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Poetry

 

 

 

 

I have loved poetry all my life (as I told Exeter’s Bla Bla Show), and have been writing it more or less since I learnt to read. This page gives an overview of some of my publications of or relating to poetry, and re-prints a few of my poems that have appeared in magazines and anthologies.

Poetry books

 

2022b
Possibly a Pomegranate

Possibly a Pomegranate

£9.99

Possibly a Pomegranate celebrates womankind. From ancient history to the modern day, women stride through its pages. Sometimes they dazzle us with their humour and creativity – too often overlooked by patriarchal contemporaries. At other times, their fate moves us to tears.

How rare it is to read a collection so full of calm wisdom, of a lifetime’s experiences and investigations marshalled with a clear eye for what matters and a well-honed gift for finding the words and forms to share them. This celebration of women ranges from girlhood memories and the tenderness of parenthood to the intimacies and aggravations of later years, from insight into lives in different cultures to a roll call of remarkable women through the ages in which Pope Joan rubs shoulders with Jane Austen. These are satisfying and enriching poems.  Alasdair Paterson, Uncut Poets

An assured exploration of womanhood, with poems as abundant as the fruits in the pomegranate, resonant with love, birth, death, achievement, happiness and heartbreak. Small, unnoticed moments are brought into focus and held still enough to touch. Marriage turns her sympathetic and good humoured gaze on Sappho, Cleopatra, Lot's wife, Heloise, Hildegard, Mother Julian, Grace Darling, Rosa Parkes as well as her own life, creating a rich panoply of women.    Maggie Butt, poet and novelist

Review by Pat Edwards in London Grip, September 2022.

Review by Mandy Pannett in Tears in the Fence, October 2022.

Review by Carla Scarano D'Antonio in Write out Loud, November 2022.

Review by Dilys Wood in Artemis, November 2022.

Review by Emma Lee in The Journal, November 2022.

Review by Sue Kindon in The High Window, Spring 2023.

Published by Palewell Press. There's a video of the launch here.

To order a copy, please use the "Contact Alwyn" link.

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2022
Chiara

Chiara

eBook: £0.99
Genre: 2022

In this poem, Alwyn Marriage suggests that St Clare (1194-1253) may be a rather more interesting figure than history suggests.

Clare Offreduccio (Chiara) was a normal, healthy and enthusiastic teenager until she was swept off her feet by the dashing young Francis, whom she heard preach with passion. Abandoning her previous life to follow him, she devoted herself to a life of chastity and charity. Images of St Clare in art tend to depict her as an icon of humble obedience and purity, but there may well be more to the story than that.

While not wishing to diminish Clare's genuine piety and good works at all, this story suggests that Clare's obvious love of St Francis was more full-blooded and passionate than the official stories have suggested, and that ending up in a convent was not quite what Clare had in mind.

This is an ebook published by, and obtainable from, Cut.

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2021
Pandora’s Pandemic

Pandora’s Pandemic

£8.00
Author:
Genre: 2021

Pandora’s Pandemic is a vivid and personal account of Covid-19 in real time, in poems written actually as it happened. When Covid-19 swept across the world, it took everyone by surprise. Debilitating illness, unprecedented lockdowns and tragic deaths soon followed. And then the questions arose – how long would the devastation last and would anyone survive? Alwyn Marriage contracted Covid-19 early in the pandemic and that is where this moving collection starts.

In these vivid poems, Alwyn tracks the course of her own illness and recovery, the death of her brother and the gradual dawning of new hope. Above all, she asks what we have learnt from this pandemic, and whether the world will ever be the same again. This means that, unusually for a poetry book, because it tells the story of Covid-19, you can read Pandora’s Pandemic like a novel, not knowing what the next twist will be. This is poetry that grips you, may make you cry, but will also warm your heart. One reader wrote: The poems are wonderful. You have captured our universal experience of the pandemic, rather as the young war poets did ... It's a huge achievement.

For more information on Pandora's Pandemic, endorsements and unsolicited responses, click on the image of the book cover.

There is an interview with Greg Freeman about Pandora's Pandemic in Write out Loud, July 2021

Review by Sue Wallace-Shaddad in London Grip, November 2021.

Published by SPM Publications. To order a copy, please use the "Contact Alwyn" link.

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April 2017
In the image: Portraits of Mediaeval Women

In the image: Portraits of Mediaeval Women

£6
Author:
Genre: April 2017

This collection of poems brings to life women who, though they lived centuries ago, shared many of the hopes, thoughts and emotions that we experience today. A variety of formal and free verse styles of poetry is used to celebrate the love, courage and occasional defiance of real women. The book was published on 20 April 2017 by Indigo Dreams and was launched in Bergen in June 2017 at an international conference about the lives and writings of mediaeval women. For more information, click on the image of the book cover.

Published by Indigo Dreams. To order a copy, please use the "Contact Alwyn" link.

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2014
Notes from a Camper Van

Notes from a Camper Van

£7
Author:
Genre: 2014

Poems that celebrate the outdoor life: camping, 'cycling, walking, swimming and even driving. For more information, click on the image of the book cover.

Published by Bellhouse Books. To order a copy, please use the "Contact Alwyn" link.

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2012
festo: celebrating winter and Christmas

festo: celebrating winter and Christmas

£8
Author:
Genre: 2012

Poems from throughout the year, but with a special emphasis on Christmas and winter.

Though unquestioningly devout, she's refreshingly unorthodox, irreverent, forthright.
R V Bailey

Excellent and engaging poems. William Oxley

Published by Oversteps Books. To order a copy, please use the "Contact Alwyn" link.

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2007
Touching Earth

Touching Earth

£8
Author:
Genre: 2007

A collection of poems, arranged in five sections: Energy; Other lives; On being a woman; Open air; and the Christmas story.

Six months after this book was published, Alwyn was invited to take over as Managing Editor of Oversteps. For more information, click on the image of the book cover.

Published by Oversteps Books. To order a copy, please use the "Contact Alwyn" link.

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1990
New Christian Poetry

New Christian Poetry

Genre: 1990

For a while this anthology was Collins’ best-selling book, and I still get requests for copies. Unfortunately I have none left, and the opportunity for a re-print was lost during the series of publishing takeovers in the 1990s. There are sometimes copies for sale on Amazon.

