Delighted to receive the summer bulletin from the Poetry Book Society with a nice wee review of Tree Language.

A long poem of mine about Jerusalem is in the current issue of Envoi and I have three poems in a New York based online multi-media journal called Transmission (which you can find here) alongside poets Amy King and Elizabeth Spires. 

I have a good fifteen poems towards a new collection, quite different from the ones in Tree Language. Trying to stay disciplined about reading and writing and on the look out for some new reading inspiration. I've finally got around to ordering Selima Hill's Selected collection - Gloria -  which I can't wait to arrive as well as W.S Merwin's new collection, The Moon Before Morning. 

Delighted to have poems in both of these lovely magazines which the postie delivered last week!
Quietly working away, writing and submitting when I get the chance in between the usual hustle and bustle of family life. Sorley's head teacher has invited me to talk to a primary class about poetry which I cautiously said I would think about! Slightly terrifying prospect but I've had lots of good advice via facebook on how to excite a class of kids about poetry so I may agree to do it after all! Reading Best American Poetry 2012 at the moment and loving so many poems in it. Also reading Pascale Petit's The Treekeeper's Tale, which is fantastic. And enjoying reading Anne Sexton's biography by Diane Middlebrook. The May writer's retreat is slowing edging closer and I'm so much looking forward to it!

This time last year I lived in a pokey wee flat with an understairs cupboard masquerading as a 'computer room' with simply no where to put down a book and tripping over baby guff at every step. Now miraculously I live in a spacious lower 'villa', have my very own desk and a proper typewriter (albeit electronic). Sure the desk is a mess but that's okay with me! I've not had a working printer for over a year which is why I'm so excited about the typewriter. Now I can finally type out my poems and start sending them out to places that only take paper submissions. Which means I'll have to start writing more poems. Just had another two accepted by Envoi and my backlog of available poems is rapidly diminishing!