Matthew Stewart

As parents, we're supposed to remember the first time we did stuff with our kids, but the last time is equally as significant, if not more.

This poem is from Whatever You Do, Just Don't (HappenStance Press, 2023), my second full collection...

This is a poem about the B word. About the Hostile Environment. About those bl**dy flags.

It's taken from Whatever You Do, Just Don't, my second full collection. Drop me a DM if you'd like a signed copy...

Copy by copy, every hard-earned sale of a poetry collection is an act of trust, a contract between the poet and the reader that reaches far beyond cash. This is why I refuse to shy away from reminding you about Whatever You Do, Just Don't.

Drop me a DM and I'll sort out your signed copy for you...

If you're up for a copy, just drop me a DM and I'll sort one out for you (U.K., Ireland, mainland Europe, Canada and Oceania)...

If we don't use our small poetry presses, we'll lose them. This is why I refuse to flinch or shy from asking you to purchase a copy of Whatever You Do, Just Don't, my second full collection.

Here's a sample poem from the book. Just drop me a DM and I'll sort out a signed copy for you...

Certain numbers accompany us through our lives, connected to our memories of people and places, of significant events. What numbers remain with you decades later? And why?

This poem is taken from Whatever You Do, Just Don't (HappenStance Press, 2023), my second full collection...

Holding on against the ebb – The Friday Poem Christopher James reviews 'Whatever You Do, Just Don’t' by Matthew Stewart (HappenStance Press, 2023)

"There’s much to savour in Whatever You Do, Just Don’t. You cannot help but be moved by the honesty and emotion of these poems, and you cannot fail to admire the craft..."

thefridaypoem.com/whatever-you...

This was fortunately an exception!

No, not in Somerset. I read in Wells a while back, and the organisers were lovely!

It's not normal in the U.K., where this reading took place.

I was the guest poet at a bookshop last week. They charged an entry fee that could be redeemed against any purchase, though not against my book💩.

The audience read their poems at the open mic, but redeemed the vouchers with prose. Ignored the poetry section. At least nine kind souls bought my book!

I run the Rogue Strands events in London with Mat Riches. We don't charge and we don't pay. Everything is altruistic. But this lot charged and didn't even give me expenses.

It was grim, Ian. If the organisers don't charge, I don't expect to be paid. But if they do, I expect expenses at least.

I was the guest poet at a bookshop last week. They charged an entry fee that could be redeemed against any purchase, though not against my book💩.

The audience read their poems at the open mic, but redeemed the vouchers with prose. Ignored the poetry section. At least nine kind souls bought my book!

I only want a single pair of hands to stretch my spine and open me at last...

"As a study of footballers at the lower end of the professional game, these twelve poems are unique, and must be among the very best ever to be written about the beautiful game..."

wildcourt.co.uk/measured-eco...

@roguestrands.bsky.social
off to watch Ardley United v Holyport in the Combined Counties North. Our boy starting in goal for Ardley. Loved "The Starting Eleven".

Thanks, George. Lovely to hear! Good luck for today!

You too?

Great covers! Great books!

Libraries are transformative. In fact, Farnham Library saved me. Kept me afloat when I was being bullied at South Farnham Middle School in the 1980s.

This poem from Whatever You Do, Just Don't is my homage to it...

The emotional significance of objects sends ripples through our lives, which is why this is often my final poem when I give a reading.

It's taken from my second full collection, Whatever You Don't, Just Don't. If you fancy a signed copy, drop me a DM and I'll sort one out for you...

This poem from Whatever You Do, Just Don't is for anybody who's had to clear a house, who's found objects that must have had significance for someone no longer here to tell their story....

What's it like to return to your home town years after leaving?

This poem from Whatever You Do, Just Don't finds that nothing's changed. But then everything's changed too...

This is a poem of loss, taken from Whatever You Do, Just Don't (HappenStance Press, 2023)...

Thanks, Rennie!

I can fully understand why a poet might feel uncomfortable about promoting their work, but I can't comprehend how this might then lead to their denigrating other poets who do so...

roguestrands.blogspot.com/2026/03/less...

Bluesky is ace for any poet who might want to reach beyond the genre's habitual bubble. I've certainly found loads of new readers on here!

Well, as a reader I like to know that things outside of the mainstream exist, and I'm probably not going to if people don't mention their work in places like Bluesky, etc.

Bluesky is ace for any poet who might want to reach beyond the genre's habitual bubble. I've certainly found loads of new readers on here!