However, in general, copies are now like gold-dust, so if you have one that you don’t want, please let me know, so that I can pass it on to someone who does.

Published by Collins (now HarperCollins).

_________________________________________________________________________

Review by Thelma Laycock in the Leeds-based poetry magazine Aireings, no 22:

Refreshingly this anthology bursts upon the British poetry scene which seems to suffer from a dearth of Christian writing. Alwyn Marriage draws her collection together from two hundred poems chosen from eight and a half thousand received after publicising the anthology to churches and magazines worldwide.

New Christian Poetry is not a denominational ‘churchy’ collection. The editor presents the poetry in its widest sense, dividing it into eleven sections: The Natural World, Place, People, World Issues, Art, The Bible, Times and Festivals, Experience of God, On Being a Christian, Praise and Prayer, Bread and Wine, thus expressing that Christians are not apart from the world but are very much thrown into the turmoil of it.

Memorable among the poems for me is Jean Naylor’s ‘Contemplation’ (Experience of God) with its Hopkinsian imagery:

I saw Him in the crushed crimson’s dawn appearing …
He comes riding
Stallion-drawn, whirl-wheeled, fleet
Sword-buckling King, re-armed in glory
I fall, love adoring at his feet.”

Presenting a contrast to that is Rosie Watson’s ‘Red Nose Day’ (World Issues) with its comic irony:

Would God wear a nose for such a cause
Christ the Clown
our fool for God’s sake
the only one
to wear a nose on red nose day
                                  Good Friday
for the sake of Ethiopia
Yes, and much more.”

Catherine Fisher closes the section on Art with her universal poem, ‘Judas’, in which the poet sees:

“… a roundel here of Christ in Hell,
embracing a man waist-deep in fiery glass
whose medieval face turns up as if in shock …
Perhaps it is something in the kiss that makes me
wonder, if they meant it to be you.”

The poems in this collection have a very high standard and much could be said about the individual poems. I can only recommend that people buy it and read it. It is a good resource for worship and for teaching as well as for personal reflection. It is excellent and have not come across anything quite like it. I am glad to have this anthology on my bookshelves; it has presence.

 

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1977
Beautiful Man

Beautiful Man

Author:
Genre: 1977

A short collection of Alwyn Marriage's early poetry, including the fourteen part longer poem 'Epiphany'.

Published by Outposts Publications. Currently out of print.

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Magazines and journals

There are many publications that are either dedicated to publishing poetry or that include poetry in their pages, and my poetry appears regularly in these. As magazines and journals have a short shelf-life, it is worth reproducing some of the poems in full.

more details

  • Incendiary was published in Acumen, December 2022
  • Morning wear in Crannog, Summer 2022
  • A recording of Revealed at Evening was presented at the Rivers Trust conference, March 2022
  • Bloodlines, in Artemis, May 2022
  • Pompidou Banner, published in Artemis, November 2021
  • Taking the knee was published in The Journal, September 2021
  • Venus of Willendorf was published in Artemis, summer 2021
  • Ars Poetica and Pebbles at Hallsands were both published in Acumen, February 2021.
  • The Scottish poetry journal, Dreich, published three of my poems in Issue #Nine, which came out on National Poetry Day 2020: Passing by, Finger four and Crepuscular.
  • Accidental and The cold war was not over were both published in The Journal, February 2020
    Barbary pirates was published in Acumen, May 2019
  • Halwell Point was included in Coast to Coast, Aldeburgh, Autumn 2019.
  • I am not a guy, high flyer and Skimming were all published in Domestic Cherry 6, October 2018.
  • The environmental paper, Guildford Environmental Forum newsletter used my poem about swifts, Sky high, in their September issue.
  • Possibly a pomegranate was published in Acumen, May 2018.
  • In parables, The old preacher, Couple arm in arm, The Globe, A reassessment of sheep and goats and The point of Grace were all published in Sarasvati, February 2018
  • Kathak Dancer was published in The Journal, January 2018
  • Solstice was published in Three Drops from a Cauldron, Midwinter edition, December 2017
  • Après le deluge was published in Broadsheet, October 2017
  • Water music was published in Broadsheet, October 2016
  • Schoolgirl, Bolivia was published in Dedalus, spring 2016
  • Transition, which won the Jack Clemo competition, was included in the Arts Centre magazine, 2016
  • Beekie was published in the Plymouth Herald, 9th January 2016
  • Les offrandes oubliés was published in the French Literary Review, autumn 2015
  • Retrospective was in the Wenlock Festival Anthology, 2015
  • Whale was in Artemis, autumn 2015
  • Visiting Speaker was included in The Broadsheet, autumn 2015
  • Roadhaul was published in Broadsheet, September 2014
  • Spring camping and Riding the Storm were both featured on the Nutshells and Nuggets online poetry magazine, September 2014
  • Juggling up to five was published in The Journal, September 2014
  • Lycra, Shooting the Greys and Fifty Shades of Green were all published in the Pop Up Anthology 2014
  • Sharing space in darkness was published in the first issue of ‘Lunar’, August 2014
  • Ceratonia Siliqua (Carob) and Hidden Power were published in The Cannon’s Mouth, issue 52, June 2014
  • Mother’s Day (for children) was published in Caterpillar, Spring 2014
  • On the way to somewhere else was chosen to be one of the Poems on the buses in Guernsey, 2014
  • Moon and next door neighbour’s tree was published in South 49, April 2014
  • Stone circle was published i the Wenlock Poetry Festival anthology, 2013
  • Shooting the greys was published in Broadsheet, autumn 2013
  • La Matelote and bikini were published in Pop Up Poetry, 2103
  • Cherries al fresco, Overload, Killer whales and Ritual were all published in Domestic Cherry, 2013
  • High planes was published in The Frogmore Papers, September 2012
  • La Matelote was published in the Shoestring North Paris issue, 2012
  • embedded shapes was published in the Wenlock Poetry Festival Anthology, April 2012
  • The clue lies in the lady’s toe was published in The Interpreter’s House, February 2012
  • Cherry Orchard was published on the Guardian Poetry Workshop website, September 2011
  • When my eyes shrank the fat man was published in Orbis, May 2011
  • La Matelote was published in Artemis, 2011
  • Losing it was published in The Interpreter’s House, 2011
  • Overheard was published in Acumen, May 2010
  • La Matelote was first published in the French Literary Review, 2010
  • Fairshare was published in The Starry Bough, 2009
  • The Vine was published in the Poetry on the Lake Journal 2, 2009
  • Those who go down to the sea was in Big Issue North, 2009
  • Tsunami and Skin were both in SOUTH 33, April 2006.
  • Skin was subsequently chosen by the artist, Franki Austin, to be on one of the photographs in an exhibition of her work; so it is this illustrated version that is reproduced here.
  • Lighter was in the lovely Irish journal, The SHOp, Summer 2007.
    This is one of the poems based on energy and the environment that was included in Touching Earth. It was written following one of the lectures on my MSc course, when the lecturer illustrated our lack of respect for the oil that has taken millennia to form, by blowing out the flame on a cigarette lighter.
  • Menses appeared in Acumen, September 2007. It is one of the poems I have written specifically about the experience of being a woman.
  • In 1978, my poem Annunciation was translated into Hungarian and published in the national Hungarian newspaper, Nemzetur.

