JULY

Wednesday 1st July 2026

Finally got a bike ride. A nice tailwind made for a fairly swift climb to Parkhead Station first thing this morning. Then I sped back down in a high gear. Felt good. T-shirt, shorts, no backpack. The rest of the day has been devoted to the Waddington Street Writers’ anthology. Corrections are marked up. I still have page margins to fix. It should all be pretty good to print by Saturday. Then I’ll need a couple of days next week to assemble and trim. I should prep the next Washington workshop soon so I can devote the rest of my time to pulling stuff together for Waddy. I've eaten a fair amount of roast chicken today. I feel a bit knackered now. I hope to get all the work done. It takes so long to pull things together. OK. 10.59pm.

Thursday 2nd July 2026

Another long day. I keep waking up super early. I printed and assembled a few copies of my July 2023 pamphlet 'Soon Will Come Thunder'. They just need the covers inking up. I did some copy-ups. Then put in a couple of hours on the Waddy anthology. It's almost good to go now. But a few tweaks will now revert to the previous state due to a writer’s change of mind. I'm still waiting on a word edit. The three o'clock bus didn't run today. It came through Moorside and went to Castleside but didn't return. I got to Waddy at quarter to five. Set up for the Poetry Jam and had a great turnout. All the guests were on top form: Mel Chilekwa, James Oates and Kirsten Luckins. Identity pieces, poems of place, lost companions, a lot of bird and plant poems. Great open floor people as well. I read 'Dear Kryptonics Denny Reardon Skateboard' and 'Neglected'. Took me an hour to clear up after the event. There is a window open on the last bus, so I've got my hood up. 11.19pm.

Friday 3rd July 2026

Chuffed to be almost there with the Waddy anthology. Awaiting confirmation on changes to one poem. This afternoon I proofed more of my own stuff then made a little promo poster for The Cooking Pot at Baba Yaga’s of Whitley Bay, at which I’m doing a headline set this coming Monday. Mostly older stuff. I'll be reading some prose pieces from 'Soon Will Come Thunder'. I don't really like much dance music, but the new Madonna album ‘Confessions Vol 2’ has a bunch of good tracks on it. I've seen Madge three times: Blonde Ambition 1990, The Girlie Show 1993, and Drowned World 2001. Then I drifted a bit. I needed time off this evening. OK. 11.51pm.

Saturday 4th July 2026

Sat at home all day waiting for info to finalise the anthology but didn't get it. Now I'll have to wait till Monday. I tried to rehearse tonight, but I'm so fucking annoyed and absolutely knackered, I just can't do much. Tried reading but couldn't. I managed to get some exercises sorted for the next two writing workshops. This year is flying by, and I've done very little biking. Fucked! 11.13pm.

Sunday 5th July 2026

I wanted to bike this afternoon but didn't dare risk anything happening that might prevent assembling and trimming of books mid-week. I only managed one rehearsal today for tomorrow's Cooking Pot gig. I've eaten tuna, baked beans and baked potato for three days in a row. Haven't been out since Thursday. 10.02pm.


Monday 6th July 2026

Received clarification at eight o'clock this morning of the correct version of a poem to include in the anthology. Got colour covers printed. Made up a test version. It's pretty much there. Just a couple of page numbers to centre and a margin to tweak. I was in Newcastle this afternoon buying assorted coloured Canson for endpapers. Then I went to Jen's place. Ate chicken. We reached Whitley Bay in good time for Baba Yaga's opening at seven o'clock. My set went down well. I enjoyed reading music-related material. People were very generous. Sold some books as well. Christine Fowler read. Jenni, Steve Lancaster, Penny Blackburn, Jen Wilson, Andrew Mears - lots of people. It was a good night. OK. 11.38pm.

Tuesday 7th July 2026

Thankfully, we have the Waddy anthology printed. I will assemble and trim tomorrow, and on Thursday if necessary. The contributors, bar one, have seen an advance copy and are chuffed with it. The pamphlet will have assorted colour Canson endpapers and a great piece of art on the wraparound cover. I'm chuffed with how the layout has finally come together. This evening, I have been trying to choose favourite poets, comedians and lyricists to mention on the Poetical Outlaws podcast, which will be recorded next Monday. I admire loads of writers and speakers, but I don't seem to be able to pinpoint any living figures as definitive favourites. I've watched a fair few Simon Armitage clips this evening. He knows his stuff. My brain doesn't work well enough. OK. 10.11pm.

Wednesday 8th July 2026

I should be feeling triumphant. Another little booklet project in the can. I decided to look at it again this evening. The penultimate file that was printed as a test copy had all the correct changes on it, so why wasn't that one used for the actual print run? I did everything I could to produce a top-notch publication for the Waddy Writers. Unfortunately, a slip-up means one of the writers is probably going to be really annoyed on launch day. The file on my stick was the correct file, which I sent to the office to get printed because technical support wouldn't be available by the time I arrived later that morning. The file printed from the office was correct and verified by a senior member of staff. The file used to make final margin and page number tweaks that was used for the full print run contained changes one writer no longer wanted. Fuck! 11.55pm.

Thursday 9th July 2026

Awful day. Up till quarter to four this morning, drafting a letter to Waddy about using the wrong file to print the anthology. It might be alright if one of the writers decides their changes were for the best after all. This, however, has not helped me feel anything but failure and rage. I spent weeks getting the MS just right, and a momentary lapse has caused it to be less than it should be. It took me about three hours to prepare a workshop for tomorrow, which required only two handouts and a few paste-ups in my notebook. Another day of waiting. Hope the anthology proves to be okay. 10.35pm.

Friday 10th July 2026

Awake at ten to five, or thereabouts. Knocked out another set of brutal morning pages. Up about seven and still managed to spread my breakfast and personal hygiene out until quarter past eight. I got to the Arts Centre by eleven. The workshop took about five minutes to set up. It worked well: Finish the sentence, Free write, Six-sentence paragraph, Tiny Tales into Four-paragraph Flash Fiction, Theoretical Essay, Objects and Lies, and Resistentialism Vignettes. Good one. Thanks to Nicola Spain for the card and end-of-sessions box of chocolates. Thanks to Alwyn, who was sympathetic to my gripes, for the lift to Gateshead. The bus from Metro Centre to Consett was super slow and hellishly hot. Big grilled steak and cheese sandwiches for tea. No word from Waddy, so I don't know if the anthology was well-received. Too hot to do much. Slept a lot this evening. 10.27pm.

Saturday 11th July 2026

Up at five. More scribbles about the Waddy book. Received an email saying it was fine and yesterday's readings went well. I got out on the bike after dinner. Terrible ride. Only improving near the end on the way home. I did some housework and had a big baked potato with beans and tuna. Bag-pack then off to Jen's. Football on TV. OK. 10.26pm.


Sunday 12th July 2026

Slow day. Took until lunchtime to muster up the energy to go buy food. Then I started getting too warm. I've slept a lot. Jenni and I pulled together blurb info for a double-header gig we are doing. Details to be confirmed. I ate a pie that was all pastry and no steak. Consequently, Jenni wangled me a £5 complimentary voucher from the supermarket. This evening I've mostly been too hot. I really need to be asleep soon. 11.12pm.


