Interviews
Pub Chat: interview with Valley Press
An Interview with Valley Press
In the latest in this series of feature-length interviews with independent publishers, we put the kettle on for Jamie McGarry of Valley Press in our imaginary poetry theatre pub somewhere in Lambeth… Hello, Jamie! What are you drinking? Jamie: Valley Press is powered by tea – medium strength, with one sugar (if no-one’s looking). How long has…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
The One and the Many: interview with Dai George
An Interview with Dai George
Hi Dai. You’re teaching a course for us this Autumn – ‘The One and the Many’. Tell us more about it. Dai: I cooked up the course as a response to some aspects of poetry that have been intriguing me for a while, to do with how we address ourselves and/or other people in any…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Pub Chat: Penned in the Margins
An Interview with Penned in the Margins
In the latest in this series of feature-length interviews with independent publishers, we went for a drink with Tom Chivers of Penned in the Margins at our imaginary poetry theatre pub somewhere in Lambeth… Hello there, Tom! What are you drinking? Tom: A pint of London Pride! How long has Penned in the Margins been running? Tom: Penned…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Verse Stories: interview with Catherine Smith
An Interview with Catherine Smith
Hi Catherine. You’re teaching a course this Autumn 2014 called ‘Verse Stories’. Tell us more about it. Catherine: I’ve always been drawn to narrative in my own poems – I wrote short fiction first, poetry afterwards, so it seemed a natural progression – and whilst I enjoy and admire all sorts of poetry, I feel most…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Pub Chat: Smokestack Books
An Interview with Smokestack Books
This month: we spoke to Andy Croft of Smokestack Books in our imaginary poetry theatre pub somewhere in Lambeth… Hello there, Andy! How long has Smokestack Books been running? Andy: Since 2004. Does your personal background lend itself being an independent publisher? Andy: I have been involved in writing projects that finished with a published product for…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Meet the Digital Poet in Residence: interview with Jay Bernard
An Interview with Jay Bernard
Hi Jay. Your residency is centred around an interactive poem – ‘An Untitled Text Adventure’ – that you’re going to build and document over a period of 5 weeks. Tell us more about the project. Jay: I had this idea last year and wanted to make something really ambitious in time for the WWI centenary….
Will Barrett (Poetry School)Pub chat: interview with Candlestick Press
An Interview with Candlestick Press
In the 2nd of our new series of feature-length interviews with independent publishers, we took afternoon tea with Jenny Swann and Di Slaney of Candlestick Press in our imaginary poetry theatre pub somewhere in Lambeth… Hello there! What are you drinking? Jenny: Coffee, from one of those traditional French green-and-gold cups but minus the saucer….
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Pub chat: interview with The Emma Press
An Interview with Emma Wright
In the first of a regular series of feature-length interviews with independent publishers, we met over a few rounds with Emma Wright in our imaginary poetry theatre pub somewhere in Lambeth, asked her about the early days of The Emma Press and why she believes it’s never been a more exciting time to be going…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Meet the Digital Poet in Residence: Kim Moore
An Interview with Kim Moore
What on earth do poets do all day? It’s never been easy to earn your way as a professional poet, even for the greats. Wallace Stevens sold insurance policies, T S Eliot managed checking accounts, Marianne Moore worked in a library, Maya Angelou sang in nightclubs and Robert Frost was a chicken farmer (and his earliest…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Meet the Doctors: Alireza Abiz
An Interview with Alireza Abiz
The seventh of our eight Is There A Doctor in the House? poets is Alireza Abiz. Alireza manages a translation business in Tehran and is currently working on his PhD in Creative Writing (Poetry) at Newcastle University. Tell us about your PhD. Alireza: My PhD is a practice-based PhD in Creative Writing – Poetry. It consists of two main components:…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Meet the Doctors: A B Jackson
An Interview with A B Jackson
The sixth of our eight Is There A Doctor in the House? poets is A B Jackson, who is currently studying for a PhD in Creative Writing at Sheffield Hallam University. Tell us about your PhD. Andrew: As it stands (and these things tend to shift over time) my thesis focuses on representations of polar exploration in contemporary poetry. By…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Meet the Doctors: Lisa Matthews
An Interview with Lisa Matthews
The fifth of our eight Is There A Doctor in the House? poets is Lisa Matthews. Primarily a poet, Lisa also writes prose and does lots of other things associated with literature, writing and creativity. However, at the heart of her practice are the succinct, perception-changing lines, forms, discipline and imagery of poetry. Hello Lisa – what’s your…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Meet the Doctors: Janet Rogerson
An Interview with Janet Rogerson