Anthologies

The advantage of anthologies is that they tend to be around for many years, rather than having a short shelf life. My poetry has been included in many anthologies.

more details

  • Several of my poems were published in Unearthing Dartmoor, Oversteps Books, May 2023
  • Golden Eye was published in Watch the Birdie, Beautiful Dragons Collaborations, November 2022
  • Speculate was published in The First Six years by Write out Loud, Woking, in 2022
  • Fig Tree was highly commended in the Shepton Mallet Poetry Competition 2022 and published in the Shepton Snowdrops Anthology (p27), February 2022
  • Waiting for Midsummer Morning was published in Lighting Out: poems to answer the dark, edited by Rebecca Bilkau. Beautiful Dragons Collaborations, 2021
  • The poem Mother Julian and the Astronauts from In the Image was published as Space travel and a hazel nut in Phenomenal Women, Grey Hen Press, November 2021
  • Two of my poems relating to trees, Field trip and Home from Home were published in COED, a collection of poetry about trees produced in support of the Save Penrhos Nature Reserve in Wales, 2021
  • Sphagnum was published in the Ginkgo Prize anthology, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Best Poems of Landscape, 2020
  •  Out of the wind & Audible in Caged Blossoms, ed Peter Kennedy. Watermelon Press, 2021. ISBN 9781845419
  • My poem Woodland Dusk’is published in the Grey Hen anthology about trees, Lovely, Dark and Deep, edited by Joy Howard, 2021
  • Three of my covid poems, Where is St George when we need him?, Technological limits, and 3 ply, were all publishedin ‘Locked Down, Poetry Space 2021
  • I wrote so many poems about covid in 2020 and most of them were published immediately, while full anthologies took a little longer to arrive. ‘708’, a poem about my brother’s death from covid, has just been published in ‘Poems for the Year 2020’, published by Shoestring Press, 2021
  • Her Lot was included in Poetry on the Lake 2020 poems, published by Wyvern Works.
  • Some of you will remember the beautiful Irish poetry magazine, THE SHOp, which ceased publication in 2014. An anthology of the best of the poems from that magazine has now been published, ‘THE SHOp: an anthology of poetry’, and I’m pleased that my poem ‘Lighter’, which appeared in the magazine in 2007, has been included. As with its namesake, it’s beautifully produced. 2020.
  • Wrong place, wrong time was included in the Moor Poets anthology, Isolation Diaries, 2020
  • Sleeping with C19 and 708 today were both published in ‘Can you hear the people sing: Global responses to the pandemic’, published by Palewell Press in 2020
  • A couple of my poems have been re-published in a book of reflections for the season of Advent, ‘Front Line Advent’.
  • Across the Mountain was chosen from among 7.500 poems of place to be published in ‘Places of Poetry: Mapping the Nation in Verse’, published by One World, in October 2020.
  • Menses, was, appropriately, included in the anthology Bloody Amazing, edited by Rebecca Bilkau and Gill Lambert, October 2020
  • Wrong Place, Wrong Time, one of my corona-poems, was included in the Moor Poets anthology, Isolation Diaries, in September 2020
  • Halwell Point Beach, Salcombe was published in ‘Coast to Coast to Coast: Poetry in Aldeburgh’ edited by Maria Isakova Bennett, 2019, launched at Poetry in Aldeburgh in November 2019
  • Sea Swim was published in the watery anthology, ‘Well dam!  Poems for parching times’ edited by Rebecca Bilkau. Beautiful Dragons, 2019
  • Morning run was published in the Smith Doorstop book, ‘The result is what you see today’, edited by Paul Deaton, Kim Moore and Ben Wilkinson, October 2019
  • Clapperboards and Nancy’s Star Turn were published in Spring of the Muses: the poetry of music, art and dance, edited by Deborah Gaye, Avalance Books, 2019
  • Uphill was published in ‘Further than it looks: Poems about mountains’, Grey Hen 2019
  • Shooting the greys is included in For the Silent, published by Indigo Dreams, 2019
  • Women’s literacy class was published by The Selkie in States of Transformation, January 2019.
  • A dream of blue was included in Moor Poets anthology IV, autumn 2018. I also did the design and setting of this anthology for Moor Poets.
  • My concrete poem, Hopscotch: Miss 10, is included in the anthology Play, edited by Susan Taylor and Simon Williams
  • Spring camping and September butterfly were both included in Quartet: the four seasons. Avalanche Books, 2018
  • A dream of blue, from my collection Notes from a Camper Van, was included in the Moor Poets anthology IV
  • Nancy’s Star Turn and RP RIP were published in Project Boast, the anthology edited by Alyson Hallett and Rachel Bentham, Triarchy Press, 2018
  • Town birds, Sky high and A reason for faking it were all published in ‘Diversifly’, Poetry and Art on Britain’s Urban Birds, edited by Nadia Kingsley, Fair Acre Press, 2018
  • Christ in the Wilderness, my poem based on Stanley Spencer’s beautiful series of paintings of that subject, was published in the Stanley Spencer anthology, published by Two Rivers Press, in 2017
  • RP RIP, my poem celebrating Rosa Parks, was published in Noble Dissent, edited by Rebecca Bilkau (Beautiful Dragons Press), in 2017
  • Heliotrope was included in The Poeming Pigeon: Poems from the Garden.The Poetry Box, 2017
  • Across the mountain and The price of nuclear energy appeared in Nuclear Impact: Broken Atoms in our Hands edited by  Teresa Mei Chuc. Shabda Press, California. 2017
