Featured Poets and Reviews


Archive for the ‘featured poets, news and reviews’ Category

Tributes to my son Mark Sims

Posted: Tuesday, 8 June 2021

Poems inspired by Mark and his story.

Locked Down: poems, diaries and art from the 2020 pandemic

Posted: Saturday, 28 November 2020

Available to pre-order: Locked Down: poems, diaries and art from the 2020 pandemic, edited by Susan Jane Sims – now available to pre-order.

Audio recording by Subitha Baghirathan: Divali at Felix Road Adventure Playground

Posted: Tuesday, 17 November 2020

A seasonal recording from a Bristol poet.

Opportunity to record and read a poem for a poem a day project

Posted: Friday, 30 October 2020

News of a You Tube poetry channel for families and schools, created by retired teacher Terry Willis during lockdown.

Featured video recording – Alex Smith reading Report to Duty

Posted: Saturday, 15 August 2020

Featured video – Alex Smith with Reporting to Duty; a tribute to his grandfather, Ted Smith.

Di Coffey- A tribute to a much loved Poetry Space poet

Posted: Thursday, 11 June 2020

A tribute to Di Coffey who died on April 19th 2020.

Featured poet – Seshendra Sharma

Posted: Thursday, 11 June 2020

Seshendra Sharma was a visionary Indian poet. He was nominated for a Nobel Prize For Literature in 2004. THE BURNING SUN I am the drop of sweat, I am the sun Rising from the hills of human sinews, Hearts are my friends I live in the city of sufferings Although in my fist, I hold • Read more…

Audio recording – Hanna Komar

Posted: Tuesday, 26 May 2020

Featured poet- audio recording. Hanna Komar, an award winning poet from Belarus, reads her poem, Amira.

Sue wins a Hawthornden fellowship

Posted: Friday, 8 December 2017

Poetry Space editor and poet, Susan Jane Sims has been awarded a prestigious Hawthornden Fellowship for 2018. She will spend four weeks in January living in a castle near Edinburgh along with five other writers.

Gill McEvoy to judge Poetry Space Competition 2018

Posted: Friday, 8 December 2017

“Looking forward to reading all the poems, and really hoping for the kind of poem that is deeply felt, that touches the heart, and to which the only possible response is Oh how wonderful and I wish I’d written it! ” – Gill McEvoy
 

Audio recording – Skimming Stones by Michael Docker

Posted: Tuesday, 14 November 2017

A beautiful poem to listen to. Enjoy.

Poetry Space Competition 2017 – results

Posted: Friday, 22 September 2017

Full results from Poetry Space Competition 2017 and the top three winning poems. Congratulations to Carole Bromley (1st and 2nd prize), Eileen Carney Hulme (2nd prize) and all commended poets. Thanks to all who entered.

News from Dawn Gorman at Words & Ears

Posted: Saturday, 18 March 2017

Poetry events coming up in Wiltshire

poetry space workshop seven

Posted: Thursday, 2 March 2017

Think of a subject, it could be oranges. Why not? That is as good as anything else. This past fortnight poets have been pondering ‘not poems’.

Reviews of two Poetry Space best selling books

Posted: Wednesday, 1 March 2017

Lizzie Ballagher reviews two Poetry Space titles: What the Trees Are Telling Me by Elizabeth Rapp and Chester City Walls by Julia D. McGuinness

‘What will survive of us is love’

Posted: Tuesday, 7 February 2017

Poetry Space editor, Susan Jane Sims reviews A Fury of Yellow by Robin Thomas (Eyewear Aviator Series 2016)

Back to Ireland for Maureen Weldon

Posted: Sunday, 20 March 2016

Poetry Space poet, Maureen Weldon was delighted to have her poem “Sink, And The Great House, North Wales,” included in Crannog, Spring Issue 41, 2016.

Taking Notes – Poems from Poetry Space Competition 2015

Posted: Sunday, 20 March 2016

All the winning and commended poems in the 2015 competition brought together in a beautiful anthology.

Standing by the Wayside by Prem Kumari Srivastava

Posted: Saturday, 6 February 2016

If you have not yet read Standing by the Wayside, by Prem Kumari Srivastava, this is definitely one to consider from the Poetry Space collection. Published during 2015 this is a collection that was a delight to work on.   I have just had this lovely comment from Moira Andrew who has just read this collection: Prem’s • Read more…

Society laid bare in the poetry and short stories of Thomas McColl

Posted: Saturday, 6 February 2016

Thomas McColl. Being With Me Will Help You Learn . London, UK: Listen Softly London, 2015. A few weeks ago I was sent a copy Being With Me Will Help You Learn by Thomas McColl and it has accompanied me on my travels up and down to London recently on the train. There is quite • Read more…

Eggs on Toast by Jade Anouka

Posted: Sunday, 31 January 2016

Actor and poet, Jade Anouka’s first pamphlet collection was published on Valentine’s Day.

