Reading tonight - Our Woods

Tonight, I'm reading from A Sky Full Of Birds at the Coronation Park Pavilion, Cottingham Road, Corby NN17 1SZ, as part of the Our Woods project. The event starts at 7pm, and admission costs £5.50 (£3.50 concessions). You get tea, coffee and homemade cake, too.

I'll be selling copies of the book on the night, for £10, but it's also available here, if you want to buy direct, or from all good bookshops. Or, if you'd prefer, you can buy a signed copy from me – email me using the link on the right.

Richard Jefferies Society & White Horse Bookshop Literary Prize

I was delighted to get an email yesterday to say that A Sky Full Of Birds has been shortlisted for the Richard Jefferies Society and White Horse Bookshop Literary Prize, awarded for outstanding nature writing.

The winner is announced on June 3rd, and other names on the shortlist include Stephen Moss, Kevin Parr, Amy Liptrot, Katharine Towers, John Lewis-Stempel, Mike Dilger and Tristan Gooley. I'm thrilled to even be mentioned in such company.

Here's an interview I did a couple of years ago, when I wrote some Jefferies'-inspired poems for inclusion in a new edition of his After London.

Jacob Polley wins the TS Eliot Prize

This year's TS Eliot Prize has been won by Cumbrian poet Jacob Polley, for his collection Jackself (Picador). He beat a strong shortlist, including Alice Oswald, Denise Riley, Vahni Capildeo, Ian Duhig and Bernard O'Donoghue.

It's not a book I've read yet. When Polley's first collection came out, to much fanfare, I was a member of the Poetry Book Society and was sent it as one of their quarterly choices, and I'd have to say I was pretty underwhelmed. Not that it was at all bad, just that it didn't seem nearly as exciting as some of the critical notices were promising it would be.

Because of that, I haven't got round to reading any of his subsequent collections. My loss, I suspect, if the poems I've seen from this latest book are anything to go by. Chair of judges Ruth Padel compared it to Geoffrey Hill's Mercian Hymns, and that particular masterpiece did spring to mind for me, too. Which can only be a good thing, I should add. I look forward to reading it.

You can read a couple of poems from the book here, and also hear him read them.

There's a really excellent account of the prize readings here, by poet Peter Daniels.

'New' RS Thomas collection

I'm not sure how I'd missed this, but a batch of previously undiscovered RS Thomas poems have been published by Bloodaxe as Too Brave To Dream – encounters with modern art.

I'm always a bit wary of such things, like when record companies package together a load of ropey demos and studio outtakes by your favourite band, then sell them as part of an extortionately priced box set, but reading that review, this book actually looks well worth seeking out.

Deep Roots Tall Trees

A week on Thursday (January 26th), I'll be reading from A Sky Full Of Birds at the Coronation Park Pavilion, Cottingham Road, Corby NN17 1SZ, as part of the Our Woods project. The event starts at 7pm, and admission costs £5.50 (£3.50 concessions). You get tea, coffee and homemade cake as part of that, which can't be bad.

I'll be selling copies of the book on the night, for £10, but it's also available here, if you want to buy direct, or from all good bookshops. Or, if you'd prefer, you can buy a signed copy from me – email me using the link on the right.

Poetry at Five Leaves Bookshop

St Knut's Day and the Mari Lwyd

Today is celebrated as St Knut's Day in Sweden and Finland – you can find out more about it here.

When I was reading about it earlier today, it struck me that the bits of the celebrations involving the Finnish character Nuuttipukki are very similar to the Mari Lwyd folk custom found in South Wales. When I worked in Cardiff in the second half of the 90s, this was still performed in Llangynwyd, and maybe a few more villages in the Maesteg area, but I don't know whether that's still the case.

Does that suggest that both have their roots in a pre-Christian ritual, perhaps connected to the middle of winter? I'm not sure, really, but at first glance that seems the most likely explanation.

Daniel Sluman at the Morning Star

The Morning Star is notable for having a regular column that publishes new poetry – Well Versed, edited by Jody Porter.

Yesterday's, wonder/ful, by Daniel Sluman, is, well, wonderful.

New at Sphinx

Sphinx, HappenStance Press's website that reviews pamphlets and chapbooks, as well as gathering together information about poetry pamphlet publishing, has some new reviews, including this one of Sally Evans' The Bees of Dunblane & The Song of the Walnut Tree.

There's a really substantial archive of older reviews, too – enjoy browsing through them (and of course, if it inspires you to buy a pamphlet or two, so much the better).

The Interpreter's House Poetry Competition

You've got until the end of this month to enter Open House 2017, The Interpreter's House's Poetry Competition. It's judged by Bloodaxe poet Niall Campbell, and entry is £4 for a single poem or £10 for three.

I know some people hate the very idea of poetry competitions, but all proceeds of this one go to fund future issues of TIH, one of the very best poetry magazines out there.

Blackbox Manifold 17

The winter issue (No.17) of Blackbox Manifold is out now, with work by Linda Anderson, Tom Betteridge, Adam Burbage, Stephen Burt, James Byrne, Sophie Collins, Joey Connolly, Adam Flint, Jane Goldman, Thomas Kelly, Chris Kerr, Eric Langley, Dorothy Lehane, Tan Lin, Jaki McCarrick, Gail McConnell, Joseph Minden, Ian Patterson, Robert Sheppard, Ronnie Sirmans, Oliver Southall, Matthew Sweeney, Charles Tarlton, Ken Taylor, Jonty Tiplady and Samuel Tongue.

John Tamplin interviews Keston Sutherland, Peter Larkin reviews Peter Riley, Adam Piette reviews Eliot, Denise Riley and Charlotte Newman, and there are essays on JH Prynne.

Dean Young

On Facebook the other day, Rob Mackenzie posted a link to this poem, which I like a lot. I bought Dean Young's New and Selected Poems on my iPad a couple of years back, and dip in and out of it a lot – I recommend it very highly.

The Blue Aeroplanes take off again

Just came across this article by Stewart Lee in which he mentions that the Blue Aeroplanes have a new album coming out. I'm not sure about his description of them as being like "Philip Larkin fronting Television" – Gerard Langley's lyrics were much closer to the beat poets, I'd have thought – but otherwise he's spot-on.

They were great, a real beacon of invention and individuality in the late 80s. I've got very fond memories of seeing them supporting REM on their 1989 Green tour, and they even managed a minor hit with a remix of And Stones, when Madchester was at its height.

Favourite song of theirs? Maybe Colour Me, which was a bit later, I think (maybe 1992), but those early albums are all worth seeking out.