  • Six English Poets’ Diaries, Contemporary Literature Press, Romania, 2017
  • Laboratory mouse was published in the Program anthology, 2017
  • On landing G3, which was commended in the South Bank Poetry Competition judged by Mimi Khalvati, was included in the anthology of poems about London, ‘South Bank Poetry’.
  • Rebecca Bilkau produced a beautiful book to present to the mayor of Orta, entitled ‘Originals for Orta’, in which my poem Immersed in poetry appeared.
  • Childproof was published in The Seven Ages of Woman, The Quince Press, 2016
  • Nettles was published in the e-book ‘Poetry on Stinging Nettles’, Fair Acres Press, 2016
  • I wrote a new poem for inclusion in the book of photographs and poems about Surrey, organised by the Surrey Libraries and published by Hurtwood Press. My poem is called To be a pilgrim and is about a walk from Guildford to Canterbury that I undertook many years ago. The book will be displayed in different Surrey libraries over the coming months.
  • Black face of the deep was published in Not a drop: Just Oceans of Poetry, edited by Rebecca Bilkau. Beautiful Dragons, 2016
  • Gentle Giants was published in Poems for Jeremy Corbyn, Shoestring Press, 2016
  • Elemental was published in the Poet’s Quest for God, Eyewear Publishing 2016
  • Across the mountain and The price of nuclear energy were both published in Nuclear Impact: Broken Atoms in our Hands, 2016
  • Clapper boards and Christ in the house of his parents were both published in Wordstrokes: the poetry of art, edited by Deborah Gaye, Avalanche Books, 2016
  • Whale and Moon and next door neighbour’s tree were published in English and Romanian in Six British Poets, Integral Press, Bucharest, 2016
  • Six impossible things before breakfast was published in the United States in The Alice in Wonderland Anthology, Silver Birch Press, December 2015
  • Skin, The Vine and Ski scene were translated into Romanian by Ioana Sabau and published in Fereastra, 2015
  • Moving on was published in Poems for a Liminal Age, (in support of Médecins sans Frontieres), 2015
  • Tidal flow was in Wild Atlantic Words, 2015
  • Almost Harvest Moon was included in a Romanian anthology, 2015
  • Bikers, Consider the solitary bee and Invitation were published in The Keystone, 2015
  • Retrospective was published in the Wenlock Festival Anthology 2015
  • Lycra, Fifty shades of green and Shooting the greys were published in Pop Up Anthology, 2014
  • Hildegard, Doctor of the Church was published in ‘Hildegard, Visions & Inspiration’, edited by Gabriel Griffin, Wyvern, 2014
  • Lost Scents and Ubuntu love song were published in ‘Love & Loss’, edited by R V Bailey and June Hall, Belgrave Press 2014
  • Naming: AD2006 was published in The Other Side of Sleep: Narrative Poems. Arachne Press 2014
  • Jane Austen’s tombstone was published in ‘Advice on Proposals’, an anthology of poems about Jane Austen, edited by Angela Topping
  • Quartz and Sloe gin were published in Moor Poets anthology III, 2103
  • Cherries al fresco, Overload, Killer whales and ritual were published in Domestic Cherry, 2013
  • Those who go down to the sea was published in in ‘Running before the wind: poems about the sea’. Grey Hen Press 2013
  • La Matelote and bikini appeared in the Pop Up Anthology 2013
  • Ski scene was published in Ice: Contemporary and traditional poems for the festive season. Pighog Press, 2012
  • Luck of the draw was included in the Heart Shoots Anthology pubished by Macmillan
  • Skin was included in Musings on Motherhood, 2012
  • Peace Camp, 2012
  • embedded shapes was published in the Wenlock Festival Anthology, 2012
  • Tsunami and The Price of Nuclear Energy appeared in ‘Sunrise from Blue Thunder’, Pirene’s Fountain, 2011. In aid of relief work in Japan following the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in 2011
  • September Butterfly was included in ‘Shropshire Butterflies’: A poetic and artistic guide to the butterflies of Shropshire. Edited by Nadia Kingsley, Fair Acre Press 2011
  • Walking together was published in Visible Breath, Indigo Dreams 2010
  • In Casa Tallone was inlcuded in ‘Reflections on Lake Orta’, Wyvern Works 2010
  • Puffin was published in ‘No Space But Their Own’, Grey Hen Press 2010
  • tree x was published in Orta Christmas Anthology, 2009
  • Skin and by heart were included in Cracking On, Grey Hen Press 2009
  • Ski scene was published in ‘For the kids’. Challenges Anthology. Biscuit Publishing, 2005
  • Acrostic for Valentine’s Day was published in Requiem for Love. Forward Press, 2005
  • txtur of luv was included in Text Poems. Forward Press, 2004 or 2005. ISBN 1 84460 8670
  • March morning mist was included in the National Poetry anthology 2005. United Press
  • Doxology was published in A Lifetime of Blessing, compiled by Geoffrey Duncan. Canterbury Press, 2004.
    I wrote this because I love singing Tallis’s Canon, but find the traditional words a little outdated and exclusive.
    This version, which is also used in the meditational material in the liturgy book for Holy Trinity Church Guildford, was sung at the Festival Service for the Guildford Book Festival in 2006. The tune for which is was written is called ‘Tallis’s Canon’.
  • Charting the Thames was published in The River Thames in Verse, edited by Val Mason. The River Thames Society, 2004
  • Puddles was included in Sensational! edited by Roger McGough. Macmillan, 2004

Published on-line

Poems published on-line can be read by people all over the world.

more details

 