Monday 13th July 2026

Spent a couple of hours in Sunderland to record a piece for Poetical Outlaws podcast with Gary the Hat at his seafront flat. Then a nice veggie curry in Newcastle with Jenni, her mam Hilary, and John. Big thanks to Ms Lydia Lunch for signing three books for me at The Lubber Fiend venue in Newcastle this evening after her forty-five-minute set with Mark Hurtado. The music, all keyboard-generated, was pretty intense. I was amazed that Lydia sat at the merch table straight afterwards, the same table that was bare when I was there an hour earlier. I'd have preferred to hear songs by her band Big Sexy Noise rather than a full set of Suicide covers - but hey, maybe next time. I asked if it would be possible to get a photo with her. "Come back in five minutes," she said. I waited until the merch queue came to an end. "Come on then," Lydia said. "Sit down next to me." I did as I was told. Sebastian, the merch guy, took the photo. Lydia said she was initially concerned about ticket sales, but the gig turned out okay. "Thanks for coming back to Newcastle," I said, mega chuffed. Then I got a Metro to Gateshead and talked to Jen at the Microbus pub, met her friends, then walked back to Bensham. Workshop at Waddy tomorrow. OK. 11.34pm.

Tuesday 14th July 2026

Too exhausted for a workshop this afternoon but made the effort. Twelve out of the initial thirty copies of the Waddy anthology remain – and one of the contributors hasn't received his yet. I fell asleep on the bus home. Have read a bit of the new Lydia Lunch pocketbook that she signed last night. But other than that, all I've done is doom scroll, then record three audio clips as backup tracks for the Poetical Outlaws podcast. Oh, and I finally got around to putting baking soda on the kitchen carpet, so hopefully it will lift some smells out of it. I'll hoover up in the morning. I might read in bed, but I might not. I still have a ton of editing to do this summer. Some days, I just want to jack all this writing lark in. But people are kind and keep me going. OK. 11.10pm.


Wednesday 15th July 2026

I meant to make a new morning pages notebook but forgot. I went to Whitley Bay for the launch of Kay Wilson's new novel, ‘The Allotment Sisterhood’ at 'the bound' bookshop (which I was surprised to find is run by Helen Young, who I haven't seen in over forty years; she grew up in Bridgehill, a few streets away from me, over the road from Andrew Earnshaw). Vic Watson interviewed Kay, who was very entertaining and gave great insights into her characters, her process and the challenges she faced in bringing the book to publication. And she had a fantastic turnout. Very well done. Kay very kindly signed a copy of the novel for me and entrusted me with two more for Washington Writers. The journey home took three hours, door to door. I had a cheese sandwich and some nuts. I have lots of books to read. OK. 11.44pm.


Thursday 16th July 2026

I've tried to work all day but kept falling asleep. Probably the first month in ages that I've not got Poetry Jam event info out on the Thursday two weeks before the gig. I will do it tomorrow. All I managed today was a new morning pages notebook and a week of catch-up notes. I think I'm ready for a month off. Years ago, I never did any real work from the end of the summer term to the start of autumn. I read for pleasure, rode bikes, watched videos and listened to music – recharged the batteries. I've done at least one workshop every week this year since mid-January. I used to do four or five a week per term. It would kill me now. I've read a bit of "Lydia Lunch: The War Is Never Over", have listened to "Staircase" and "Try Me" by Beirut Slump. OK. 10.41pm.


Friday 17th July 2026

Poetry Jam publicity is done. I've made up a preliminary test copy of Christine Fowler's pamphlet; there’s quite a bit of reformatting work to do on it. I went out on my Sonder bike tonight. Only about ninety minutes. I didn't ride well. I've strained my left shoulder again. Compared to this time last year, I am not fit. And due to being away a lot lately, I've slipped up with physio. Tonight, I listened to a Marco Pirroni podcast. Former guitarist for Adam Ant, Marco toured with Sinead O'Connor in 1990. I saw him four times that year. He says he doesn't like playing live these days. His memoir, "Your Money or Your Life", is due this September and is mostly about punk and Antmusic. I read an online interview which didn't paint Marco in a good light. I'm tired a lot of the time. I'm done for the week. No book work till Monday. OK. 11.40pm.


Saturday 18th July 2026

Bit of a lie-in. Then removed all the brambles growing onto the path by the back door. I was in Newcastle this afternoon for more Canson endpapers. Jenni and I watched Speak No Evil, starring James McElvoy, a really good dark thriller. Then two episodes of Ann Droid starring Sue Johnston and Diane Morgan. OK. 11.05pm.


Sunday 19th July 2026

Disappointed with how little I've achieved this year, given how quickly the months are flying by. Another shoulder strain and lower back pain make biking off-road seem pointless. I haven't done any recent sequencing of poems for the new book. I've eaten a lot of crisps and chocolate today. Watched a few true crime documentaries on TV and a retro Coustellier St Blaize trials bike review on YouTube. OK. 10.57pm.


Monday 20th July 2026

Not very productive. I was up late last night. Didn't finish morning pages till ten o'clock. After a tuna crunch sandwich, I left Jen's around quarter to one for the X70 to Consett. I bought another pack of photographic card for booklet covers, some shortbread biscuits and Warburtons thins. Back home, I washed shorts and a T-shirt in the kitchen sink, prepped a load of exercises for the next few Waddy workshops. Then more tuna – this time with a big baked potato and salad. I fell asleep for an hour then read about seventy pages of "A Dance With Ghosts" by Kevin Brooks. Very easy prose. Able to retain enough to follow the story without having to backtrack too much. I've done a bit of notebook catch-up, but not much real work. I wanted to bike tonight but was too tired, and I thought the shoulder needs more rest. I'm way behind on editing. I'll do some on Wednesday and Thursday. Hope to get started on my Red Squirrel Press book soon. 10.28pm.


Tuesday 21st July 2026

Today was okay. But only one person was in the writing session with me at Waddington Street Centre this afternoon. We did: What Matters?, Triolet, Journal Prompts and Golden Shovels. I got a Thank-You from the operations manager for the Waddy anthology. I went to Chester-le-Street after the session. Boyes had the pale blue Easy Note A6 slim notebooks I've been using for Gratitude Journal for the last fourteen years. The four I've just bought should last me till January 2030. I've no idea what situation I'll be in by then, financially or creatively. I finished reading "A Dance With Ghosts" by Kevin Brooks around twenty to midnight. I always think of novels as TV drama in words on paper instead of voices and moving images onscreen. Neither better nor worse. OK. 11.45pm.


Wednesday 22nd July 2026

Sometimes I wonder if I want to keep writing. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I just stopped. I won't, of course, coz it's what keeps me going, and that's the only thing I can do that could be deemed work. Even though a lot of people see it as folly, I see it as a necessary tool to keep my head together. Today I went out on my twenty-year-old Rockhopper bike. I rode through Castleside, then Muggleswick woods, then up to Parkhead Station by road, down to Edmundbyers then a lap of the Derwent Reservoir, up onto the A68, down past Allensford and up to Castleside, then home – about four hours. It's the longest ride I've done this year. There won't be any multiple-day rides like the C2C, which I did last year. Once was enough. Next ride will be on riverside trails on the Sonder adventure bike. Hot upstairs. OK. 10.30pm.


Thursday 23rd July 2026

Pretty bad aches and pains in wrists and crook of left arm. Four hours on a bike yesterday was too much for my pathetic body after very little warm-up this year. Today I keyed in notes, watched some BBC website writing stuff: "Don't talk about your ideas, don't buy more books, don't go on courses, just get the damn thing written." – which was summed up very concisely on the title track of the very first Rollins Band album I ever heard, a cover version of a Pink Fairies song called DO IT. So what the fuck has the last 37 years been all about? I sifted through some of my recent drafts from the workshops. I'm being brutal about what to copy out afresh and what to reject. If I live to be a hundred, I'm not going to use everything. I have more than enough material waiting already... It was good to see Pip McDonald and Gary Robertson in conversation on the Poetical Outlaws podcast today. The next one will feature Aaron Wright. OK. 10.27pm.


