Poetry
My poems have appeared in places including Ambit, Anthropocene, Brittle Star, iamb, Magma, Oxford Poetry, The Rialto, Stand, Wild Court and The Wolf. ‘Chrysalis’ was commended in the 2021 Ambit Poetry Competition.
You can read some of my poems here.
I spent eight years on the editorial board of Magma and edited Magma 34.
I’m currently putting the finishing touches to my first collection, The Illusionist.
Concrete poetry
I am collaborating on concrete poetry projects with artist and sculptor Sheena Devitt. Our first piece, ‘Elegy for Moss’, was exhibited in On a Knife Edge (2021), an exhibition at the Lettering Arts Trust.
Sheena and I are open to taking on commissions for concrete poetry. You can learn more about commissions on this page and contact us if you are interested in commissioning a piece.
Poetry translation
I was awarded Third Prize in the 2016 Stephen Spender Prize, for a passage from my translation of Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde. You can read my entry in the 2016 Prize booklet, and hear me read and discuss it in Episode 12 of my poetry podcast.
My translation of a passage from Os Lusíadas (‘The Luciads’), an epic poem by the 16th-century Portuguese poet Luis Vaz de Camões, is published online at Wild Court.
Podcasting
I host the poetry podcast A Mouthful of Air where I read classic poems and talk about what makes them great. I also invite leading contemporary poets to read a single poem and talk about the process of writing it.
Etc.
I host The 21st Century Creative podcast.
I’ve written four books for creative professionals and contributed to two international best sellers published by 99U.
For the latest…
For news of my poetry projects and publications, as well as my thoughts on poems old and new, you can have my poetry blog sent to you via email.
Twitter: @markmcguinness
Instagram: @markmcgpoet