  • Sand, a poem for children, was published by Dirigible Balloon, September 2023
  • Beyond the final stanza, following the death of Graham Burchell, was published by Allegro Poetry Magazine, September 2023
  • Three poems – Rain before Dawn, Sacred Cow and Abused – were published by Wildfire-Words, March 2023
  • Sensing the Stable and Pigeons on the Roof were published by Poetry Wivenhoe, December 2022
  • Been there, done that was published by Black Nore, November 2022
  • Wings was published by Poetry Wivenhoe, November 2022
  • Fig Tree, Chain Reaction and Bikers were published by Wildfire Words, October 2022
  • The frog’s princess was published by Ink, Sweat and Tears, August 2022
  • Island Gifts was published, with a recording, by The Wild Word, March 2022
  • Bare and Beautiful was published by Allegro Poetry Magazine, Issue 28, March 2022
  • Oceans of Love and Grammer of a Ring were published by Atmos, February 2022
  • Happy ever after, Janus in Italy and  Looking back were all published on Wildfire Words, January 2022
  • Agape Review published five of my poems on 12 November 2021: Stella Maris, Journey’s End, Prayer Candles, Two Mangers and Mediterranean Metaphysic
  • My poem, The philosopher’s iff, was published on the Ink Sweat & Tears website of poems about Choice to celebrate National Poetry Day, 2021. It explains a term used in symbolic logic.
  • Compass point and Far outpost were both on the Wild Court, based at Kings College London:  2021.
  • Theft and Restitution was published by Ohio State University, June 2021
  • The spaces in between was published by Poetry Wivenhoe, 12 May 2021 (day 418 of anti-Covid new poems)
  • Tunnel Vision was published by wildfire words, January 2021
  • Stone Circle was included in the Winter Solstice Anthology, January 2021
  • Pink, Her Lot and Unsuitable Match were published by Blue Nib Literary Magazine, December 2020
  • Silent White (why the world falls silent under a blanket of snow) was published by Consilience, December 2020
  • Beginning Small, a poem about Greta Thunberg, was published by Abergavenny Small Press, October 2020
  • Loose Ends, a poem about Penelope, was published in Allegro Poetry Magazine, September 2020
  • Newspaper picture was featured in the New International Times, Spring 2020
  • Three Covid-19 poems, 708 today, 3-ply and Audible, were published by the Poetry and Covid Project in August 2020
  • Pendemic published 708 Today on 3 July 2020
  • Three poems for Fathers’ day 2020 were published by Good Dadhood.
  • Keeping it Private was published by Ink, Sweat and Tears on the Ninth Days of Christmas, 2019
  • Fallen fairy, in Writers’ Café, December 2019:
  • Ghosts was published by Ink Sweat & Tears website on 8 September 2019
  • Silver threads was published in the Agenda Ekphrastic supplement, volume 52, nos 3-4, June 2019
  • As Above So Below, 2019: ‘Walking into Stillness’ and ‘Beyond our Reach’
  • Café Writers, Letters, Winter 2019 published Words in a time capsule
  • Halwell Point Beach, Salcombe was published in ‘Coast to Coast to Coast: Poetry in Aldeburgh’ edited by Maria Isakova Bennett, 2019, launched at Poetry in Aldeburgh in November
  • Café Writers on Landscape & Maps, Issue 16, 2019: No land
  • Café Writers on Frost and Dew: Evening mist, high humidity and Tussling with a cloud. 2018/19
  • Writers’ Café, Elemental, published ‘Earth to fire’, ‘Elemental’ and ‘Produce of the earth’, Autumn 2018
  • Writers’ Café on trees included my poem, ‘Forest inventory’ in August 2018
  • Possibly a pomegranate was published in Acumen, May 2018.
  • London Grip, February 2018, included my poem ‘Implicit’
  • ‘Trumpet solo’, ‘Make music’, ‘Primrose time’, ‘Water music’ and ‘Interrupted cadence’ were all displayed on the Writers’ Café issue 5 on Love and Music, February 2018.
  • Stone Circle was published in the Solstice on-line anthology, 2018.
  • ‘Kiss’ and ‘Something afoot’: Morphrog 16, January 2018
  • ‘Solstice’: Three drops from a cauldron, Midwinter edition, 11th December 2017
  • Carved on history was published on 11th November 2017 in the on-line Remembrance Day Anthology:
  • Swimming in Soft Water was on the Poetry Pacific ezine on 5th May 2017
  • My poem ‘Veiled’ was posted on the Poetry on the Lake website page, ‘Crossing Lines’, celebrating refugees and immigrants, on 23rd March 2017
  • This year’s Christmas poem, Sensing the Stable was on the Poetry Shed website 23rd December 2016
  • A prose poem of mine, ‘Sea scenes’, was published on the Stride webzine, October 2016
  • The latest in my series of poems on mediaeval women, ‘Lady Godiva: Gift of God,  is now up  on the website of the Women’s Literary Culture and the Mediaeval Canon, October 2016
  • My prose poem, ‘Sea scenes’, was published on the Stride website in October 2016
  • Hildegard, Doctor of the Church was published on the blog, Women’s Literary Culture and the Mediaeval Canon, July 2016
  • Chiara: What the story of St Clare doesn’t tell was published on the blog, Women’s Literary Culture and the Mediaeval Canon, February 2016
  • Nettles was published in Poetry on Stinging Nettles, ebook by Fair Acres Press, 2016
  • Stone circle on the And Other Poems website, December 2015
  • Well beyond Aberdaron, The Ground, 1st November 2015
  • GPS, chosen for Poetry Space Autumn Showcase, September 2015
  • Paying the price, Care home, Conscript and Shelter on I am not a silent poet website, July 2015
  • In praise of moss on Thief, by Tribe, summer 2015
  • high humidity on Poetry Space Summer showcase 2015
  • Paying the price on Art Saves Lives International, in a 2-page spread with an interview with me
  • Earthed and Soaring were both on the Rethink your Mind website on February 12th 2015
  • Pluvial is on the Rainy Fiction website
  • Not three wise men was featured on the Ink Sweat & Tears website, December 2014
  • Almost harvest moon was published on the Antiphon website
  • Buzzard’s breakfast appeared on Agenda online
  • Spring camping and Riding the Storm were both featured on the online poetry magazine, Nutshells & Nuggets, September 2014
  • The Clue lies in the Lady’s Toe was featured on the Stanza poems about Scotland website, 2014
  • Counting down on water birds on SW Collective website, 2013

Readings

I very much enjoy sharing my poetry with others by performing to live audiences in Britain and around the world.

