Articles in other places.

SPL column 10: The Unbearable Lightness Of Being Published

Have you ever set out to obtain something, dear readers, only to wonder afterwards what on earth you were thinking of? Right from the beginning, life has a sneaky way of turning hard-won prizes into tongue-curling disappointments: just ask the toddler who's finally managed to grab that tasty-looking, strawberry-smelling bar of soap while Mum wasn't looking and stuff it gleefully into his mouth. I've had my own share of these forehead-smacking disillusionary moments, but perhaps the most bittersweet has been the experience of publishing books of poetry.    [Read more]

in Scottish Poetry Library Blog, July 2010

SPL column 9: Watch out, it's the obligatory "Ten Rules for Writers" column

"After Puckoon I swore I would never write another novel. This is it..."
So said Spike Milligan in his introduction to "Adolf Hitler - My part in his downfall". In that spirit, inspired by Guardian's recent Ten Rules For Writing Fiction series, here's the "Ten Rules for Writers" column that I swore I'd never inflict on the world.    [Read more]

in Scottish Poetry Library Blog, June 2010

Art and catharsis

These days, you can find any number of creativity-based therapeutic programs - art therapy, music therapy, creative writing therapy, journalling therapy and so on. Occasionally, "serious" practitioners get a bit sniffy about these activities, as though engaging in creative activity with an explicit therapeutic aspiration is somehow an insulting parody of the arcane, rarefied processes of "real" art. Apart from being both arrogant and patronising, this point of view overlooks the significant role that "therapeutic" emotional processes can play in the production of art - particularly, I would argue, in the production of poetry.    [Read more]

in Survivors' Poetry, June 2010

SPL Column 8: Brace for impact

Despite months of havering by papers and pollsters over the UK General Election outcome, one thing's never been in doubt: all parties have been preparing the ground for a post-election season of harsh austerity "for the good of the nation". Dire prognostications are, of course, a great pre-governmental tactic (once in power, trim fewer corners than you'd darkly hinted you might have to, and reap the PR benefit), but financial realities such as a record budget deficit lend a certain credibility to all these forecasts of gloom.    [Read more]

in Scottish Poetry Library Blog, May 2010

SPL Column 7: Ratbaiting

Recently, an American article made a louder-than-usual splash in the UK poetry chatterverse, via blogs, forums and social media. The US Poetry Foundation's prominent website published Jim Behrle's satirical piece, "24/7 Careerism", in which he plays devil's advocate - at some length - about relentless self-promotion in the US poetry scene. Unsurprisingly, poetry blogs and social networks were immediately set aflutter; the theme is a sure-fire attention-grabber, since it's guaranteed to provoke anxiety in any new or established poet who's ever dared to do anything other than hide their poems under the bed.    [Read more]

in Scottish Poetry Library Blog, April 2010