Interviews
Epiphanies and Other Movable Feasts: an Interview with Nichola Deane
An Interview with Nichola Deane
Part of our festival themed Summer School this July, Nichola Deane’s workshop Epiphanies and Other Movable Feasts will look at the ‘architecture of moments’ that make up our lives. We caught up with Nichola to find out more about what she has planned… Hi Nichola, tell us more about your workshop…what’s it all about? ND:…
Poetry SchoolThe Good Dark: an interview with Ryan Van Winkle
An Interview with Ryan Van Winkle
Ryan Van Winkle – poet, podcaster, Poetry School tutor, and an all round “good force” for the UK poetry scene – approached us a little while back with an intriguing and brilliantly novel idea: Would we like to be part of a ‘virtual book tour’ to help promote the release of Ryan’s second collection, The Good…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Love, Death, Art, Time and Nature: an interview with Sarah Corbett
An Interview with Sarah Corbett
Tell us more about your new course, ‘Love, Death, Time, Art and Nature…‘. What brought you to the subject? Sarah: I was asked to do five sessions that would appeal to students at various stages in their development, so my idea was to take five ‘themes’, and to treat each session as a unit in…
Shane RounceChemical Poetry: an interview with Simon Barraclough
An Interview with Simon Barraclough
‘Chemical Poetry: The Periodic Table & Poetry‘ will use the famous periodic table of elements as a springboard and playground for new writing. Fizz, explode, react and toxicate: we spoke to Simon Barraclough about what happens when poetry and chemistry meet. Hi Simon! What’s ‘Philandrium’? SB: Philandrium is a brand new element discovered and analysed…
Poetry School
Nightwriter: an interview with Tom Chivers
An Interview with Tom Chivers
Hi Tom – your new online course, Nightwriter, is a nocturnal writing course (our very first). What can we expect? And what happens to your poetry brain after dark? Tom: Writing poetry is about making choices. Selecting what to say and what to leave unspoken. I am interested in erasure, the occult, in things unsaid,…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Mixed Borders Poetry Residencies: an interview with Sarah Hesketh
An Interview with Sarah Hesketh
‘Mixed Borders: Poets in Residence in London Gardens‘, a Poetry School Summer workshop with London Parks and Gardens Trust, will see poets paired up with allotments, garden squares and hidden spaces to propagate their own green and leafy poetry ideas. We had a chat with Sarah Hesketh, poet and Event Manager for London Open Garden…
Claudia Winter (Poetry School)
Pub Chat: an interview with Enitharmon Press
An Interview with Enitharmon Press
In the latest of our series of feature-length interviews with independent publishers, set in our imaginary poetry theatre pub somewhere in Lambeth, we spoke to Stephen Stuart-Smith of Enitharmon Press…. Hello there, Stephen. What are you drinking? Stephen: Leffe. How long has Enitharmon Press been running? Stephen: Since 1967. What were some of the practical things you did to get…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Playing with History: an interview with Kelley Swain
An Interview with Kelley Swain
Hi Kelley! Could you tell us about your Summer School workshop, ‘Playing with History: Using the Past in Poetry’ – what can we expect? Kelley: “Playing with History” is going to be a full-day workshop, starting at 10:30 and running until 4:30 in the afternoon, with a lunch break. I’m going to start by talking…
Claudia Winter (Poetry School)
A budding ‘pomance’: an interview with Jacqueline Saphra
An Interview with Jacqueline Saphra
Jacqueline Saphra, one of The Poetry School’s new tutors, talks to us about her new course, ‘Training the Poem’ and takes us through some of her work and methods.
