Do or die: poetry in politics
Politics has little to do with poetry, you might think. But for weeks Boris Johnson has been repeating his intention to take Britain out of the EU by October 31st “do or die”. The quote comes from Robert Burns' patriotic…
Book illustration: Q&A with Kate Heiss
British printmaker and illustrator Kate Heiss talks about her creative process and reveals how she approaches book illustration What inspires you? Nature: the flowers and birds in my garden and walks in the countryside. If I’m on a walk and…
Limehaven features in Readers’ Lives top five picks
Thanks to poet and community arts activist Elaine Cusack for featuring Limehaven as one her top five books in May's Readers' Lives column for the Journal's Culture magazine. Reviewing Limehaven, Elaine wrote: "It's the best debut collection I've read in…
Three reasons to read poetry
Spring has arrived in this windswept corner of the UK. There’s a dusting of blossom in the park, the willow trees are coming into leaf and the birds are all aflutter. It is April - national poetry month! To celebrate,…
Sea haiku madness at THE IRON AGE festival
On Saturday I set sail on the squally seas in a Cullercoats fishing boat. I sit in my warm study, contemplating the weather. Wind whips round the yard, rattling the chains of the hanging baskets. Rain lashes the window. This…
Venice Haiku by Mike Wilkin
Here's a 'haiku review' of a lovely little book published by Iron Press: Delicate pages Redolent of gondolas - Venice glimpsed by lovers.
Soul food in cyberspace
The only thing I’ve read lately is the lunch menu at the local sandwich shop. Work has welded me to the Machine. You know the one. You are staring into it. Starved of novels, I’ve been stumbling around the cyber-desert…