My poetry has been carved in sandstone, turned into a diamond ring, and published in places including Ambit, Anthropocene, Brittle Star, iamb, Magma, Oxford Poetry, Propel, The Rialto, Stand, Wild Court and The Wolf.
I was awarded Third Prize in The Stephen Spender Prize (2016) and commended in The Ambit Poetry Competition (2021) and The Winchester Poetry Prize (2023).
You can read some of my poems here.
I spent eight years on the editorial board of Magma Poetry magazine and edited Magma 34.
I’m currently putting the finishing touches to my first collection, The Illusionist.
Podcast: A Mouthful of Air
The Guardian included my podcast A Mouthful of Air in a list of five of the best poetry podcasts:
McGuinness doesn’t shy away from textual analysis but rather explains concepts to listeners to unfold myriad meanings from the page.
And Podcast Review from The Los Angeles Review of Books, say it is one of The 11 Best Podcasts for Poetry Lovers:
McGuinness is a natural reader, articulating better than most professional voice actors. “How on earth is this free?” I found myself asking… It’s hard to overstate just how good this show is. Discussions of poetry can often feel flat and impenetrable, yet A Mouthful of Air refuses to let words die on the page.
On the show, 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.
The easiest way to follow the audio podcast is to subscribe via Apple, Spotify or Android.
If you’d like to read the poems as well as listening to the audio, you can sign up here to have a full transcript of every episode delivered to your inbox.
Concrete poetry
I created a concrete poetry piece, ‘Elegy for Moss’, in collaboration with the artist and sculptor Sheena Devitt. It was exhibited at the Lettering Arts Trust in 2021.
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 A Mouthful of Air.
Another extract from my Chaucer translation, ‘Love’s Arrow’, is published at Wild Court.
My translation of a passage from Os Lusíadas (‘The Luciads’), an epic poem by the 16th-century Portuguese poet Luis Vaz de Camões, is also published at Wild Court.
Etc.
I work as a creative coach and host the 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