Drop-in by Niki Strange

It’s always exciting for lovers of poetry when a new small poetry press publishes its first pamphlet. If Niki Strange’s debut pamphlet is anything to go by Flight of the Dragonfly Press has an eye for exciting new talent. Here she is to talk about a poem from Body Talk, (Flight of the Dragonfly Press,

Drop in by Matthew M.C. Smith

I’m particularly excited to welcome Matthew M.C. Smith to drop in today to talk about a poem from his stunning collection, The Keeper of Aeons, as I have long been an admirer of his poetry. My poem Paviland: Ice and Fire was published by The Lonely Crowd in 2022. I was really pleased to be

Review* of ‘Imperfect Beginnings’ by Viv Fogel

At a time when the discourse surrounding asylum-seeking, refugees and migration has become contentious, having been hijacked by nationalists and populist politicians, Viv Fogel’s Imperfect Beginnings is very welcome. Informed by her personal and professional experiences her collection gives a voice to the exiled and displaced. Though her poems are uncompromising in their exploration of

Review of ‘kinscapes’ by Marie Isabel Matthews-Schlinzig

In her biography Marie Isabel Matthews-Schlinzig is described as an editor, a translator and a writer of flash fiction, reviews and essays, but if her debut pamphlet, kinscapes (Dreich, 2022), is anything to go by, she is also an intelligent and innovative poet who playfully pushes the boundaries of poetic form, with telling effect. kinscapes

Drop in by Marie Isabel Matthews-Schlinzig

This week I have the pleasure of inviting Marie Isabel Matthews-Schlinzig, poet, flash fiction writer, reviewer and essayist to drop in to reflect on a poem from her chapbook, kinscapes. As John Glenday writes in his endorsement, my pamphlet kinscapes (Dreich, 2022): ‘investigates the issue of what it means to belong […] in other words,

Review of ‘Some Indefinable Cord’ by Katy Mahon

I’m convinced that when we look back upon the current decade we will come to realise that it has been a golden age for poetry when a succession of impressively talented new poets were discovered by the editors of small poetry presses. Add to that list the name, Katy Mahon, a poet from Northern Ireland,

Drop in by Katy Mahon

I don’t know what it is about Northern Ireland culture that results in the creation of so many talented poets. However, it’s my pleasure to introduce yet another, Katy Mahon, to reflect on a poem from her pamphlet Some Indefinable Cord, (Hybriddreich, 2022). Memory as a form of seeing Despite claiming in ‘Dust and Order’,

Review of ‘These Random Acts of Wildness’

As contemporary poets invent more and more forms for their poetry, it is perhaps surprising that the sonnet is undergoing something of a revival. Last year saw the publication of Hannah Lowe’s superb, award-winning The Kids , which demonstrated so well how this traditional form can be used for current content and now we have

Drop in by Paul Brookes

It’s a special pleasure to welcome a poet who does so much to promote other poets’ work and to be able to return the favour: Mr Paul Brookes. Why dialect? This is the only sonnet in the collection written throughout in dialect. Others hint at the Northern way of speaking through their grammar. The tradition

Review of ‘the end of the age of fire’ by Peter Clive

I think there’s something appropriate about beginning the year with a review of a collection that focuses on the most important issue of our lifetime: the climate crisis. Peter Clive’s the end of the age of fire is a passionate plea for the reader to understand the precariousness of the situation that we find ourselves