John White

Tories set a low bar after misspelling Britain on conference chocolate Misprinted wrappers pulled from Manchester goodie bags after derision on social media

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Hilarious ...

It goes without saying that the Nonconformists got there about a century ago. But well done, Anglicans, for catching up.

This is great to see, but Ed Miliband and the whole of government now need to stop using Elon Musk’s hellsite bsky.app/profile/matt...

Why you should leave X A rallying cry to progressives everywhere...

🔴 NEW - Why you should leave X

Here’s the sad truth: Twitter no longer exists. X is something else entirely. It’s a megaphone for extremism, controlled by a deranged oligarch.

📝 latest Substack 👇🏻

Is it Conor Cruise O'brien?

But does it rhyme?

The Asylum Dance is my favourite book of his. It's like an Incantation.

Delighted to have my poem selected for the 'After' ... Poems series of ekphrastic poetry, inspired by a Roethke poem but based on my first job, many moons ago now.

Read New Ekphrastic Poem 'The Inexorable Sadness of Pencils' by John White exclusively in After... | Poems Inspired By Other Art

The title of John White's #ekphrastic poem deceives. Is it about office life? Or just life?

'We floated, avatars of the open plan,
by night rehearsing in the snooker dens
each with a cue trained over a pack of Bensons
like an extension of him, holding a heron ... '

afterpoetry.com/poem/sep-07-...

See you at Lumb Bank from the 15th.

Great poem. And quite Heaney-esque, if I may say that.

Postscript by Seamus Heaney who died twelve years ago today

Bluefin tuna are miraculously returning to UK shores – only to be tormented for ‘sport’ | George Monbiot A tournament in Cornwall will pit anglers against these magnificent creatures, as part of a rising trend for so-called ‘sportfishing’, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

This week's column. The details will make you gasp and rage. This massive desecration of nature is almost unbelievable, but it is happening in the UK right now.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

One thing that often gets overlooked, with all the money-grubbing venality and ethical issues, is how unspeakably bad a writer she is. TSP is absolute drivel.

That statement could almost be an utterance from Fernando Pessoa. (Of whom I'm a fan, I should add.)

Extract from 'No one wants what I want' by @troycabida.bsky.social , published in Issue Seven. Read the full poem here: andotherpoems.com/2025/08/04/n... #poetry #poems #poemoftheday

So pleased to be part of this latest issue from And Other Poems. Many thanks again to the editors for producing such a great edition.

Extract from 'Way of Going' by @johncraigwhite.bsky.social , published in Issue Seven. Read the full poem here: andotherpoems.com/2025/08/04/w... #poetry #poem #poemoftheday

Robert Frost famously said, 'No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader'. Each poet needs to be open to the possibility of their poem taking them somewhere they had not expected or intended. That's the excitement of poetry, but also quite different from willful obscurity.

Issue Seven is now live! We are so excited to share this brilliant issue with you all. Thank you to all the poets who submitted. Read the full issue here: andotherpoems.com/issue-seven/ #poetry #poems

Probably not, we're a sensitive bunch.

Taking a break this fortnight in sweltering Vietnam, but you got me curious.

Some really good stuff in the latest edition of Acumen (112), including this one from my old colleague from Oxford Stanza 2 and Poetryworthhearing - Kathleen McPhilemy.

I'm grateful that @atriumpoetry.bsky.social have accepted one of my poems, due to be published in December. I always enjoy reading Atrium poems as they appear through the year. Thanks for big the support to poetry offered by @clairewalkerpoetry.bsky.social and @hollyannepoet.bsky.social

Poem of the week: Salt, Snow, Earth by Naomi Foyle The relentless cycle of human violence plays out as a brutal symbolic game

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...

Every so often Carol Rumen, for her weekly Guardian column, comes up with a poem that blows my mind. She's done it again this week ...

Thanks

My copy of Issue 35 of Under the Radar just popped through my letterbox, and there it is, in print, to lift the spirit. And among such good company!

Really pleased to get one of my own pieces into this edition, a poem about the day my mother died. Many thanks to the team at Under the Radar.

Under the Radar Issue 35 is printing as I type, so line up your 'hot off the press' copy now: ninearchespress.com/shop#!/Under...
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Thanks to all our contributors, reviewers and readers.

Plath was very skillful at syllabic verse. An early poem I've always liked, but seldom see discussed or shared, is 'Mussel Hunter at Rock Harbor'.