News 2022
2022 News
DECEMBER 2022
I have had a poem longlisted in the Mslexia Poetry Competition, making a total of three years out of the last four.
NOVEMBER 2022
I’m very pleased that my urban nature poem ‘On seeing a kingfisher, New River Canal, Enfield’ has been published in issue 7 of the always-beautiful Spelt Magazine. I’m looking forward to reading the poem – and to hearing from fellow contributors – at the online launch on Friday 11th of November at 7pm. Tickets for this Zoom event can be purchased at this link:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/launch-of-spelt-issue-seven-tickets-461676014387
For further information about Spelt, including submissions and subscriptions, please visit:
A pleasure to see my poem ‘On viewing the original manuscript of “Ode to a Nightingale”, Keats House, Hampstead’ published at the elegant webspace After… Poetry, which showcases poems inspired by other work. My poem is rooted in both ekphrasis and ecopoetry, and can be read here:
https://www.afterpoetry.com/2022/nov-08-sarah-doyle
It’s always great to receive author copies of books I’ve contributed to, and this anthology is no exception. The One About The Sheep and other stories: ChipLitFest Short Story Winners 2016-2022 is published by Ink Spot Press, and includes my story ‘Requiem for a Woolwich Canary’. The book can be purchased via Amazon, and is available as either a paperback or Kindle edition.
OCTOBER 2022
Reading klaxon! I’m delighted to be once again giving a reading alongside the wonderful Sarah Westcott, as ‘The Two Sarahs’ make a return. This time we will be reading as part of Cheltenham Poetry Festival’s exciting online events programme, at 7pm on Saturday 15th of October. There are open mic spots available, too, so please do join do us on Zoom for an evening of plants, animals, insects, trees, weather, water, the night skies, and much more besides, as Sarah reads from Bloom (Pavilion Poetry) and I read from Something so wild and new in this feeling (V. Press). Tickets (and open mic spots) can be booked at the link below:
National Poetry Day, 6th October
As previously mentioned, it’s wonderful to have a poem from Something so wild and new in this feeling included in National Poetry Day’s curated Environment-themed poetry resource. ‘Birds sang divinely to-day’ can be read at this link:
https://nationalpoetryday.co.uk/poem/birds-sang-divinely-to-day/
It’s very encouraging to receive another positive review for The Presence and the Dream, this time from Greg Freeman at Write Out Loud:
https://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=125473
SEPTEMBER 2022
I’m very pleased that The Presence and the Dream has received two further, entirely positive, reviews. One of these has been published in the magazine of the William Morris Society, the other can be read online at the De Morgan Foundation’s website:
https://www.demorgan.org.uk/the-presence-and-the-dream-pre-raphaelite-poetry-book/
AUGUST 2022
It’s great to see my haiku sequence, ‘Waterbirds, New River Canal, north London’, published in the excellent journal of rural poetics, Spelt Magazine, as part of their ‘Urban/Rural’ feature; and to be included in the Zoom launch reading for this issue on 26th of August. The production values and content of Spelt are always very high, and I recommend it heartily. Various purchasing options can be viewed here:
https://speltmagazine.com/shop/
I’m grateful to have received another positive review for The Presence and the Dream, this time from Mab Jones in Buzz Magazine:
https://www.buzzmag.co.uk/new-poetry-july-presence-and-the-dream-horse-and-the-girl/
JULY 2022
A beautiful honour to see my poem ‘Birds sang divinely to-day’ included in National Poetry Day’s environment-themed poetry resource, alongside so many poets whose work I admire. My poem is collaged from fragments of Dorothy Wordsworth’s journals and forms part of my pamphlet, Something so wild and new in this feeling, published last year by V.Press.
