Gate. (1/2)

This is an exceptionally revealing documentary. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Rory talks about the legend of King Oswald at Bardney Abbey, first recorded by the Venerable Bede in 731AD, in this new episode of BBC Secret Lincolnshire. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

@rorywaterman.bsky.social & @nicktriplow.bsky.social are venturing to merry Scunthorpe for a Lincolnshire Folk Tales Reimagined anthology event. Book your spot here: www.opac.northlincs.gov.uk/events#/even...

I'm very much looking forward to running this poetry workshop at beautiful Castle Fraser near ABERDEEN on 21 June. Sign up here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/poetry-wor...

I’m reading with Robert Etty (who organised it) and several other fine poets at University of Lincoln Library next Weds, 30 April, 6.30-8pm. My first reading in Lincoln from my newest collection, Come Here to This Gate (@carcanet.bsky.social). To book a place, email [email protected].

It's been a while since this last happened.

Doddington Hall, where all that remains of the gibbet of Tom Otter is displayed, incongruously, beside luxurious furnishings and art. Otter was the last person to be gibbeted in Lincolnshire, in 1806, having been convicted of Mary Kirkham’s murder on what is now Tom Otter Lane...

This book – my fourth poetry collection – was published by Carcanet a year ago today. I thought I’d assemble a little thread about it, containing a few excerpts. A little self-indulgence, a horn-tootle into the void. If I regret posting this, I'll delete it.

Ian Duhig's An Arbitrary Lightbulb, reviewed by me in the current @thetls.bsky.social. A very good collection. www.the-tls.co.uk/regular-feat...

The revamped Carcanet website looks beautiful, and is easy to navigate. And - ahem - naturally I'd like to draw your attention to this page of it: www.carcanet.co.uk/author/rory-...

A friend in the US sent this to me. The Mesopotamian coin he has ordered from a seller in Greece will be subject to Iraqi tariff charges. Presumably this measure will help ensure Americans only buy ancient coins from the U, S and A in future, and will help to keep America just absolutely great.

The end of 'Scholarship Boys' by Peter Raynard, from his collection Precarious (Smokestack, 2017).

This month, Come Here to This Gate (@carcanet.bsky.social) turns one. No book of mine matters more to me. To buy (thank you!): www.carcanet.co.uk/978180017396... www.amazon.co.uk/Come-Here-Th... From reviews: rorywaterman.com/tonight-the-... Two poems from the book: rorywaterman.com/poems/

I'll be reading from my new collection, Come Here to This Gate (@carcanet.bsky.social), a Lincoln University Library, 6.30-8pm, on 30 April. Five other readers, too! To book, email [email protected].

Some kids chatting while playing video games.

Just over a month to enter the Ver Poets Open Competition. I'm looking forward to reading the entries, mulling, and doing my best to choose the right winners. verpoets.wixsite.com/verpoets/com...

If you've ever cared for my criticism: www.centralbooks.com/endless-pres...

I've grown very reluctant to write endorsements. But I had to make an exception for this new collection by @robinhoughton.bsky.social, because it's bloody excellent. robinhoughtonpoetry.co.uk/the-mayday-d...

I'm judging this year's Buzzwords Open Poetry Competition. Please see the link below. I'm looking forward to working through the entries - and will read everything that is submitted and eligible. buzzwordspoetry.blogspot.com/p/buzzwords-...

Just noticed this Arvon course is now on sale… So looking forward to returning to Lumb Bank and visiting Sylvia’s grave. With @rorywaterman.bsky.social - join us! www.arvon.org/writing-cour...

This is bound to be interesting - and Catenary Wires is a superb band, comprising two proper originals. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e8V...