Thinking of all those poetry editors who are about to get approximately a zillion poem submissions about the Northern Lights.

Thanks so much Mike! Really thrilled that you enjoyed ‘We are not gold’. It’s a bit different to anything else I’ve written to date so I have a special affection for it.

While we all struggle to find words, Lunate have some brilliant writing and a chance to help the people of Palestine.

Come on writers, let's rally. lunate.co.uk/shop/p/lunate-… Medical Aid for Palestinians

😍

This #newmoon - really delighted and honoured to share a new #ekphrastic poem with you. Inspired by Henry Moore’s sculpture ‘King and Queen’, this poem started life in an Wendy Pratt workshop back in 2021. Many thanks to Wendy and of course to the wonderful 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝔸𝕟𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕪 𝕆𝕨𝕖𝕟

Poems let themselves in when we are not thinking, in through the gaps of the self. Where do they come from? Is it from us or somewhere beyond us? It helps to be hyper alert but when consciousness is half asleep – allowing them in. I find spring and summer helps, leaves opening.

We’re going on hiatus, but we’ll be back in 2025! Had a blast these three years, but time for a little rest. Love to all our contributors—especially those who gave us poems for our launch in 2021. And love to all those who have read and amplified the little flower shop so far. ❤️

Elizabeth Bishop, on being asked by an interviewer what one quality every poem should have: “Surprise. The subject and the language which conveys it should surprise you. You should be surprised at seeing something new and strangely alive.”

How good is Alice Stainer 😮

‘The world is weighted, somnolent, / brandy-soaked’

Bloody hell, what a writer she is.

It feels like something immense has left us.
RIP Paul Auster.

theguardian.com/books/2024/may…

The Butterfly House by Kathryn Bevis was an absolute joy to read, and for me it is the humour mentioned that brings the pain - but also the love - into such sharp focus. Really recommend this book. 🦋💛📚

Really good to see a very positive review of our founder’s Kathryn Bevis new collection in The Sunday Times today. The full brilliant work ‘The Butterfly House’ is available from Seren

Bad Lilies. Issue nineteen: ‘Northern Sky’. OUT NOW at badlilies.uk

Just occurred to me that the 19th century addition of interiority in poetry is similar to the addition of time into geometry, which gave us calculus. Mere descriptions or arguments are now boring without that extra dimension. Emily Dickinson is akin to Isaac Newton.