An appetite for life: A Review of Jill Munro’s collection Man from La Paz

Posted: Thursday, 7 January 2016

Publisher: Green Bottle Press (July 1, 2015 ISBN-13: 978-1910804001 Jill Munro’s Man from La Paz, made perfect train travel reading recently on one of my many trips to and from London. I love its physical and sensual exuberance, and willingness to tackle the everyday aspects of life with humour and unflinching gaze.   I never start on • Read more…

Riding the Rainbow by Margaret Eddershaw

Posted: Saturday, 5 December 2015

A brand new pamphlet collection from Margaret Eddershaw in support of Ibba Girls School in South Sudan. “This lively and witty collection shows that Margaret is a traveller who, in the tradition of great poets, has an extraordinary gift for finding a visual image or a spoken phrase which somehow conjures up a person, a place, a culture, a moment in time.” (John Bennington)
ALL PROCEEDS TO IBBA GIRLS SCHOOL

Kshanti by Wendy Stern

Posted: Wednesday, 2 December 2015

Wendy Stern died earlier this year. This pamphlet contains a selection of her poems, dictated to her carers as she did not have the physical capacity to use a pen or a keyboard. The poems are uplifting, hopeful and accepting. Two poems, not in this selection will appear later in the 2016 competition anthology as they were commended by John Siddique.

‘The Darkness and the Thunder and the Rain’

Posted: Saturday, 14 November 2015

A review of Bath Poetry Cafe’s performance of poetry from the First World War in The Elwin Room, Bath Literary and Scientific Institute.

What the trees are telling me by Elizabeth Rapp

Posted: Friday, 30 October 2015

This is a fourth collection by Elizabeth Rapp.

Chester City Walls: A Poet’s Mosaic by Julia D. McGuinness

Posted: Wednesday, 14 October 2015

This beautifully illustrated collection is by Julia D. McGuiness who lives in Ellesmere Poet, Cheshire. Julia has written four books and this is her first collection of poetry.

Poetry Space Competition 2015 – RESULTS

Posted: Tuesday, 15 September 2015

The judging is now complete and thanks are due to John Siddique for doing a wonderful job and all of the poets who entered and supported the competition this year.   Top three poets are: Ama Bolton, Corin Greaves and Victoria Gatehouse. Please go to Poetry Space Competition  for the full results.

South Downs Way poetry

Posted: Friday, 28 August 2015

Lizzie Ballagher, poet- in- residence on the South Downs Way

Summer reading from Poetry Space

Posted: Monday, 3 August 2015

Recommend some summer reading from the Poetry Space collection and earn yourself a free book!

A review of London Manuscript by Anna Maria Mickiewicz

Posted: Wednesday, 12 November 2014

Tomasz Niedokos reviews London Manuscript by Anna Maria Mickiewicz

Week 21 – photo and poem challenge

Posted: Saturday, 12 April 2014

A new photograph to respond to.This week it is by Chris Sims.

Robert Frost’s birthday – March 26th

Posted: Wednesday, 26 March 2014

For Robert Frost’s birthday – March 26th 1874 a chance to read or revisit Mending Wall, a poem written by Frost in 1942.

Guest blog – Joan Poulson

Posted: Saturday, 8 March 2014

Celebration and Curiosity – Joan Poulson. Learn about Joan’s love of the natural world and her debt to “Granfer”.

Meet the Photographers – Roger Leege

Posted: Saturday, 8 March 2014

Another in our occasional Meet the Photographers series when we get to know a bit more about photographers who have allowed us to use their lovely photographs as inspiration for some equally stunning writing.

Shape shifting: a review of Annemarie Cooper’s The Flight of Birds

Posted: Sunday, 16 February 2014

Poetry Space review’s Annemarie Cooper’s new collection The Flight of Birds.

Winning Poetry Space Competition 2010 – Beverley Ferguson

Posted: Tuesday, 21 January 2014

Beverley Ferguson, winner of the first Poetry Space Competition in 2010, considers the transformative role of poetry in her life

Meet the Photographers – Alex Rotas

Posted: Friday, 10 January 2014

The first of a series of features on the photographers who have kindly let us put their poems on display as a visual stimulus for our poetry writing.

Landscape and Memory: A review of Geraldine Green’s Salt Road

Posted: Thursday, 24 October 2013

Landscape and Memory: A review of Geraldine Green’s Salt Road

“Even weeds are stronger that I am…” A Review of Caroline Carver’s Tikki Tikki Man

Posted: Thursday, 24 October 2013

Tikki Tikki Man by Caroline Carver ISBN 978-0-9568969-4-0 Published by Ward Wood Publishing    Reviewed by Susan Jane Sims   – even weeds are stronger than I am – she says – I’m not like them I don’t want to push through concrete I don’t want to find the light   Tikki Tikki Man, p.23 • Read more…

Dannie Abse – 90 this week

Posted: Monday, 23 September 2013

Dannie Abse celebrates his ninetieth birthday this week and says that his latest work might be his last.

Alison Brackenbury to judge Poetry Space Competition 2014

Posted: Saturday, 21 September 2013

Poetry Space International Poetry Competition reaches the age of five in 2014 and will be judged by poet and broadcaster, Alison Brackenbury.

In Safe Hands: Susan Jane Sims Reviews Intensive Care by John Hirst

Posted: Sunday, 25 August 2013

Sue reviews Intensive Care by John Hirst

My Father Speaks in Poetry Too – This collection is gathering fans

Posted: Friday, 26 July 2013

Some responses to Jo Waterworth’s collection: My Father Speaks in Poetry Too.

Glastonbury Book Launch for Jo Waterworth

Posted: Friday, 28 June 2013

Glastonbury book launch for Jo Waterworth