Friday 24th July 2026

I listened to Pip MacDonald on the Poetical Outlaws podcast last night. Gary filmed it with three cameras. It looked great. Pip talked about her influences, including a poet that she met via Zoom during lockdown, and early beginnings listening to prog rock with her dad. Pip’s first writings were song lyrics in her teens. She cited Joyce Grenfell and Victoria Wood as comedy influences. Just Think Phil is one of her favourite living poets. And she really bigged up the city of Sunderland.
   Gary and Pip chattered about their experiences at Durham University whilst studying philosophy.
   I don't think the next episodes were filmed with multiple camera angles. I don't remember there being more than one when I was there a couple of weeks ago.
   Today I will facilitate my final Arts Centre Washington writing workshop of the current block. It's basically just a bit of an easy-going 'play with some previous forms and prompts' type of day.
   I don’t know what to wear. It's supposed to be sixteen degrees by nine o'clock, a little warmer by mid-afternoon. There's a mix of grey and blue up above at present, indoors and out.
   I came down to that fucking stale odour again this morning. I got down on my hands and knees and sniffed the kitchen carpet - it smelled okay. I think it must be the sink. It never gets enough hot water down it. I will buy more baking soda and use white vinegar as well. Also, I'll spend the day decluttering everything. I need to spend about a week tidying up downstairs. I have a feeling I'll be trashing a lot of recent spare workshop handouts. I just don't have the space for them. I went through a couple of recent workshop notebooks last night. There are quite a few pieces that I want to copy up. And there are some journaling excerpts from sessions I'd like to get into a desktop notebook as well. It's a lot of work just to get on top of the recent output. I have no idea how to go about using any of it.
   I caught a little BBC writers clip on Facebook yesterday. Lisa Holdsworth: "Forget about buying more books, stop going to courses, just get the damn thing written. It should be awful in the first draft. It's meant to be. But then you go back and get it as good as you can - that's when the magic happens."
   And I kind of agree. But not wishing to bite the hand that feeds any more than I already have done in recent days, I feel I've written some pretty good performance pieces in workshops, my own and others. I should be submitting to magazines, but I'm not enamoured by many that I've seen in recent years, and I've already bought loads of stuff to read. I want to spend more time at home getting stuff edited, not doing yet more first drafts. In the next couple of years, hopefully, I'll be consolidating my scraps and vignettes and getting better drafts into shape and finding ways to make bigger and better books. Having said all that, I've just ordered a 40th Anniversary copy of “Human Geography” – Simon Armitage's debut pamphlet. I can't remember if it was originally published by Smith Doorstop or the Wide Skirt Press, but it's now reproduced in a lavish signed version from Faber and Faber. I got a notification from the Royal Mail saying it will be arriving on Saturday between 9.15am and 11.15am, so it's just as well I'll be home tomorrow morning.
   I'm going to For Better or Verse at Blackhill Club this evening. I wanted to go just to be a listener, but I might read a thing or two on open mic. I'd really like to try out Tickle a Brick, which was written about my days in the warehouse just before we were all made redundant. But a lot of it is about language, pronunciation and accent. I'd struggle at present, I think, to do it justice. It's one of those pieces that could benefit from Apples and Snakes coaching, like we got about thirteen years ago from Kirsten Luckins at Scratch Tyne and Tees clubs. Usually, though, I just let the emotion of the piece come through my projection, and I don't really choreograph my movement or gestures. I mainly animate my words with my natural (some say unnatural) energy. And I don't codify what I do; I don't have a performance vocabulary, despite spending over a year around budding young theatre practitioners a couple of decades ago.
   I can’t remember all the stuff I've prepped for the session today. But all I really need to do is check my notebook from Tuesday. I’ll do another lucky dip. Serendipity gave a good structure to the session on Tuesday. Pity there were just two of us in the room. I'm expecting about half a dozen today. But we're getting into the holiday season now, so it's wise to take a break for the next six weeks and come back fighting fit in September with new material.
   And speaking of new material, I hope I've got a decent set of clothes left for today. At some point, I'll have to trouble Jen to wash some trousers for autumn engagements, few as they are. What will I read at Blackhill this evening? I aim to rework my Leonard Cohen ~2 poem. The quote used on Tuesday about poetry being ash wasn't 100% accurate so my golden shovel requires some rewrites. A real golden shovel would be good for moving quite a bit of ash. Anyway, time for breakfast. OK. 7.10am.

Because the 78 Sunderland bus from Consett reached Chester-le-Street five minutes earlier than the 8 Sunderland bus from Stanley, I was able to alight from the former and board the latter to reach Arts Centre Washington for my fortnightly workshop half an hour earlier than usual. I did five lucky dips from a pile of sixteen exercises to determine the running order of activities for the group's final session of the current block, and it worked well: Take Three Nouns, Tricubes, Written in the Style of Yellow, My Box and Newspaper Headline Monologue. Big thanks to all who attended so far this year. Big thanks to Alwyn Bathan for a tin of chocolates and a lift to Gateshead. I was out tonight at For Better or Verse in Blackhill. It was great. Shamie Khan performed quite a bit from memory, and Cat Bell was sensational. Some ace open floor poems as well. Gary the Hat's Philosophy, Kevin Robson's Shoplifter, Tony Gadd's Pink Slice, and host Steve Wood's Inappropriate Songs on Hospital Radio. Great turns all round. Good to walk there and back and to try out a couple of new pieces of my own. OK. 11.50pm.

Saturday 25th July 2026

I'm at home this weekend. I read the 40th anniversary signed edition of Simon Armitage's 'Human Geography' debut pamphlet. I already own some of the poems republished in 'Zoom!' but it was nice to see the original running order and a new introduction, even though I struggled with a fair bit of content. I'm used to more direct, shorter lines. I've started to trawl through my January morning pages. They are pretty dark and disturbing. I don't know what they will end up like as a book, but there’s only one way to find out... I have a bit more physio to do, then bed. OK. 10.21pm.


Sunday 26th January 2026

Spent the whole day pulling poems together for my next big collection. This evening I worked up a few more recent pieces from notebooks and am pleased that I'm still able to prune lines, make decent shapes on the page, and get ideas across. I hope selecting and sequencing isn't too difficult. OK. 11.10pm.


Monday 27th July 2026

I had a canny little ride in the woods near Shotley Bridge on the Sonder Frontier bike this morning. I can't do anything too daring, especially now I've got a dodgy left shoulder, but I enjoyed weaving about through the woods, getting over some tree roots here and there, and through a few streams. I wasted about three hours this afternoon trying to reposition the internet display on my computer monitor. It's fine on Word and Publisher, put web pages are annoyingly offset to the right, so I am unable to scroll. Can't upload to Facebook, won't be able to do the blog until it’s sorted. I've got 106 poems printed out on A5 pieces of paper and will whittle them down to a 68-page collection over the rest of the summer. My bad mood about the computer was making me doubt my ability to put a new book together, but by the end of the session, I thought that I've got a lot of good material to draw on. Should be a good one. OK. 11.42pm.


