I just noticed that the Stephen Spender Trust has added an audio recording to their website, of me reading from my Chaucer translation at the London reception for the 2016 Stephen Spender Prize. Click here to read the text, and here to listen to me read my translation of the opening stanzas of Troilus and […]
(Audio) Mimi Khalvati Interview: Poetry as Discovery
I’ve just released an interview with Mimi Khalvati on my 21st Century Creative podcast, where she reads some of her poems and talks about her creative process. My own poetry has benefitted hugely from Mimi’s teaching and feedback over many years, so I’m delighted to feature her on the podcast. She has a lot of […]
‘Hiroshima’ and Other Poems – Now on My Website
Now that Oxford Poetry XVI.III has sold out, I’ve taken the opportunity to add my poem from the issue, ‘Hiroshima’, to the poetry page of my website, and refresh the selection of my poems there. Here are the links for the individual poems: Hiroshima The Illusionist The Future Proem from Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde (translation) […]
Poem: ‘Hiroshima’, in Oxford Poetry
Even though I was expecting it, as the bullet train pulled into the platform it was still a shock to see the word ‘Hiroshima’ on the sign, in the same everyday font used for station names all over Japan. I will never forget the things I saw in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, or the […]
My Chaucer Translation – Third Place in the Stephen Spender Prize
I’m delighted to report that a passage from my translation of Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde has been awarded third prize in this year’s Stephen Spender Prize, as announced in the Guardian. I’ve been working on the translation for over two years – the poem is over 8,000 lines long – and it’s great to receive […]