I had the pleasure of seeing my friend Zaffar Kunial read at Spire Writes in Chesterfield back in December. He is a truly brilliant poet who has recently been awarded the Wordsworth Trust residency.
I’m looking forward to reading at Spire, hosted by Helen Mort, in February.
Maria Taylor has chosen her books of the year and said good things about mine. She has posted a poem from The Sun Bathers which you can read here.
My review of Matt Merritt’s The Elephant Tests is up on the excellent Hinterland along with some fine new poems by Martin Malone and others.
My poem ‘Meat is Murder’ was awarded 2nd prize in the Allan Sillitoe competition.
I’ve been working on translations of Eugenio Montale, and also returned to translating some poems by the contemporary Italian poet Andrea Inglese that I first looked at a couple of years ago. The new versions are published in Litter magazine and you can read them if you click this link.
My tendonitis has eased up a little and I’m returning to the keyboard to type up a batch of new poems.
Happy New Year and thanks for reading!
Roy Marshall 