Tuesday 28th July 2026

Woke about half five this morning. Stayed in bed until eight. A shave took my final blade. I wrote about the new book. 106 poems to be whittled down to about 70. I returned an excellent Kevin Brooks novel to Consett library. And bought a couple of black t-shirts from a charity shop. Got a free replacement nose pad on my glasses at the optician's. The Waddy workshop was a repeat of Washington's from last Friday. Only two people in. We finished just before three o'clock. I came home, defrosted the freezer again, then went out for food. Three buses went by me out of service. The one back home from Tesco was half an hour late. Two bags of shopping. Too tired to walk. Too tired for much tonight. Can't do any online work until the computer is fixed. I hate being dependent on technology. I just scrolled on the mobile for a while and will be in bed early. OK. 9.43pm.

Wednesday 29th July 2026

Thought I smelt gas this morning, so had an emergency call out. Turns out there wasn't a leak, but the workman was quite taken aback when told that the chimney had been blocked off inside the new roof and that I haven't used any gas for the best part of five years. He cut off the supply for safety reasons. I will need a new combi boiler before winter to prevent damp and avoid the risk of pipes freezing. The hassle of getting the house sorted before winter will be a pain. I am not really cut out for domestic upheaval. And I can't really afford it either. The back boiler is nearly 40 years old. No work on my new book today, but I sorted the screen display and web browser problems on my computer. Then spent a lot of time decluttering my living room. OK. 11.48pm.


Thursday 30th July 2026

Got the fear reading online that just because the gas supply to my house has been cut off, it doesn't mean the old redundant back boiler is safe to leave standing with a sealed-off flue. I phoned my cousin, plumber Flush Gordon, who assured me that's not the case and I’ll be fine. From mid-morning onwards, I’ve devoted my time to destroying perfectly good workshop handouts and other papers that are cluttering the house. The living room is mostly cleared. I've got rid of loads from the bedroom and am storing piles of books by the unused radiator until I determine how many bookcases are needed for the back room, which at present is just an unholy mess of books, files, magazines, clothes, boxes - all sorts. My place was always spotless before I became a writing facilitator in 2003. I need a solid month to get it looking anywhere near good again. OK. 9.48pm.

Friday 31st July 2026

A calm morning. Nice to see a window ledge that isn’t covered in detritus for a change.
   The big expanse of beige living room carpet is back, only a few more stacks of books to move upstairs.
   The months are flying by. I’m a bit sad for the loss of biking ambitions this year, but don’t want to risk any more body damage after the hernia and torn bicep. I haven’t done any over-fifties physical exercises for a while. I’ve kind of fallen off the wagon. I’m hoping to get out on the bike again for an hour this morning.
   I don’t expect to be doing much in terms of public events throughout August besides Poetry Jam and my weekly writing session at Waddington Street Centre. I will be more focused on book work at home.
   There is probably enough material in the scores of notebooks stacked up in my bedroom to keep me busy for a decade, so I might ease back on new drafts for a while.
   I don’t think many people are eager for a continuous internal monologue from an eccentric, cantankerous fiftysomething fool such as myself. Do other so-called independent authors ramble on about their domestic trifles? Probably not.
   I have umpteen choices of books to read in the coming months, including Defying Gravity – Jordan’s Story; Kay Wilson’s novel The Allotment Sisterhood; The Collected Poems of Geoff Hattersley (when it arrives); the rest of Lydia Lunch: The War is Never Over; Shotley Bridge Murders by Bobby Cussens; a load of Julia Eff autobiographical zines; or some Clive Barker; or Paul Morley’s Joy Division Piece By Piece, etc, etc.
   Joan Johnston has requested a second printing of her pamphlet, The Lay-By. There’s a long-overdue Washington Writers Anthology to edit and print. And a couple of solo author pamphlet commissions to work on. Busy, busy. 9.00am.

LATER: I did a clean lap of some of my favourite little technical trail sections near the River Derwent on my Sonder Frontier bike this morning. I’m taking things easy this afternoon. I might get Poetry Jam photos uploaded this evening. It’s been a bit of a trying month. Thanks for reading. 4.08pm.

HOT, HOT, HOT

Monday 1st June 2026

I wrote a fairly decent set of morning pages today. I could use them in a book, but whether I do or not is yet to be determined. The furthest that I've been is to Not-Paul's shop around the corner from Jen’s for milk, but it’s sour. So Jenni is on pop. We watched the end of the first series of Slow Horses, which was quite engaging. Jen gave me the choice of the second series or a different Mick Herron creation, Cemetery Road. I opted for the latter, and that was eight hours of a story about a search for a missing girl and a military cover-up involving chemical weapons testing on their own troops. Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson were good, but the risks taken seemed too high just to satisfy curiosity about a passing stranger. I've tried to cut down on the big food. I did some over-50s exercises, but no arm physio. OK. 11.05pm.


Tuesday 2nd June 2026

I was up around seven this morning. Worked out the exercises for Waddington Street Centre writing session in morning pages. Showered, shaved, had a chat with Jenni, then off to Gateshead for copier paper and food supplies. Got an X21 bus to Durham. I read a bit of Slough House by Mick Herron. There are lots of characters and long chapters about the movers and shakers of the secret services – too many characters for me to follow. I can read the same page three times and still not be able to say what is happening. The workshop went well. Six exercises: Begin Where You Are, Body Part Dialogue, Five Ways of Seeing, Five Ways of Telling, Wish Lists, History of Coats. Quite tired this evening. I was genuinely moved by some of Jimmy Carr's responses to audience members online tonight and blown away by a Joy Division live bootleg from Paris 1979. Big thanks to Andy Willoughby for booking me to do thirty minutes at Colpitts Poetry later this month. OK. 11.16pm.


Wednesday 3rd June 2026

Busy-busy-busy. Making hay while the sun shines. Or rather, replenishing some of my pamphlet stock before the temperature drops. I wanted to make a start on my gig set for Colpitts. I reread some of my 2023 pamphlet Points of Engagement – a lot of which is bicycle-related – and discovered that today was World Bicycle Day. Ironic, I didn’t get out on either of mine. I've changed the poster for tomorrow's Poetry Jam to reflect the altered line-up. I've made up some copies of P.O.E. I did my over-50’s exercises and sent an invoice for recent workshops. I listened to Venom's Black Metal album; then Anthem and Changeling, both by Toyah. OK. 11.34pm.


Thursday 4th June 2026

Much of this morning was spent sequencing a set of poems for my next half-hour gig. After I timed the set, I decided it had too many safe, thoroughly performed-to-death pieces and needed some more recent material. I'll have another go tomorrow. I got to Waddy about quarter to four. Took about an hour to set up the room for Poetry Jam. We had an ace turnout. All the guests were great. Mark Speeding did some of The Pathos and One Dollar Zombies material, plus poems including Plastic Vortex Magic Box and The Soldier in the Wall. Diane Cockburn read fantastic seasonal poems, richly detailed snapshots of the natural world and its inhabitants. Ian Williams had poems about anxiety, dentistry, family, special ‘knees’ and loads more, keeping us thoroughly entertained for half an hour. There were lots of great turns on the open floor as well. Hard-hitting, humorous, cathartic. I read "Now Then, Philip" and “Damp Trousers”. Thanks to Mark Speeding for the lift home. OK. 11.50pm.


Friday 5th June 2026

After the buzz of last night's Poetry Jam, I didn't go to bed till late, but I still woke up early this morning. I made a blank 140-page sewn notebook as a test for how well a published journal book might look if I decided to release one later this year. I didn't get out on the Sonder bike until after 3pm this afternoon. I just did a basic ninety-minute ride on trails near the River Derwent. I aim to find some good lines elsewhere this summer, but still close to home. I want to check out Muggleswick woods. Tonight I got my set for Colpitts in shape, moved a few things around a couple of times. It's a half-hour set, and I'm pleased with it. I need to get more copies of Failed Rock Star printed. I'm reading seven pieces from it. OK. 11.12pm.

