Latest review

My review of Charlie Baylis' pamphlet Elizabeth from Agave Press can now be read on-line at Sabotage.





































(Image: Agave Press)

First review of Arc - and some new work

As many of you will know, Arc is now well and truly launched - and has even received its first (very positive) review by Robert Peake, whose recent collection The Knowledge I very much admire. You can read the review in full here at Huffington Post.

Now the collection is out there, it feels to an extent like I am starting again from scratch; although I do also feel like I am writing with a clearer sense of where the work will lead in due course, namely to a second collection at some point in the future. I'm not sure how this will change what I do, if at all, but I have found myself moving more towards writing longer sequences of poems, and I have a notion that any second book might well be made up largely of such sequences. The 14-20 line poem has its own challenges, but I'm also keen to explore wider canvasses.

One such sequence, called (perhaps rather off-puttingly) '10 Decapitations', has just appeared in Long Poem Magazine and I'm eagerly awaiting my contributor's copy as I write this. Three new individual poems are also on their way into the world with Poetry Salzburg Review this autumn.

For anyone in Gloucestershire and the surrounding area, my next reading will be at Star Anise Arts Cafe in Stroud on the evening of Friday 20 November. The event is free, and also features Lesley Ingram, reading from her amazing book, Scumbled.

On the (back) cover

I've been reviewing for a while now, and occasionally my reviews get cited by publishers on their websites. Nevertheless, I was pleased to note, on purchasing a copy of Peter Riley's Due North from Shearsman, that they had decided to use a quote from my piece at Sabotage Reviews about his pamphlet The Ascent of Kinder Scout on the back cover. I'm looking forward to setting aside a day to engage with Riley's sequence, of which the earlier pamphlet forms one part.

Latest Review: Siegfried Baber

Sabotage Reviews have just published my review of Siegrfried Baber's pamphlet When Love Came to the Cartoon Kid. You can read it here.

A review and a poem on-line

Dr Fulminare's Occasional Features has just published my review of Andrew Wynn Owen's Raspberries for the Ferry.



I also have a new poem on the excellent Amaryllis poetry blog.

Review of Kevin Powers

I just reviewed Kevin Powers' new book of poetry, Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting, over at Dr Fulminare's Irregular Features.

Richard O'Brien's The Emmores

I have a review of Richard O'Brien's pamphlet The Emmores from The Emma Press over at Sabotage Reviews.

Review of John Freeman's White Wings at Sabotage

I have another review over at Sabotage, this time of John Freeman's fascinating collection White Wings.

My Review of SJ Fowler's 'Enemies' at Sabotage

I've had my first review of 2014 posted at Sabotage, on SJ Fowler's collaborative book Enemies.

Another Review at Sabotage

I have another review of two very interesting pamphlets on the Sabotage website.

The review discusses Cara Brennan's Destroyed Dresses (2012) and Michael Stewart's Couples (2013). Both are from Valley Press and well worth a read.

Review of 'The Debris Field' at Sabotage Reviews

My review of 'The Debris Field' by Simon Barraclough, Isobel Dixon and Chris McCabe has just been published at Sabotage Reviews. I'm looking forward to writing some more for this excellent website in the near future.