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Statistics compiled by VIDA, an organisation representing women in the literary arts, appear to show gross imbalance between men and women in leading literary magazines and newspapers. They publish far more poems by men than women, far more reviews of…

Any thoughts on the TS Eliot Prize? Who will win? Who should win? Do you think the whole thing is irrelevant and top-heavy with the usual publishers who invariably share out the places on these lists? Or would you argue…

Here's an interesting with Ryan Van Winkle conducted by the Scottish Book Trust. One commenter (anonymous, of course) got upset over Ryan’s answer to ‘What’s the best thing about being a poet?’ Ryan isn’t comfortable with calling himself a ‘poet’…

I am surprised by the passion in the poetry community about the word “shards”. Having heard from two reputable poets / teachers of creative writing whose opinions I value that “shards” is a no no, and having read on the…

So I said like ‘How many people have you slept with?’ And he said like one And I said like who And he said like YOU! And I said Oh. That’s the conversation I overheard on the train home, after…

Let’s imagine for a moment that you have been asked to programme two events at a poetry festival. You have an unlimited budget, but each event must contain only three poets. For the first event you can invite three living…

The way a poem begins clearly has consequences for mood, tone, register, voice, line length, pace, style, and so one. It may contain at least a hint of form or structure. The first couple of lines may work together or…

Do you get fed up with poets’ efforts at self-promotion? Well, you’d be in good company because many poets find doing it awkward, which perhaps explains why their efforts are often clumsy and sometimes ill-considered. Poets these days are expected…

I followed a Facebook discussion last week on whether poets are best to work as full-time writers, or work in a completely different field. Those advocating the former were (unsurprisingly) full-time writers and supporters of the latter had other forms…