Saturday 6th June 2026

Slow start. Intended to get out for groceries, but too late by the time I sorted myself out. Needed to get into Newcastle and off to Blyth for the Toyah show. Got lost looking for the venue which is actually just a one-minute walk from the library opposite the bus station. Toyota was fantastic. Better than last time. I got back to Gateshead Tesco by eleven then off to Jen's place. OK. 11.42pm.


Sunday 7th June 2026

Jenni and I went to South Shields to see Tom Kelly and Alistair Robinson read at The Word. Both are Red Squirrel Press poets. They read two fifteen-minute sets each to an audience of about thirty people. This evening, Jenni and I watched clips from the League of Gentlemen, then Tip Toe (stream ongoing). OK. 10.40pm.


Monday 8th June 2026

Slow, slow day. Been trying to work since arriving home at half twelve this afternoon. I could do a workshop tomorrow off the cuff, but I want to include some good flash and memoir stuff, so I waded through pages of textbooks to little avail. Finally found what I needed by nine this evening and made some photocopies. Lots of comments about Tip Toe on Facebook today. Jenni and I watched three episodes last night. Brutal stuff. Hopefully, it won't give mob mentality more bad ideas. I read a couple of Paul Morley pieces about Joy Division this evening, then listed about forty-five recently acquired books that I haven't read yet. I could add about forty more unread that I've had for years. I need to put in a lot more effort over the coming weeks and months. OK. 10.30pm.


Tuesday 9th June 2026

Over nine hours of sleep and still felt tired at half eight this morning. Knew I had to pull around quickly because I needed to be at Waddy early enough to get more copies of Failed Rock Star printed. The workshop went well this afternoon. More theory than writing in the first hour: flash nonfiction then flash fiction. The group kindly gave me a thank-you card for still running workshops after leaving the college. The only reason I stopped off in town this afternoon was for a grocery trip, after which, when the bus reached my stop, I realised I'd left my bags behind in the bus shelter. I stayed onboard, went back to Consett. Luckily, the bags were still there, intact. Tonight I had a chicken dinner and watched YouTube music videos. I'm off to bed early. I might read; I might not. OK. 10.07pm.


Wednesday 10th June 2026

Long day. Awake before half four this morning. Out on the Sonder bike for ninety minutes and back by ten o'clock. The Lydia Lunch book arrived. I don't know when I'll get around to reading it, but I'm looking forward to doing so. I printed out my setlist for Durham Colpitts gig. I'll assemble it into an A4 large print stage booklet to go on the lectern. This afternoon and evening, I edited bits of the Waddy Writers anthology. We only need to move a few things around and add a few tiny poems, and it will be okay. My right knee is in a bit of an uproar. I don't know why because I didn't do anything too excessive on the bike today; most of it was just trundling on flat terrain in fifth gear. Roger Taylor of Queen has a new album out and will tour in September. I don't think I'll be going though. I'm done here. 11.02pm.


Thursday 11th June 2026

Early start. Morning pages clarified what needs to be done. Condensed into a twelve-task list. This morning I read a chapter of ‘Lydia lunch: The War Is Never Over’ by Nick Soulsby, photocopied a load of handouts for tomorrow's Washington writing session and made up an A4 stage book of my set for Colpitts poetry night. I've not been outside and I've tried to avoid too much social media coz the feed is pretty fucking depressing and fascist at present. This evening I read the opening pages of Joy Division Piece By Piece, the collected essays by Paul Morley, and checked out some footage of the band on YouTube. I've shaved, had baked potato with curried beans and tuna. And some shortbread, tomato soup, cheese and pickle buns, peanuts, and that's about it really. Up early tomorrow for the workshop. Oh, and I responded to Christine Fowler's poetry pamphlet request. OK. 10.32pm.


Friday 12th June 2026

Awoke a bit early. But got up because I thought I had to make a new morning pages blank notebook. Turns out I don’t need it until Monday. On the bus to Chester-le-Street, I looked over some intros and links for the Colpitts gig, which is just less than two weeks away. I did a rehearsal in the Granary gallery at Arts Centre Washington. The set came in at 27 minutes, and I'm fine with that. Seven people attended today's workshop. I repeated the previous Waddy session content: Begin Where You Are, Body Part Dialogue, Five Ways of Seeing, Five Ways of Telling, Wish Lists, History of Shoes. It went well. Many thanks to Alwyn Bathan for the lift to Gateshead. Then off to Jen's place unannounced coz Facebook was down for a while. I went out for supplies. I've eaten quite a lot. Two pasta meals, fruit, chocolate, and some egg sandwiches. We watched Dolly Parton and David Hockney documentaries on TV tonight. Also Tales of the Unexpected and Hitchcock. OK. 11.57pm.


Saturday 13th June 2026

Big lazy day at Jen’s place, mainly scrolling Facebook. We went to town for supplies. Jenni went out to a talent show and I stayed in and read The Killing Joke by Alan Moore. When Jenni came back with a platter of party food, we pigged out and watched original hits on BBC2. Great songs and video clips. OK. 11.07pm.


Sunday 14th June 2026

Only six hours sleep. Struggled with morning pages. Me and Jenni watched lots of music videos this afternoon. Then went to Tyneside Cinema for Desert Island Flicks, hosted by Dave Johns. The guest was Christopher Eccleston, who talked about his favourite eight films and showed clips. The place was quite packed. The show was two hours. After a pub pitstop at the Centurian, I got back to Moorside around ten. Checked out social media. 10.50pm.


Monday 15th June 2026

If the under-sixteens social media ban was genuinely to protect kids I wouldn't have a problem with it, but it will be used to force adults to prove they're over sixteen just to use the fucking internet. Digital ID, anybody? I cut the grass today. I did some copy-ups. I prepped for tomorrow's workshop at Waddy and I've done a little bit of work on Christine Fowler's pamphlet. I need a good night's sleep. I didn't get to read any Lydia Lunch today. Another month until her Newcastle gig. 11.47pm.


Tuesday 16th June 2026

A good day at Waddy. The writing session was productive. We've nearly finished the little anthology. Only a few things to move. And a cover and a title. I had a good chat with Ali Lee at lunchtime. I'm pleased she's going to see one of her favourite bands THE CURE next week. I got a load of shopping in after work and thankfully didn't forget to bring it home when I boarded the bus. Had a big chicken dinner tonight. I've been lying down since and reading up on how the under-sixteens internet ban will affect adult usage. I've written a few messages to my friend Stephen Clark, as it's forty years this week since we first met on a youth training scheme in Harelaw, County Durham. And it's thirty-four years to the day, since we saw Rollins Band and Beastie Boys at Newcastle Riverside club. I'm wrecked and will be in bed soon. 10.21pm.


Wednesday 17th June 2026

Awake at five this morning. I tried to get back to sleep but couldn't, so I read thirty pages of The Sign of Saturn – poems by Sharon Olds. I bought this nearly thirty-five years ago. Lots of it today read as if new to me, but I remembered some of the content: the boy in the garden, the sister in the night, language of the brag. I stayed offline as much as possible. Didn't scroll social media. I have prepped next week's Belmont Carers' writing workshop. Numbers are still a little low, so fingers crossed it goes ahead. I printed out a few copies of my July 2023 pamphlet Soon Will Come Thunder. I put my set together for the Cooking Pot gig, which takes place at Baba Yaga's House in Whitley Bay on Monday 6th July. I've rehearsed a bit more for Colpitts and listened to a podcast of Henry Rollins talking about producing The Cramps ‘Gravest Gravy’ archive album. I read a couple of chapters of Lydia Lunch: The War is Never Over. A lot of it for a second time, as I had no recollection of reading it just a couple of days ago. OK. 10.15pm.


