Volunteer Shout Out! We’re now recruiting for our fabulous VOLUNTEER TEAM for #Louder2024 Head to our website via the link below for all info & sign up options! We’re INNSiDE UK #Manchester 15-17 Nov - the UK’s BIGGEST Music Lit Fest - what a weekend! louderthanwordsfest.com/join-the-team/

Ahhh. A metaphor for what the last Tory government did. We are not stupid either, Timmy. Not any more..

A pleasure.

This.

This England. Still caged in Victorian values by its arbiters. We need more dancing, colour and rhythm. Well played Angela Rayner. A credit to the nation.

Short poem from the forthcoming collection ‘House Anthems’. It’s a poem about the Covid times. About forgotten people. How we held onto things to get us through. Music and lights etc x

The Conservatives appear to be going through the five stages of grief. They have gone through denial and are currently manifesting full throttle onto the anger stage. The one meltdown to watch is Tim Montgomerie 🇬🇧. It’s very public and quite sad.

It’s that time of the year again where we look for new poets to join the Out-Spoken Press list. Send us your manuscripts…pamphlets and full collections. Submissions open this coming Monday. 📨

Tom Waits 🎶'Chicago'

Been digging through old stuff. Found my comments and mark from the great Michael Donaghy from when I studied at Birkbeck 20 years ago. 69%. Not bad from one of my favourite poets. Also I found the order of service for his memorial at the Union Chapel. We loved him so much x.

Today’s Saturday poem chosen by our poetry editor ⁦Ralph Dartford⁩ is by Edward Thomas,

Love this photo and would like to use it for something. But I have not got it in hi res. I know it was taken at a night called Verse Matters in Sheffield. I wonder if anyone out there can help me. Rachel Bower perhaps? X

It was muddy but that made it even more beautiful in a way. The shared experience of us all dancing in such trying conditions. The Manics were a brilliant appetiser to the Pet Shop Boys, who may have put on one of the greatest shows I have ever seen. BBC Radio 2

The next review for my new collection ‘House Anthems’ comes the wonderful Russ Litten. So grateful for his insight. You can pre order a discounted copy of the book here. It’ll also be in all the usual book shops come November, but more expensive.. valleypressuk.com/preorder/p/hou…

New poem. They take a couple of months to hone, to make the read easy. The poem referenced is Raymond Carver’s ‘Happiness’. A constant in my life x.

Really thrilled to be included in the new edition of Prole. The stories and poems here are universally exceptional. Thank you to the discerning Brett Evans. You can get copies here. prolebooks.co.uk

Poem from my second collection, ‘Hidden Music’ to commemorate the day when the world changed forever for us all. The song of the poem is ‘Black Swan’ by Thom Yorke.

Just a week to go before our next great ‘Live at Home’ event. Piu DasGupta 🐍💎 will help your readers turn the page. All the details here. eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-write…