The fourth of our eight Is There A Doctor in the House? poets is Janet Rogerson. Janet is currently studying on the PhD Creative Writing programme at the University of Manchester. Hi Janet – tell us a bit about your PhD Janet: It’s a Creative Writing PhD, which is two-thirds creative and one-third research. The split is fortunate because I’m…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)Meet the Doctors: John Challis
An Interview with John Challis
The third of our eight Is There A Doctor in the House? poets is John Challis. John has started a PhD in Creative Writing at Newcastle University on contemporary poetry and Film Noir, and now works as a teaching associate. Hi John – tell us a bit about your PhD John: My PhD is concerned with identifying the…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Meet the Digital-Poet-in-Residence: Alex MacDonald
An Interview with Alex MacDonald
No-one gets into poetry for the fame and riches. Frankly, most poets are regarded as viewing mainstream culture with suspicion, attracted as they are to the arcane world of collecting unusually-shaped pamphlets, conjugating gerunds and seeking out clandestine spoken word evenings in the backs of run-down Japanese laundrettes. For many poets root, hog or die…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Meet the Doctors: Helen Taylor
An Interview with Helen Taylor
The second of our eight Is There A Doctor in the House? poet tutors is Helen Taylor. Helen is studying for her PhD at Royal Holloway University in London, concentrating on the Liverpool-based movement Merseybeat. Helen, what’s your PhD about? Helen: My thesis is the first major critical discussion of Merseybeat poetry, considering it as…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Meet the Doctors: Tara Bergin
An Interview with Tara Bergin
How many times have you been to a literature event and a person in the audience has asked the person on stage ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ We’ve just discovered the answer. The Poetry School’s forthcoming Is There A Doctor in the House? event is the place writers (you) get their ideas from….
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Shingle Street Residency interview with Nia Davies
An Interview with Nia Davies
This is the second part of our series of interviews with our two, ever-doughty Shingle Street poets-in-residence. You can read the first interview with Amy Key here. This month we spoke to poet, editor and outdoor runner, Nia Davies, on everything from Sinbad the Sailor to the Suffolk coastline and haunted weapons training facilities. Again, a big…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
On Inklings: an interview with Sarah Westcott
An Interview with Sarah Westcott
Sarah Westcott’s debut pamphlet Inklings feels deceptively flimsy – I love the way that it builds up minute observations to reach its epiphanies. ‘Who can argue with the woman / who saw Christ in a slice of Mother’s / Pride, his beard and aquiline nose / branded into the hot crust?’ Without wishing to blow the Poetry School’s trumpet,…
Sarah Dawson
The Sound of the City
An Interview with John McCollough
Seasoned city-stroller, John McCullough, returns to the Poetry School with his new course, The Sound of the City, a cross-town train ride through the exciting sounds, juxtapositions and energy of modern urban life. With their dense, swarming zones of activity, cities have long provided powerful sources of poetic inspiration, giving form and impetus to many…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
Killer Serials: Sequences, Groups and Multi-part Poems
An Interview with Simon Barraclough
A man of many projects, Simon Barraclough is well placed to guide our students towards successful sequences in his new spring term course, Killer Serials: Sequences, Groups and Multi-part Poems. All three of his collections hinge on the strength of their sequences; my personal favourite is the series of heart poems in Neptune Blue (Salt,…
Poetry School
Maintenant! An interview with S J Fowler
An Interview with S J Fowler
Has any other poet thrown himself into curating and collaboratively creating contemporary poetry with the same enthusiasm as S J Fowler? Publishing five collections in three years is an achievement in itself, but there’s also something admirable about the way he draws other artists and poets into his creative orbit, whether that be by collaborating…
Sarah Dawson
Shingle Street Residency interview with Amy Key
An Interview with Amy Key
Last month, out intrepid poets-in-residence, Amy Key and Nia Davies, were in Shingle Street on the Suffolk coast for a week of writing, homesteading and blogging. Thank you to Poetry School trustee Daphne Astor and her friend Tim Miller (owner of the Shingle Street cottage) for offering this residency opportunity. Amy and Nia were kind enough…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Poems on the Hebrew Bible
An Interview with
Eve Grubin’s new one-day workshop – Poems on the Hebrew Bible – draws attention to one of the most influential books of all time, by way of Milton, Keats, Robert Frost, Sharon Olds, and countless other poets it has inspired. With the use of translations, Eve will be peering under the mantle of this classic holy…
Poetry School
Meet our Digital-Poet-in-Residence: an interview with Claire Trévien
An Interview with Claire Trévien
We first discovered Claire’s work through her excellent first collection, The Shipwrecked House (recently nominated for this year’s Guardian First Book Award), a freewheeling, sea-soaked reel of a book that’s as sharp as a scrimshaw knife. Claire is also the editor of Sabotage Reviews and co-editor/creator of Verse Kraken. So, naturally, we invited Claire to…
Poetry School