Thursday 18th June 2026

Last night it was Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division. This evening, I've been rocking Nirvana – Live and Loud. I prefer to watch live videos of bands rather than just listen to the songs. I've put in a full day at the computer; it's been on for about twelve hours. The Poetry Jam stuff is up for July. I've saved all my book files to a USB stick; I will make more backups of it. I printed out a couple of Letting the Minimalism Slip pamphlets for the Colpitts gig and will make up Failed Rock Star as well. I had a canny chat with brother Mark on the phone for half an hour this evening. I fancy something nice for supper. The Man Who Sold the World is on now. I think I heard Nirvana's version before Bowie's. I didn't get outside today. Hopefully on the bike tomorrow. OK. 11.00pm.


Friday 19th June 2026

Spent a lot of today book-building. Got out on the Rockhopper bike for a little while. I picked up A Dance of Ghosts by Kevin Brooks from Consett library. I read the first couple of chapters on the bus to Newcastle this evening. Written from the point of view of a depressed private investigator who gets into bother with a benefit fraudster. Oh, and I got some pamphlets folded and assembled. Jenni went to York for a reunion with her Gerbil Squad school friends. I think I got up a bit too early this morning. Really knackered. Jenni is now watching episodes of Inside No 9. I've had four chicken dinners this week. 10.50pm.


Saturday 20th June 2026

Awake too early this morning, so quite tired for a fair bit of the day. Quite hot in the attic. Jenni and I went out for supplies, then watched four episodes of Midsomer Murders. I think I fell asleep for a while. I've eaten lots of chicken sandwiches today and had a Biscoff choc ice. Drank lots of squash. Prince's Trust concert from 1986 on TV this evening: Bryan Adams, Tina Turner, Mark Knopfler, Sting, Paul Young, (members of) Status Quo, Suzanne Vega, Level 42, and Paul McCartney. OK. 10.51pm


Sunday 21st June 2026

Jenni was away at a train convention today, so I took the opportunity to give her room a bit of a declutter. This evening, she returned with bits of soot on her face from one of the vintage trains, then went outside to escape the attic heat. We walked to Gateshead. She went to the pub; I crossed the Tyne and caught the X45 bus to Consett. Walked home, ate nuts and sultanas. OK. 11.17pm.


Monday 22nd June 2026

My hypomanic brain does what it wants and sometimes just says Stuff You Stevie, lad – and I zonk out mid-afternoon. So today I had to lie low for ninety minutes after trimming copies of Failed Rock Star and inking covers of Letting The Minimalism Slip. But after a sleepy, after a baked potato with curried beans and tuna, I rattled through the reportage, then booted up the desktop computer and did the latest round of corrections for the little Waddy Writers anthology. At around half ten, it struck me that I hadn't rehearsed again for Colpitts. So I had a good run through the entire set. I've got about six pieces that are memorized and a lot of the rest don't need it anyway. But one or two of the new ones will get there eventually, probably next year. Or the year after. Today was a canny day. Lots more to come. OK. 11.46pm.


Tuesday 23rd June 2026

Today was pretty bloody great! I read a couple of chapters of A Dance Of Ghosts by Kevin Brooks. I think I've retained the storyline. I worked for about two hours before the Waddy workshop, getting our little anthology a couple of steps closer to completion. We have a big colour canvas artwork by one of the writers from which to borrow a detail for a wrap-around cover. All the poems are proofed, save the cover artist's pieces. And we should get all the margins sorted in the next week. We did some basic writing prompts in the session and shared our thoughts on the anthology selection. The temperature in Durham today was ridiculous. The bus back to Consett was a greenhouse. But the town was pleasantly breezy. I needed a lie down tonight due to poor sleep last night. I listened to The Head on the Door album by The Cure. Then sorted my bag for tomorrow's Durham Carers Workshop and had another Colpitts rehearsal. OK. 10.35pm.


Wednesday 24th June 2026

Another good day. Nice little taster workshop at Belmont Community Centre for Durham Carers Support. I read The Dark House, My Box, Piece of String and Little Miss Sleepyhead. We got through seven exercises: one-minute sentences, adj-noun-verb compositions, acrostics, objects and lies, ten images from twenty-four hours, letters to lost things and 'I Am' poems. This evening I packed book stock for the Colpitts gig and photocopied handouts for Friday's Arts Centre Washington workshop. Also, another rehearsal for tomorrow night. OK. 10.30pm.


Thursday 25th June 2026

Had a cracking day today. Up at half six. Got the pages done. Then the best freezer defrost ever; my new hairdryer blasted through loads of ice, and I cleared the abundance in about eighty minutes. I went out at half eleven to Consett. Had a big homemade steak and cheese sandwich for dinner. Got a 78-bus to South Moor Library. Really enjoyed Bobby Cussons' book talk for her novel SHOTLEY BRIDGE MURDERS. Very informative. Loads of good questions answered. The bus ride from Stanley to Durham on the 16A was canny. Much cooler than the bus I set out on this morning. I had chicken jalfrezi and rice at Waddy this afternoon and did a final rehearsal downstairs in the lounge. Then had a great gig at Colpitts. Andy Willoughby, the host, said set duration was flexible, so I didn’t feel rushed. I adlibbed quite a bit between poems. Tony Gadd was concerned about his voice letting him down, but he was ace. A well-balanced set, a lot of it outward-looking. Enjoyed his I Remember, Pink Slice and Chunky Chips, The musicians, John and Maggie Burge, were good. I particularly enjoyed Maggie’s piano playing. Open mic was pretty much an A-Game special. Big thanks to all involved. And thanks to people for buying books. Last bus home for me tonight. 11.15pm.


Friday 26th June 2026

The kitchen might stink for a few days with the carpet peeled back, while the concrete floor dries by the freezer. Then, when the carpet is dry, it needs baking soda to neutralise the odour. I've done it before, by the freezer and at the other side of the room near the back door. Unfortunately, the carpet needed cutting in two places to allow a section the necessary exposure to warm air. Today, I was pleased to be away. The workshop at Arts Centre Washington went well. Present tense memoir pieces. This evening I had chicken and chips; then wrote a testimonial for The Black Light Engine Room archive, but Facebook swallowed it. I tried to write it again but couldn't remember the words. One Dollar Zombies were brilliant at Heart in Consett tonight. I bought supplies at Tesco afterwards. Back home, I ate the rest of the chicken. It's hot upstairs. Tired. 11.46pm.


Saturday 27th June 2026

Awake about half five. I rewrote the testimonial for The Black Light Engine Room and submitted it. I wrote some feedback for One Dollar Zombies. Then blasted the patch of kitchen carpet near the freezer with a hairdryer; I put bowls of distilled white vinegar down to kill the smell. Then I walked to Consett for the crime fiction talk by author Miles Hudson. He was very informative and animated his novel extracts well. I enjoyed it. Then over to Jen's place. Out for supplies. Then watched game shows followed by forty Glastonbury tracks. OK. 11.00pm.