more details

  • October 2023: Society of Authors’ lunch, Guildford: Women in poetry
  • October 2023: reading at Palewell mini-festival, Richmond
  • September 2023: reading at South Hams Literary Festival: ‘By indirection find direction out’
  • September 2023: reading at Richmond Live Arts, Marble Hill
  • May 2023: Guest poet at Second Light Festival
  • March 2023: reading at concert at URC, Guildford
  • Also in October 2021, I was invited to be guest poet at Write Out Loud. Greg Freeman, the mastermind behind Write Out Loud, and its wonderful presenter, had published an interview with me earlier in the year, so it was good to be able to appear on his show.
  • After being confined to Zoom readings for 18 months, it was a delight to give a real ‘live reading’ at the Guildford Book Festival in October 2021. I read a selection of poems from Pandora’s Pandemic and enjoyed the interaction with the enthusiastic audience. I also appreciated the fact that so many books were sold after the reading.
  • It was great to be able to return to Ways with Words at Dartington, to organise another Oversteps Day in July 2021. As well as hosting some excellent new Oversteps poets, I was pleased to launch my latest collection, Pandora’s Pandemic, which is a chronicle of my year with covid.
  • I was one of the readers at the Society of Authors ‘Feel Good Friday’ party in November, 2020
  • I was guest poet at Poetry in the PInk at Pembroke College Oxford in November 2019
  • I was pleased to be included in readings at Poetry in the Lake in Italy in October and Poetry in Aldeburgh in November 2019
  • ‘In the image: portraits of mediaeval women’ at Society of Authors lunch, june 2019
  • I had a wonderful evening at Fox’s Barn, Binscombe last week. I was invited to read my poems about mediaeval women, and was given an hour and a half to read the poetry and talk about the women. The audience was so warm, appreciative and generous.
  • It was a privilege to read at ‘Rhythms of Peace’, a celebration of the Corrymeela Community, the peace and reconciliation organisation in Northern Ireland. The event was in Exeter, and the other readers were Richard Skinner, Laurence Sail, Padraig O Tuama and Dana Littlepage Smith.
  • I read with the Company of Poets at the Exeter Poetry Festival in October 2018. Here’s a photo of me (with my sweatshirt) reading the Sestina, ‘I am not a guy’
  • I read with lots of lovely Oversteps poets on the Oversteps Day at Ways with Words in July
  • I read at the launch of Moor Poets Anthology IV in Ashburton in July
  • I enjoyed reading with Martyn Crucefix and Will Stone at The Crypt, Islington, on 19th May 2018
  • Lancaster Litfest, March 2018
  • Bristol, at launch of Project Boast, March 2018
  • On Braemar at sea, February 2018
  • Uncut, Exeter, December 2017
  • Indigo Dreams tribute reading, December 2017
  • Staverton, Devon, November 2017
  • Torbay Poetry Festival, November 2017
  • Talk about ‘In the image’ for Modern History Group, Guildford, November 2017
  • Poetry on the Lake, Orta, Italy, October 2017
  • Launch of Broadsheet, Exeter Poetry Festival, October 2017
  • Poem-a-thon in aid of refugees, Enfield, October 2017
  • Guest at Libertas Book Group, Rapeseed, October 2017
  • Reading and talk about my novel ‘Rapeseed’ at Society of Authors lunch, March 2017
  • I gave a reading of poems about women as part of the International Women’s Festival in York, in March 2017
  • Launch of ‘In the image: portraits of mediaeval women’ at international conference of Women’s Literary Culture and the Medieval Canon, in Bergen, July 2017
  • Presentation on ‘Rapeseed’ at Ways with Words, Dartington, July 2017
  • Ways with Words, Dartington, July 2017
  • My novel, Rapeseed, was launched in York in March, as part of the International Women’s Festival.
  • Two readings at St Ives Festival, one on ‘Rapeseed’ and one poetry reading, June 2017
  • Launch of ‘Rapeseed’ at Millbrook, South Pool, May 2017
  • Teignmouth reading, April 2017
  • Launch of ‘Rapeseed’ at Appleseed Bookshop, University of Surrey, April 2017
  • ‘Rapeseed’ presentation at Society of Authors, April 2017
  • Launch of ‘Rapeseed’ and poetry reading at York Festival, International Women’s Day, March 2017
  • I was delighted to read at Torriano in London in February, along with two of the poets with whom I worked in Romania last year, as part of the delegation of Six British Poets
  • South Bank Poetry reading, December 2016, City Lit Theatre, Covent Garden
  • There were two launches for the ‘Poems for Jeremy Corbyn’ anthology during the autumn of 2016, one in London and one in Oxford. I was pleased to read at both of them
  • It was lovely to give readings at the Poetry on the Lake festival again this year, 2016
  • Broadsheet reading at Exeter Poetry Festival, October 2016
  • I was guest poet at Open Word at the Grosvenor Hotel in Stockbridge in August, 2016
  • Launch of ‘The Poet’s Quest for God’, London, July 2016
  • As well as taking part in the Oversteps Day at Ways with Words in July, I was also pleased to give a performance of my long poem, Chiara, accompanied by Simon Williams
  • Guest poet at Fire River Poets, June 2016
  • I read at the 2016 St Clémentin Festival in France in June
  • Reading at prize-giving of the Jack Clemo international poetry competition, May 2016
  • Reading at New Writers’ Festival, GLive, Guildford, May 2016
  • as part of the delegation of British Poets to Romania, reading at the British Council, Bucharest, April 2016
  • Bodmin Moor Poetry Festival, May 2016
  • Reading at Teignmouth Festival, March 2016
  • as a guest of the Fellowship of Australian Writers and Western Australian Poetry In, a reading at the Writers’ Centre, Joseph Furphy House, February 2016
  • Reading at the Live Poets Literary and Poetry Society, Taupo, New Zealand, January 2016
  • Reading at Oversteps in Oxford at Albion Beatnik in Oxford, December 2015
  • Nuffield Theatre, Southampton, November 2015
  • Café Culture at Thrive Café, Totnes, with singer-songwriter Zoë Marriage, November 2015
  • Poetry on the Lake, Orta, Italy, October 2015
  • Featured poet on Romanian radio September 2015
  • Launch of Poems for a Liminal Age, Waterloo, August 2015
  • Stanza reading at St John’s, Just Festival, Edinburgh, August 2015
  • Broadsheet reading, Exeter, August 2015
  • Unveiling of memorial stone to Anne Born, July 2015
  • Ways with Words Festival, Dartington, July 2015
  • The Keystone, Guildford, June 2015
  • Bodmin Moor Poetry Festival, May 2015
  • Wenlock Poetry festival, May 2015
  • Keats House, London, April 2015
  • Camden Poetry series, January 2015
  • Keystone pub, Guildford, December 2014
  • University of Surrey bookshop, December 2014
  • Poetry Café, London, November 2014
  • Lauderdale House, North London, October 2014
  • Albion Beatnik, Oxford, October 2014
  • Ways with Words, Dartington, July 2014
  • Guernsey International Literature Festival, 2014
  • Uncut, Exeter, January 2014
  • Poetry Society AGM at Keats House Hampstead, 2013
  • Winchester Cathedral, 2013
  • launch of Broadsheet, Exeter, 2013
  • BigUp competition Prize winners Reading, Andover 2013
  • Exeter launch of Broadsheet, September 2013
  • Salthouse Church, North Norfolk, August 2013
  • Just Festival, St John’s Edinburgh, August 2013
  • Bath Week of Good Poetry, June 2013
  • Launch of Domestic Cherry 3, Swindon, May 2013
  • Cheltenham Poetry Festival, April 2013
  • Wenlock Poetry Festival, April 2013
  • New Writers’ Festival, Surrey, February 2013
  • Uncut Poetry, Phoenix Theatre, Exeter, November 2012
  • ‘Poetry for a winter’s night’, Lewes Linklater Pavilion, November 2012
  • Torbay Poetry Festival, October 2012
  • Guildford Book Festival, ‘If winter comes, can spring be far behind’, October 2012
  • Poetry on the Lake, Italy, September 2012
  • Ways with Words Oversteps Day, July 2012
  • Wenlock Poetry Festival, April 2012
  • Slimbridge Wildfowl Trust, February 2012
  • Walpole Old Chapel, Suffolk, June 2011
  • The Dower House, Morville, June 2011
  • The Space, Dartington, April 2011, in collaboration with Ballet Rambert dancers and choreographers
  • Cheltenham Poetry Festival, April 2011
  • RSPB Leighton Moss, March 2011
  • Falmouth Poets March 2011
  • York Festival, Oxfam Shop March 2011
  • Troubadour, London, February 2011
  • Epicentre, Paignton, March 2011
  • Mirehouse prize-winners reading, March 2011
  • Acumen Poetry Day, Paignton: workshop and reading, 2011
  • Queen’s Park Bookshop, Kilburn, 2010
  • Reading at Sting in the Tail Festival, Guildford, 2010
  • Poetry on the Lake, Orta, Italy, 2010
  • Reading at Wisewords Bookfest, East London, as part of Women’s History Month, 2010
  • Reading at Lumen, Camden Town, 2010
  • Poetry reading at Partner Cities Fair, Freiburg-im-Bresgau, Germany, 2009
  • Poetry reading at Free Fringe Festival, Edinburgh, 2009
  • Guest poet at Uncut Poetry, Phoenix Theatre, Exeter, 2009
  • Various readings at Poetry on the Lake Festival, Orta, Italy, 2009
  • Reading at launch of Cracking On anthology, Leeds, 2009
  • Guest poet at Excite, Exeter, 2009
  • Ways with Words, Dartington: ‘A Trio of Poets’ with Penelope Shuttle and Ann Kelley
  • Swindon
  • Ways with Words, Dartington, Readings with Oversteps poets
  • Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World, Exeter. Poetry reading of environmental poems, 2008
  • Lewis Elton Gallery, University of Surrey
  • Totnes Festival, Devon
  • Guildford Book Festival, Surrey
  • Torbay Poetry Festival, Devon
  • Poetry at the Palace, Exeter, Devon, where Christopher Southgate and Richard Skinner were kind enough to invite me to be the guest poet
  • Millbrook Inn, Devon
  • Tradewinds, Scorriton, Dartmoor
  • Poetry at the Deli Farncombe, December 2007
  • Totnes festival, 2007
  • The Guildhall, Guildford
  • Guildford Cathedral
  • Little Gidding
  • Waterstones Torquay
  • Brixham Poetry Day, Devon