Claudia Winter (Poetry School)
Pub Chat: Sidekick Books
An Interview with Sidekick Books
In the latest of our series of feature-length interviews with independent publishers, set in our imaginary poetry theatre pub somewhere in Lambeth, we spoke to Kirsten Irving, one half of the team behind Sidekick Books… Hi there, Kirsten! What are you drinking? Kirsten: Lime and soda, please! How long has Sidekick Books been running? Kirsten: Since 2009. September, to be…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
House and Universe: an interview with Rebecca Goss
An Interview with Rebecca Goss
Hi Rebecca, you’re teaching a new course with us this Summer, ‘House and Universe: The Poetry of Home and Domestic Objects’. Tell us a bit about the course – what can we expect? Rebecca: This course will be an opportunity to explore the spaces and objects that define ‘home’, and consider what does ‘home’ mean?…
Claudia Winter (Poetry School)
Meet the Digital Poet in Residence: Ira Lightman
An Interview with Ira Lightman
Find out more about Ira’s digital residency here, or join the 21st Century Canto group on CAMPUS to get all the latest updates. Hello Ira! Tell us about your upcoming residency, ‘21st Century Canto’ Ira: It’s a tie-in with a documentary I’m making on Ezra Pound, his crash and our crash, for Radio 4. One…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Dear Diary: an interview with Laura Barnicoat
An Interview with Laura Barnicoat
The Great Diary Project is a repository for unwanted diaries of any date and kind. In the pages of the 2,000+ diaries collected for the project so far are the most remarkable details of everyday life, often overlooked in the history books. In preparation for The Poetry School’s Summer Workshop ‘Dear Diary’ at The Bishopsgate…
Claudia Winter (Poetry School)
The Anti-Poetic: an interview with Julian Stannard
An Interview with Julian Stannard
Hi Julian! Tell us more about your course, ‘The Anti-Poetic‘… Julian: Calling the workshop ‘The Anti-Poetic’ is a bit of a conceit. I want to see if we can write poems we might not normally write. These workshops explore what might be called (paradoxically) the anti-poetic, namely the writing of a poem which somehow escapes…
Claudia Winter (Poetry School) Love, Death, Art, Time and Nature: an interview with Sarah Corbett
An Interview with Sarah Corbett
Tell us more about your new course, ‘Love, Death, Time, Art and Nature…‘. What brought you to the subject? Sarah: I was asked to do five sessions that would appeal to students at various stages in their development, so my idea was to take five ‘themes’, and to treat each session as a unit in…
Claudia Winter (Poetry School)
Meet the Digital Poet in Residence: Ross Sutherland
An Interview with Ross Sutherland
In which Ross Sutherland answers questions about his ’30 Poems / 30 Videos’ project, the distinctions between film poetry and poetry film, and what all this writing lark is about anyway. Ross Sutherland is The Poetry School’s 7th Digital Poet in Residence. You can also read about his residency here, or join the ’30…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Pub Chat: an interview with Shearsman Books
An Interview with Shearsman Books
In the latest of our series of feature-length interviews with independent publishers, set in our imaginary poetry theatre pub somewhere in Lambeth, we spoke to Tony Frazer of Shearsman Books… Hello there, Tony! What are you drinking? Tony: Tequila, Herradura Reposado. How long has Shearsman been running? Tony: Well, the magazine (Shearsman) started in 1981. The first pamphlets appeared…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Poetry and the Brain: an interview with Helen Mort
An Interview with Helen Mort
Hi Helen! Tell us about your upcoming course, ‘Poetry and the Brain’. It seems a far cry from Division Street… Helen: For the past three years, I’ve been studying for a PhD at the University of Sheffield, thinking about whether neuroscience and contemporary poetry might have anything interesting to say to each other. It turns…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)Where It Begins: an interview with Nii Ayikwei Parkes
An Interview with Nii Ayikwei Parkes
Where does a poem begin? How does a poem not exist and then suddenly, miraculously flare into life? This Summer, poet, novelist and editor Nii Ayikwei Parkes will be unpacking what it means to think like a poet. In his new online course, Where It Begins – a course for new poets, Nii will be…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Pub Chat: Eyewear
An Interview with Eyewear Publishing
In the latest in this series of feature-length interviews with independent publishers, set in our imaginary poetry theatre pub somewhere in Lambeth, we spoke to Todd Swift, the founder of Eyewear Publishing… Hello there, Todd! What are you drinking? Todd: London Pride. How long has Eyewear Publishing been running? Todd: Three years and one month, this December 2014. What were…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Meet the Digital Poet in Residence: Kathryn Maris
An Interview with Kathryn Maris
Hi Kathryn! Tell us a bit about your residency with Jason, ‘American English’. Kathryn: My blog posts will be micro-explorations of my idiosyncratic likes and dislikes in poetry, what I’ve observed, and what I wish could change. They will be essay-like in shape and are not to be taken too seriously because I regularly change…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Meet the Digital-Poet-in-Residence: Jason Schneiderman
An Interview with Jason Schneiderman
Hi Jason! Tell us a bit about the residency. Jason: I’ll be working with Kathryn to think through a number of questions about English Language poetry in the UK and America. We’ll be thinking a lot about form and community. When did you first start writing poetry? What brought you to it? Jason: I started writing…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Pub Chat: Hercules Editions
An Interview with Hercules Editions
In the latest in this series of feature-length interviews with independent publishers, set in our imaginary poetry theatre pub somewhere in Lambeth, we spoke to Tamar Yoseloff and Vici MacDonald, the founders of Hercules Editions… Hello there, Hercules Editions! What are you drinking? Tammy: A bottle of Brixton Brewery APA. Vici: Being an imaginary pub, it serves on-tap…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Pub Chat: interview with Burning Eye Books
An Interview with Burning Eye Books
In the latest in this series of feature-length interviews with independent publishers, set in our imaginary poetry theatre pub somewhere in Lambeth, we spoke to Clive Birnie of Burning Eye Books… Hello there, Clive! What are you drinking? Clive: Brewdog Punk IPA. How long has Burning Eye been running? Clive: The first Burning Eye title (Slinky Espadrilles by Ash Dickinson)…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Pub Chat: interview with CB editions
An Interview with CB editions
In the latest in this series of feature-length interviews with independent publishers, we found a warm fireside spot in our imaginary poetry theatre pub somewhere in Lambeth, and spoke to Charles Boyle of the wonderful CB editions… Hello there, Charles! What are you drinking? Charles: Wine, large glass. (Given that we’re going to be here for…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)