Sunday 28th June 2026

Morning pages were just preparation for the week. Today has been a big day off after doing stuff for six days in a row. Jenni and I watched a History of the Railways series this afternoon. Madonna interview tonight and more Glastonbury highlights. I have mostly been eating tuna, oranges and bananas. Had a couple of choc ices as well. OK. 10.38pm.


Monday 29th June 2026

Jenni and I forgot our anniversary this morning. She remembered first and messaged me when I got home. Big thanks to all the people who responded to the photo Jenni posted of us online. Big thanks to Jenni for all the love and support and laughs and cuddles and creativity and inspiration over the last sixteen years. And thanks for the ace carpet double-sided tape. The kitchen carpet is now back in place. I’ve sprayed it with a vinegar and water solution. It smells okay some ten hours later, but I’ll still sprinkle baking soda on it tomorrow. I tweaked the Waddy Writers anthology and mocked up the cover. I listened to Nirvana – Live and Loud. Then watched Sex Pistols fronted by Frank Carter on YouTube from this year’s Isle of Wight Festival. OK. 11.35pm.

Tuesday 30th June 2026

Today was quite stressful. I thought we’d be good to go with the Waddy anthology today, but discussions about some of the content and more last-minute changes to the text have set us back a few days. And trimming the white border off the cover knocks all the margins out. All to reposition tomorrow. Fingers crossed everything comes right by the weekend. But this evening I still have Poetry Jam pix to upload and a morning pages book to make. OK. 7.50pm.

 

MAY

Friday 1st May 2026

Good session at Washington Arts Centre this afternoon. We got through a lot of reading for the anthology. Forty pieces with a few more to go in. I was supposed to be going to Waddington Street Centre to pick up another test proof of my pamphlet Failed Rock Star but I got an email from staff saying they hadn't received the PDF. Tonight I listened to the new Venom album Into Oblivion. It's not as raw as the early stuff. I had a chicken dinner and lots of peanuts. I'm in a foul mood because I am tired and have to be up early again tomorrow because buses are unreliable these days. I need to be at Waddy by ten o'clock. I aim to leave home before eight. OK. 10.50pm.


Saturday 2nd May 2026

Up around six. Wheelie case packed for eight o'clock bus to Durham. Peter was at Waddy very early and kindly ran me off a proof copy of Failed Rock Star before going for a haircut. This gave me time to assemble and check some margins on the pamphlet. Two hours later, with a few minor adjustments, everything was printed. A run of Failed Rock Star will be assembled midweek for next Saturday's gigs. Chuffed. 11.44pm.


Sunday 3rd May 2026

Prepped a workshop for Waddy this morning. Out this afternoon to Consett, then on to Jen's place. Watched Britain's Got Talent, ate hot cross buns, watched House of Fools (Vic and Bob) and Still Game. Prepped poem sheets for tomorrow. 10.27pm.


Monday 4th May 2026

I rehearsed some poems this morning for The Cooking Pot open mic. Only used a couple of them. Very mild at the coast. Baba Yaga’s was packed. Lots of good readers. Aaron, Jen Wilson, Penny Blackburn, Martin Monasse, Christine Fowler, Peter Mortimer, Steve Lancaster… Lots of laughs and clever rhymes. A young child read a horror story. Jenni was on good form, enjoyed her set. The Metro back to Gateshead was good. We watched the snooker final on catch-up. Wu Yize beat Shaun Murphy. OK. 11.44pm.


Tuesday 5th May 2026

Final session for NaPoWriMo stuff at Waddy this afternoon. We are low on numbers. If I was still employed by the college there is no way I'd be able to justify the course. I'm pleased I got out. One of the tutors says I dodged a bullet. I wrote some one-minute sentences and some tiny prose pieces from topics on an A2Z list. Uploaded the Poetry Jam images tonight. Did a bit of physio and printed set lists for The Smoke Room. No work on the actual booklet assembly. I'll be doing that tomorrow. I don't need to be out again until Poetry Jam on Thursday. OK. 11.54pm.


Wednesday 6th May 2026

Up about eight for morning pages, which gave me some ideas for new projects, then a whole day at the drop-leaf table making up copies of Failed Rock Star whilst listening to audio recordings of my intros for the next gigs. Almost everything I used to say at my early gigs was scripted. I wondered if I'd be able to speed up memorisation of material by playing new recordings about sixty to one hundred times. My brain just doesn't let me retrieve info at will. Stuff goes in, and eventually will rise to the surface, but I never know when it will be retrievable. So I'll still need notes written on enlarged copies of my poems. Hope I do okay on Saturday. Hope people take my sets in the way they are intended. Hope I don't bore people. Failed Rock Star looks great. OK. 10.59pm.


Thursday 7th May 2026

Big rehearsals for The Smoke Room sets this morning. I had to cut some of the intros and links. I'm seeing more connections with each rehearsal. Chuffed. I didn't get to Waddy till quarter to four this afternoon. Massive headache. Felt sick. Luckily, it passed and I got set up for the Poetry Jam. It went well. All the guests did good. Pip MacDonald performed with a migraine. She was great. Renata Connors work is somewhat surreal and magical at the same time. David Farn was partly himself and partly Owen Brecon. It was a good night. Lots of heavy open floor poems and some humour. I waited till the end to mention seventeen years and Happy Birthday to us. Big tidy up. Big thanks to Mark Speeding for the lift home to Moorside. OK. 11.56pm.


Friday 8th May 2026

Keep waking up around five in the morning no matter how late I go to bed. I spent a lot of today sorting intros and links my Late Shows set. They need editing down a bit. I didn't get to Jen's place until after five. I went to three Greggs but none had spicy wedges. We went to see Captured Souls - the Graeme Humphreys documentary at the Tyneside Cinema with a Q&A but didn't check out the merch at the end. Went to Tesco for supplies. I feel a bit under the weather. Hope I get through the gigs okay tomorrow. I've rehearsed the evening set more today from the book. OK. 11.33pm.


Saturday 9th May 2026

Lazy morning then a big day at Station East in Gateshead. Great to do sets alongside Nev Clay, JonJo and Ade, Phil Tyler and Your Casket Or Mine. And there was some great stuff at The Late Shows open mic in the same venue tonight. Jenni is finishing her pint, then we're off. I'm taking things easy next week. OK. 10.50pm.


Sunday 10th May 2026

A bit deflated. Come down after the adrenaline of yesterday. But okay. I did a bit of admin while Jenni slept. This afternoon we watched The Day The World Stood Still, and a bit of snooker. Ate ham and pease pudding sandwiches. Was chuffed to get ace pics and feedback for yesterday. Columbo in London on TV then bus back to Consett. OK. 11.52pm.


Monday 11th May 2026

Pulled a workshop together for the Waddy writers. I read a bit of STAY FANATIC!!! Vol.3 by Henry Rollins. I can only manage short burts because it gets a bit much after a while. I checked out a couple of the bands raved about and wasn't impressed. I left my new Wilkinson razors at Jen's, so had to shave very carefully with an inferior brand. This evening I wanted to hear the new Darkthrone album Prehistoric Metal. I fell asleep after about five minutes. I have lots of plans for the next six months. But today I'm struggling to stay focused or motivated. Reading seems like being lazy. I have lots to edit and format. OK. 10.35pm.