Readings on video

Some of my poetry performances have been videoed, so you can, if you like, watch me performing from the comfort of your home.

Click here to watch some poetry videos

In December 2022 I read The song of the Sentimental Cow, the Stubborn Sheep and the Cynical Donkey, first published in Festo, on Zoom for the Wirral Poetry Festival.

Here is a recording of the Zoom launch of my collection Possibly a Pomegranate; June 2022

Revealed at Evening was recorded for the Rivers Trust AGM, March 2022

I was pleased to perform at the Bristol Lyra Festival (joint with the Bristol Poetry Festival and the Bristol Festival of Ideas). Our show was compiled and performed by a group of Poets for the Planet and was called Interbeings.

Beyond the Mountain was chosen as one of the Places of Poetry poems for a new anthology:
Places of Poetry: Mapping the Nation in Verse, 2020

Halwell Point Beach was written and filmed for ‘Coast to Coast to Coast: Poetry in Aldeburgh’ edited by Maria Isakova Bennett, 2019.

Audible, published by #BeginAfresh in June 2020

Open Skies, published by #BeginAfresh in June 2020

Possibly a pomegranate   published in Acumen, May 2018

 

 

 

 

 

Chiara: what the story of St Clare doesn’t tell   performed at Ways with Words, Dartington, in July 2016

Moving On

Beach Hut

Bikini

In Casa Tallone

Overheard

The clue lies in the lady’s toe

La Matelote

Logos

Poetry residence with Ballet Rambert, Dartington

O being read at the Mere Literary Festival Prizewinners Concert

Song of the sentimental cow, the cynical sheep and the stubborn donkey

embedded shapes

The Vine

Women’s Literary Culture and the Medieval Canon

At the end of 2015, Diane Watt, Professor of Medieval English Literature at the University of Surrey, asked if she could publish my long poem, Chiara, on the blog of the inter-university, international project supported by Leverhulme, Women’s Literary Culture and the Mediaeval Canon, to join the project as an Associate Member, and to contribute further poems about mediaeval women every few months.

So far the following poems have appeared on their blog:

These and other poems were published in April 2017 in In the image.

