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Come and join us next Thursday morning (19th July) at Hagglers Corner for the baby-friendly launch of Moon Milk – my new pamphlet published by Valley Press. There will also be a guest reading from the wonderful poet Kate Garrett-Nield. We’ll be in the beautiful courtyard at Haggler’s if the weather is nice! Come and try some […]

‘Foaling‘, from my forthcoming Valley Press pamphlet (Moon Milk), was published today by And Other Poems. Head over to And Other Poems to read the full poem, to sign up for their Friday Poems or to browse their archives of excellent poetry.

I’m excited that my new poetry pamphlet, ‘Moon Milk’ is now available to pre-order with Valley Press! The poems seek to explore the complex, and often hidden, experiences of pregnancy, birth and early childhood. More details about the launch to follow. ‘Moon Milk blew me away. I love the mythologizing, the variety of form, the […]

This is the proof of my review of Pheng Cheah’s What is a World?, recently published in a special issue of Seminar (54.2. Pheng Cheah’s What is a World? argues for the “world-making” power of literature. Taking on the might of recent debates in world literature, Cheah argues that literature has the capacity to redefine (rather than […]

I was delighted to hear that my poem, ‘Postnatal Ward’ was awarded fourth prize last weekend in the York Literature Festival Poetry Prize 2018, judged by Andrew McMillan. Hannah Copley’s brilliant poem, ‘Haworth 1855’, won a well-deserved first prize in the competition. All of the winning and commended poems have now been published on the […]

This is the proof of my review of Vahni Capildeo’s Measure of Expatriation, published in the most recent issue of Stand Magazine 216, (Vol. 15.4, 2018) Capildeo, Vahni. Measures of Expatriation. Manchester: Carcanet, 2016. ISBN: 978 1 784101 68 8  128pp This stunning collection by Vahni Capildeo has been rightly celebrated for its complex exploration of migration, exile, […]

One hundred years ago, on 6 February 1918, the Representation of the People Act 1918 was passed, which allowed property owning women over the age of 30 the right to vote. Over the last few weeks there have been many events to mark the centenary of some women getting the vote. There have also rightly […]

I was delighted to have a few of my poems included in the Flambard Prizewinners’ Anthology 2017. Here is “Fruit”, “Stones” and “Track”:

My poem ‘Tone Deaf’ was published today by Atrium Poetry. These are the first few lines – go and check out their site to read the whole thing and lots of poems by other excellent writers… “Before you were born I was tone deaf silently mouthing songs at funerals afraid of voicing my breath. But you […]

This is the proof of an article originally published in Stand Magazine 15.3 (2017) At the end of April 2017, poets, directors, academics and publishers came together to celebrate the remarkable work of Tony Harrison on his eightieth birthday at the British Academy in London. The range of tributes was impressive: from Lee Hall’s moving account of how […]

There’s a great write-up of the Verse Matters anthology in the Yorkshire Post this week. Yvette Hiddleston says There is a huge diversity and range of work here, all imbued with a forceful sense of the potential power of hope and humanity, dialogue and empathy. It is an important, healing book for our divisive times. […]