https://nationalpoetryday.co.uk/poem/birds-sang-divinely-to-day/
There are many other wonderful poems at this link:
https://nationalpoetryday.co.uk/poems/
After a successful and extremely enjoyable Zoom launch of The Presence and the Dream, the book’s first review has been posted. I’m delighted to share this highly detailed and considered analysis from Simon Cooke of the renowned scholarly resource, The Victorian Web:
https://victorianweb.org/painting/prb/presence.html
The book retails for £10 including P&P; to purchase a copy of this anthology of Pre-Raphaelite-inspired poems, edited by Serena Trowbridge and me, please email Serena at serena.trowbridge@bcu.ac.uk
JUNE 2022
I’m delighted that my poem ‘This has been the sunniest May since records began’ has been published in the beautifully produced new issue of Finished Creatures poetry magazine, edited by Jan Heritage. This ‘pressure’ themed edition contains many fine poems engaging with political, ecological, personal, and social concerns. Highly recommended. More details at this link:
https://finishedcreatures.co.uk/
It’s always a thrill to receive the latest Pre-Raphaelite Society Review, and the sumptuous Summer 2022 issue contains my poem, ‘Where the shapes of sleep convene’. The entire issue of this Review examines the life and work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and my commissioned poem is a complex hybrid weaving together my own text with fragments of Rossetti’s poetry, in a narrative that also embeds the names of several of his paintings. Members of the PRS receive the Review automatically, and joining details can be viewed here:
https://pre-raphaelitesociety.org
Friday 24th June: in-person reading at Ver Poets, St Alban’s. Rearranged after March’s postponement due to Covid, I am very much looking forward to speaking about Dorothy Wordsworth and reading poems from Something so wild and new in this feeling at the always erudite and friendly Ver Poets. The evening starts at 8pm and includes nature-themed open mic. All welcome, more details here:
https://verpoets.co.uk/meetings-and-events/programme-of-events/
Sunday 26th June, 7pm: Zoom book launch for The Presence and the Dream. It has been a joy and a privilege to co-edit this anthology with my dear friend Serena Trowbridge, Chair of the Pre-Raphaelite Society. Celebrating ten years of the PRS Poetry Prize (which Serena and I co-judge) and marking my decade as PRS Poet-in-Residence, this immersive book brings together our favourite poems from the competition, alongside some of my own commissioned poetry written over the same period. Many of the poets published here will be reading at the online launch, which is free to attend. All welcome, tickets and information can be found here:
30th June: publication of Footprints: an anthology of new ecopoetry. I’m very pleased that my poem ‘Skeleton Gallery: Fruit Bat’ will be included in this exciting and highly relevant new anthology published by the innovative Broken Sleep Books, edited by Charlie Baylis and Aaron Kent. For every copy purchased, a tree will be planted by https://moretrees.eco/
Further information about the book, including purchasing details, can be found here:
https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/footprints-an-anthology-of-new-ecopoetry
MAY 2022
Friday 13th May 2022, 8pm (in person)
Ware Poets, Southern Maltings Arts Centre, Kibes Lane, Ware, Hertfordshire
I will be reading from Something so wild and new in this feeling, and speaking about Dorothy Wordsworth, at this in-person guest reading organised by Ware Poets.
MARCH 2022
Postponed due to illness - Thursday 24th March 2022 (in person, time and venue tbc)
Ver Poets, St Albans
I will be reading from Something so wild and new in this feeling, and speaking about Dorothy Wordsworth, at this in-person guest reading organised by Ver Poets. Further details to follow.
FEBRUARY 2022
Friday 4th February 2022, 7pm (online)
Judi Sutherland’s pamphlet launch
I will be providing a guest-reading, alongside Rob Francis, at the Zoom launch of Judi Sutherland’s new collection Following Teisa. The event is free to view, with registration via this link:
JANUARY 2022
I’m delighted that my poem ‘Dorothy Wordsworth writes of silver and gold’ is published in Nine Arches Press’s renowned poetry magazine Under the Radar. This ‘elements’-themed issue can be purchased here:
https://www.ninearchespress.com/shop.html#!/Under-the-Radar-Issue-28-single-issue/p/437709135/category=8486214