Prizes and awards

I have been extremely fortunate in winning a number of poetry competitions and have been placed in many others.
Here is one that provided me with a cash prize and a lovely trophy to enjoy for a couple of years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

more details

  •  A group of my poems were longlisted in the Butcher’s Dog competition in spring 2023
  • Fig Tree was highly commended in the Shepton Mallet Poetry Competition 2022
  • A poem of mine has been shortlisted in the AONB Landscape section of the 2021 Ginkgo Prize. It will be included in this year’s forthcoming anthology.
  • ‘Late home’ was commended in the Poetry Kit International Poetry Competition, 2020, which was on the theme of Home.
  • ‘Ars poetica’ was shortlisted in the Second Light poetry competition, 2020
  • ‘Artist mid-morning’ was commended in the Poetry Kit Ekphrastic poetry competition, 2020
  • On landing G3’, which was commended in the South Bank Poetry Competition judged by Mimi Khalvati, was included in the anthology of poems about London, ‘South Bank Poetry’, 2017
  • I was shortlisted for the Paragram Poetry Prize, 2016
  • I was pleased to be shortlisted in the Poetry on the Lake poetry competition, 2016
  • A poem by me was one of five commended in the South Bank poetry competition, 2016
  • Nancy’s star turn was shortlisted in the Poetry on the Lake competition, 2016
  • Transition won 1st prize in the Jack Clemo international poetry competition 2016. (See photos above).
  • The Philosopher’s iff was longlisted in the Oxford Brookes poetry competition 2015
  • Tidal flow was commended in the Hungry Hill, Wild Atlantic competition, 2015
  • Her Lot was listed in the Poetry on the Lake competition 2015
  • Salsa was long-listed in the Poetry on the Lake competition 2015
  • Rendezvous was commended in the Segora competition 2015
  • Tidal flow was commended in the Hungry Hill Wild Atlantic competition 2015
  • RP RIP won 1st prize in the Leeds Peace Poetry Prize competition 2015, judged by Helen Mort
  • Clapper boards was commended in the 2014 Poetry Society’s Stanza competition
  • Veiled was one of the winners of the Miracle Poetry competition, 2014
  • Cherry Orchard won 1st prize in the BigUp Open Poetry Competition. I read at the Prizewinners event in Andover on National Poetry Day in October
  • Inspiring Artists was Highly Commended, and Road Haul Commended in the Hastings International Poetry Competition 2012
  • Flight at tide’s turning was shortlisted and Those who go down to the sea was longlisted in the Hungry Hill Poetry Competition 2012
  • Lycra was shortlisted in the Ashbourne Poetry Competition, 2011
  • The clue lies in the lady’s toe as a winner in the Bedford Open Poetry Competition, 2011
  • Castle-spotting was shortlisted / commended in the ‘I cento castelli’ poetry competition in northern Italy, 2011
  • O was awarded a distinction in the Mere Poetry Competition, 2011
  • When my eyes shrank the fat man came third in the Readers Award in Orbis, 2011
  • fairshare won second prize in the Farmers’ Weekly poetry competition, 2011
  • Ubuntu Love Song was Highly Recommended in the Mirehouse Poetry Competition, 2011
  • The Vine was commended in the Silver Wyvern competition, 2009
  • Bonhoeffer’s Last Goodnight won second prize in the international Colloquy competition, 2006.
  • Highly commended in the BBC Wildlife Poet of the Year, 2006

Workshops

I am available to lead workshops – please contact me for details.

  • Winchester Cathedral, 2013
  • Cheltenham Poetry Festival, 2011
  • Poetry Day, Paignton, 2011
  • Guildford Book Festival, 2010

Residencies

Poets are sometimes invited to take up short or longer residencies, and I have greatly enjoyed these.

Radio

I have found it difficult to be organised enough to catch the programmes when my poetry is on radio, but here are some details.

  • featured poet on Romanian radio, September 2015
  • extracts from Epiphany were read on BBC World Service.
  • broadcast on Romanian National Radio, May 2012.
  • Skin, The vine, Ski scene and Tsunami were read in English and Romanian (translated by Mihai Cristian Toncu) on Romanian radio in June 2014.

Romanian radio has broadcast my poetry on several occasions, and I was interviewed on radio in Western Australia early in 2016, but have not managed to acquire recordings.

To hear an interview with me that was broadcast on local radio in Devon, click here.

Lectures and articles on other poets

I lectured on English poetry at the University of Surrey, where I was also Literature Coordinator and organised the Annual University Poetry Lectures.

I have recently returned to the University as a research fellow in the Department of English.

I have given guest lectures on T. S. Eliot, Alice Oswald, Jack Clemo and others.

Magazine articles by me on the poet Alice Oswald have been published in Resurgence and in Devon Life:

Judging poetry competitions

I have been the judge for a number of poetry competitions, including

  • South Hams Writers competition, 2016
  • 1000 monkeys poetry competition, 2016
  • BigUp poetry competition 2014
  • South Hams Writers competition, 2015
  • Devon Limericks competition, Kingsbridge Gazette, 2013
  • London Festival Fringe Awards, 2011
  • Barnett Open Poetry Competition (three years running)
  • Jack Clemo Poetry Competition (run by the Arts Centre Group)
  • Guildford Cathedral Poetry Competition

Computer poetry and jazz

The group, Sunflowers, was active in the late 1970s creating computer-generated poetry using Bard 0 and Bard 1D computer programs. The poetry was performed to jazz accompaniment, also composed by the group. The jazz quartet gave performances at a number of venues, including the Edinburgh Festival, and was featured on BBC radio.

The members of the group were:

  • Robin Shirley: voice autoharp, percussion
  • Gus Garside: voice, guitars, electric bass
  • Ranald Macdonald: flutes, saxes, voice, percussion
  • Alwyn Marriage: voice, pedal organ, recorder

The skill was to feed in to the computer phrases and clauses that would work well together whichever order they came out in.

I have written more about this here: ‘An early adventure in computer poetry’, while this article by John Lansdown provides additional technical details.

Publishing other poets

In recent years I have been pleased, as Managing Editor of Oversteps Books, to publish many other poets.

As Editor of Christian Journal (1991-1998), I was fortunate to be in a position to raise the profile of contemporary poetry by giving space and prominence to a wide selection of good modern poets.

Sermons about my poetry at Salisbury Cathedral

Canon Jeremy Davies preached on Uncertain Advent on 8 December 2002
and on Logos on 28 December 2003.

Future bookings

I am always pleased to consider invitations to read at festivals and workshops or to undertake poetry residencies. Please contact me.

Membership

I am a life member of the Poetry Society and, more locally, a member of the Devon Company of Poets and Moor Poets.