Behind the pamphlet and the poet: The Man Who Made Up Trees by Michael Greavy

Michael Greavy won Magma’s 2024 pamphlet competition, with Judge Niall Campbell saying: ‘The collection felt like having a seat in the middle of an orchestra or a ceilidh band. There was something so joyful about this abandon to words and their tunefulness’. Magma’s Aoife Lyall commented that the poetry in the pamphlet was ‘held lightly and beautifully by Greavy’s attention to, and elevation of, sound’.

With the 2026 Magma Poetry Open Pamphlet Competition now underway, Magma’s Benedict Newbery talked to Michael Greavy about his poetry – including his process, and his approach to choosing the poems for his pamphlet submission.

Benedict Newbery: How long have you been writing poetry?

Michael Greavy: Ten years under the radar, twenty in the open. I’ve written always: lyrics at university slowly morphed into poetry.

BN: You read Chemistry and you’re a teacher. Do either of these inform your poetry at all?

MG: Teaching makes me self-critical. Chemistry is creative but disciplined. Poetry is bubbling under the surface somewhere.

BN: Can you describe your writing practice.

MG: I write first thing between 5am and 7am – in pencil, no commas, no compass, trusting the line, letting it come and following where it leads. I never cross out and never read what I’ve written until the next day. I do not judge words until they’ve had time to settle on the page and in the mind. I edit with ink, my ear open for rhythm and form.

BN: How would you summarise your poetry – is there an underlying theme or pre-occupation for you?

MG: I write whatever interests me, ideas that will not leave me alone.

BN: How much workshopping do you do?

MG: I workshop with two close friends and two writing tutors I trust.

BN: Which poets do you enjoy?

MG: Adam Zagajewski, Yehuda Amichai – translations where poems fall between worlds and language. I like to live in that space. Anything seems possible.

BN: Which have influenced you?

MG: My influences are many so choosing seems unfair. We are all just collages of one another.

BN: From this pamphlet, can you give an example of a poem that came easily – and one that you really laboured over.

MG:That Garbo Film: I tinkered with that unsuccessfully for 20 years. Thinking You Like Me was sudden and unforced.

BN: Which are your favourite poems in the pamphlet – and why?

MG: I have no favourites. I like them all for different reasons.

BN: I loved reading Superstitious and WorldWar III Poet – on the page and aloud. A real pleasure. Which of the poems in the pamphlet did you have the most fun writing?

MG: Once I got going, The Hole never seemed to tire.

BN: I wanted to turn to the process of producing the pamphlet. How did you decide on the order of the poems in your pamphlet submission?

MG: I adjusted my original sequence. I’m not precious about words. Advice improves them.

BN: Did the order change during the editing and production process with Magma? If so – why and how?

MG: Initially two poems fell out of step with the tone of the pamphlet and were cut. Three new poems were added: Sheds, That Garbo Film and The Radio.

BN: Who did you work with from Magma? Did this editing and production process bring anything new to your pamphlet?

MG: I worked closely with Aoife Lyall. She is thorough and meticulous. Her sequencing seemed to allow the same poems to roam higher and further and cover more ground.

BN: What advice would you give someone thinking of submitting a pamphlet?

MG: We all have doubts about poems. They are our precious children. Let them be, wish them well and send them off into the world.

BN: On your desert island, which is the one book of poetry that you would take? (you’d still get the Bible and Complete Works of Shakespeare!)

MG: Shakespeare is plenty for an island. I never take poetry away with me. I try to embrace a place openly without influence. I try to tap into poems by absorbing my surroundings. I’ve read The Tempest.

BN: And finally, what are your writing plans? MG: To write the next poem better than the last.

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Michael Greavy is a teacher from Manchester. His recent work has appeared in Magma, The North and Stand and he was shortlisted in the Bridport Prize. The Boy Who Kept Bees was highly commended in The Poetry Business Pamphlet Competition.

Benedict Newbery runs the Magma Open Pamphlet Competition. His poems are widely published and he works in magazine print production.

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Magma poetry pamphlet competition 2026 is open for submission. Find full details here

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