Rialto 96 – Degna Stone

Rialto 96 – Degna Stone

by | Dec 24, 2020 | News, Staff and Guest blogs

Hello poetry people! 2020 has been something, hasn’t it? But in amongst all the trauma and the horror, the world has just kept on turning regardless and here I am, putting out a call for your best poems for the spring edition of The Rialto. There has been a hell of a...
On scientists and their poetry

On scientists and their poetry

by | Sep 10, 2019 | Blogs, News, Staff and Guest blogs

Over the last few weeks I’ve found myself using the phrase ‘think like a poet’ a lot, especially as the final idea I want to leave people with, at the end of beginning to write workshops. It sounds sufficiently exhortatory (especially if I’m windmilling my arms while...
HOME (FOR A MONTH) IN GRASMERE

HOME (FOR A MONTH) IN GRASMERE

by | Jun 18, 2019 | Blogs, Staff and Guest blogs

In March this year it was my great fortune to stay in Grasmere with the Wordsworth Trust as their poet in residence. The reach of the Trust is huge and I would urge anyone who doesn’t know about them to find out: https://wordsworth.org.uk/ The brief for the residency...
Magic in the reeds

Magic in the reeds

by | Jul 4, 2018 | Blogs, Staff and Guest blogs

Magic in the reeds: A day at Wicken Fen with Professor Nick Davies by Alexandra Davis   “And I …will … Show thee a jay’s nest, and instruct thee how To snare the nimble marmoset. I’ll bring thee To clustering filberts, and sometimes I’ll get thee Young scamels...
NATURE AND PLACE 2

NATURE AND PLACE 2

by | Feb 14, 2018 | Staff and Guest blogs

It takes a lot of work to organise and administer a poetry competition and quite simply we wouldn’t be able to run it if we didn’t have help from volunteers. This year our help comes from undergraduates on the UEA Literature and Creative Writing courses. We invited...
NATURE AND PLACE 1

NATURE AND PLACE 1

by | Feb 14, 2018 | Staff and Guest blogs

It takes a lot of work to organise and administer a poetry competition and quite simply we wouldn’t be able to run it if we didn’t have help from volunteers. This year our help comes from undergraduates on the UEA Literature and Creative Writing courses. We invited...
On Let’s Dance

On Let’s Dance

by | Nov 22, 2017 | Staff and Guest blogs

I wanted to write about David Bowie’s Let’s Dance album for the Rialto Cold Fire pamphlet, primarily because it features the song ‘Modern Love’, one of my favourite songs to dance to. Never going to fall for (Modern Love) Walks beside me (Modern Love) Walks on by...
Diamond Dogs Rule OK

Diamond Dogs Rule OK

by | Jul 28, 2017 | Staff and Guest blogs

Writing The Hounds and their Half-Hound Master Bowie’s Diamond Dogs was originally meant to be a sprawling stage show – a glam rock dystopia on roller skates. Its heady post-apocalyptic imagery and dramatic shifts in mood and tone certainly give it the feel of...
On ‘Station to Station’

On ‘Station to Station’

by | Jul 28, 2017 | Staff and Guest blogs

On ‘Station to Station’ Station to Station is my favourite David Bowie album, and it seemed the natural starting point when I was asked to write a poem about the Dame. Its immediate successor, Low, is the better, more important record but Station to Station has this...