I am writing a long sequence of sonnets that will see publication in 2023. I thought it might be fun to share some of them in advance. A sonnet is included below, along with an audio recording of me reading it. Autumn Chill I no longer mind your troubled brow naked like a frosted winter … Continue reading Autumn Chill – a sonnet
Category: Poetry
I’m being interviewed!
On Friday 25th November I am being interviewed in Harrogate Library as part of their 'Books and Beverages' series. The interview will cover both my writing and publishing exploits. I'm looking forward to it hugely! Although this is an in-person event, it is also being filmed and streamed, and will be available 'live' and from … Continue reading I’m being interviewed!
I’m being interviewed!
On Friday 25th November I am being interviewed in Harrogate Library as part of their 'Books and Beverages' series. The interview will cover both my writing and publishing exploits. I'm looking forward to it hugely! Although this is an in-person event, it is also being filmed and streamed, and will be available 'live' and from … Continue reading I’m being interviewed!
On Being Thrown Over – a sonnet
I am writing a long sequence of sonnets that will see publication in 2023. I thought it might be fun to share some of them in advance. A sonnet is included below, along with an audio recording of me reading it. On Being Thrown Over Would your love for me increase were I to die? … Continue reading On Being Thrown Over – a sonnet
You can’t spend time twice…
The phrase is - to the best of my knowledge - original and my own. It is a line from a new poetry project on which I have started work. The only reason I mention it is that I read it out at a writing group today and three people wrote it down. It was, … Continue reading You can’t spend time twice…
On “Four Quartets”
The BBC recently broadcast a reading of T.S.Eliot's "Four Quartets" by Ralph Fiennes. I say 'reading' but with Fiennes, a stage and spotlights, it was more like a performance. Which was fine. Some parts worked especially well, I thought. The programme prompted me to go back and re-read the poem - possibly for the first … Continue reading On “Four Quartets”
A week of Readings: how was it?
Primarily as a direct result of Ripon's fifth Poetry Festival (RPF), I have read at four events over the past week. So how was it? Thursday: RPF - Open Mic. In many ways it was a typical open mic: massive variety in terms of style, content and quality. The most jarring element of the event … Continue reading A week of Readings: how was it?
When you’re only half-way through…
After far too long I have finally completed the first draft of a long sonnet sequence which has been rumbling along, largely as a background task, since March 2019. If not before. Having consciously given the project a degree of focus over the last few months, I have been able to cover the last of … Continue reading When you’re only half-way through…
Write-on Ripon: Found Poetry workshop
I'm looking forward to running a Found Poetry workshop tomorrow afternoon at our weekly 'Write-on Ripon' session. The workshop will be based on one I have already successfully run on writers' retreats. The challenge this time will be that we'll be writing found poems in real time! The session will cover: What is Found Poetry? … Continue reading Write-on Ripon: Found Poetry workshop
Does our writing need a regular service?
Driving home the other day, unbeknownst to me the front passenger-side suspension spring broke on my car. I only realised the extent of the damage once I'd got home, when I saw the virtual zero clearance between tyre and wheel arch. Without doubt something nasty could have happened during those last few miles home... The … Continue reading Does our writing need a regular service?
Ian Gouge - Writer 