Tuesday 12th May 2026

Morning pages. Then sewed buttons back onto my coat. Caught a bus to Durham. Printed some flyers for my nephew's men's health group. I hope they are okay. I think the text is too small on the A5 version. Writing session went well. A lot more discussion than usual. Two pro creatives with differing views on practice (novelist Paul Auster and record producer Rick Rubin). Some flash fiction prompts. And some character sketches. I went to Jen's place for a while afterwards, then out to Tyneside Cinema to see Hokum. Only about seven people in. The film is a folk horror set in Ireland. A hotel witch story. A bit like The Shining meets escape rooms. A bit long-winded in the middle, think I fell asleep a little. I'm on the X45 bus to Consett, hoping to catch the last to Moorside. OK. 10.58pm.


Wednesday 13th May 2026

Late rise after getting home from Newcastle at midnight. I trimmed Kyle's men's group leaflets, then went into town for a work meeting. This afternoon I got my supplies, then made a chicken dinner – first proper meal for a couple of days. Tonight I read two essays by Paul Auster: Pages for Kafka and The Art of Hunger from his Groundwork book. Then I listened to all the tracks that Jarboe will be playing on her UK dates next week. Nine songs. Only recognised one. I ate a chicken and cheese sandwich, then peshwari naan with banana. Read some political stuff on Facebook. If Farage gets in at the next general election, we are fucked, and over half of his voters will sob with regret within six months. 11.25pm.


Thursday 14th May 2026

Didn't get grass cut. Haven’t been on a bike for a month. The torrential downpours of late will probably have made the riverside trails all muddy. I've prepared a Washington workshop for tomorrow. Listened to quite a bit of Jarboe online. Her 2008 album Mahakali is magnificent. I spotted a digipak copy in near fine condition on Discogs for six quid including postage and ordered it. Still haven't got a Lydia Lunch ticket. I haven't had the big computer on recently. This evening I looked through my January notebooks. I'd like to publish a new volume of essays and journal entries later in the year. Nicky Hall was in touch this evening, referring to an ex-Waddy poet. I need to work on the next anthology. OK. 10.21pm.


Friday 15th May 2026

Long bus ride to Washington this morning. A quick setup for the workshop. It went okay. We did some finish-the-sentence warm-ups., used A2Z word banks to generate prose pieces, tried a few NaPoWriMo prompts, including Villanelle. Big thanks to Nicola Spain for lift to Chester-le-Street. I fell asleep on the 78 bus to Consett. All the chocolate moons have gone from Barry's Bargain Superstore. I got home and had a reduced-price chicken tikka and rice at half four. Then returned to Consett to buy a new kettle. My only source of hot water besides the microwave oven. I secured all the loose buttons on my black coat, then watched When Nirvana Came to Britain documentary, but fell asleep at the end. I'm tired and way behind on my editing. No bike rides yet. OK. 10.37pm.


Saturday 16th May 2026

Big lie-in then up to open a letter from NHS. I have a preliminary appointment on Monday for a hernia operation. I took advantage of the fine weather and got the grass cut. Took about three hours because it's so long since last time. Tonight I'm at Jen's place. I have eaten some reheated chips and survived the Eurovision song contest entries. OK. 10.31pm.


Sunday 17th May 2026

Big lie in. Left arm aching badly. Read some reviews of the essay anthology Bread Alone edited by Prudhoe-born writer Kate Pasola. It’s all about working-class struggles and the glass ceiling of careers in literature. Tesco this afternoon for supplies. Some TV game shows – The Chase and Tipping Point - then the horror film Possum starring Alun Armstrong. Enjoyed it. Chicken sandwiches, chocolate. OK. 11.03pm.


Monday 18th May 2026

I went to Durham from Jen's, had soup at Waddy and printed more flyers for Kyle's men's health group, then went to the hospital for hernia medical. They didn't tell me anything new about it – so I've waited nine months to be told my operation will be a further three months. I missed two buses. Didn't get home until six this evening. I've worked on the new Waddy anthology. Thirty-six pages formatted, and only a few bits to move around. OK. 11.36pm.


Tuesday 19th May 2026

Tired all day. Think yesterday took a lot out of me. But we had a good edit session on the Waddy booklet this afternoon. It's always a long process getting pieces polished for publication. With my own stuff, I usually select material from folders and notebooks from a few years back. I rarely use things just recently created. Tonight I tried to read but fell asleep. I listened to a bit more of a recent Jarboe interview relating to her new Sightings album. She also talked about touring with Swans back in the day. She is in Newcastle on Friday. Her 2023 show was disappointing. But I really enjoyed seeing her in Leicester back in 2017. And before that, 2005, with her full band at Scala Cinema in London. OK. 10.37pm.


Wednesday 20th May 2026

Sluggish. Dull. Unmotivated. Hard to concentrate. Took most of the day just to catch up with stray notebook entries. I'm struggling to read for more than about 10 minutes at a time. A little bit of STAY FANATIC!!! Vol.3 by Henry Rollins. A bit of the big Behemoth biography. I watched most of the long Jarboe interview. Lots of info on living conditions with the band Swans and tech issues playing gigs with dodgy equipment. I listened to a few Swans and solo Jarboe tracks, also watched a bit of Mantas and Abbadon (Venom) footage from Keep it True festival. I stained my brain with more shit about the state of the world. I try to keep my opinions to myself. I'm currently watching Jarboe onstage with Italian duo Father Murphy. I saw this show in Leicester. It was brilliant. OK. 10.52pm.


Thursday 21st May 2026

First time out on a bike for about six weeks. I used the old Specialized Rockhopper, with only a couple of short stretches of tarmac between home and Chopwell Woods. I discovered some amazing trails but didn't have time to ride any of them. I was merely checking the place out. You could spend a week there and wouldn't get through it all. I tried to ride one route before I left but missed a turning from the main path. A lot of the stuff isn't signposted. I will give myself a couple of months to get fit and maybe go back with my Sonder Frontier adventure bike to ride on some technical downhill stuff. But four hours was a bit long to be out on my first proper ride in months. Tonight was a total head-mash: stupidly slow desktop computer, but I got the Poetry Jam publicity sorted. I bought a Lydia Lunch ticket. OK. 11.38pm.


Friday 22nd May 2026

Chicken jalfrezi and rice for dinner. Bus to Gateshead. Gave Jenni some chocolate. Had a 10p tin of Heinz butternut squash soup with bread rolls. Then off to Heaton to meet Stephen Clark. We saw Jarboe and Joy Von Spain play at The Star and Shadow. They were ace. I moved to a better vantage point halfway through the show for a clear view of Jarboe's facial expressions. After the gig, I walked back to Jen's place. OK. 11.37pm.


Saturday 23rd May 2026

About six hours sleep. I've read some interesting pieces about an actress with bipolar disorder, some stuff about bogus well-being cults, and a bunch of Meg Pokrass flash fiction pieces. I've eaten too many pork pies. OK. 9.46pm.


Sunday 24th May 2026

Morning pages gave me three workshop plans, then Jenni screened a load of Tiny Desk concerts, including Robert Plant, Clipping, Kronos Quartet and Foo Fighters. Had a nice chicken dinner with veg and some lush Ben and Jerry's chocolate ice cream. Tonight we saw the three-part Kylie documentary and a few episodes of crime series Slow Horses. OK. 11.38pm.


Monday 25th May 2026

A warm morning and a scorching hot afternoon this Spring Bank Holiday Monday. Jenni didn't want to stay in because her room would be too hot by evening, so she went out to the pub, and I got a bus back to Consett. Doomscrolling punishment: loads of Israel/Gaza stuff that infuriated me. Read a few chapters of Antony Bray's VENOM book. OK. 11.00pm.


Tuesday 26th May 2026

Better sleep than expected. I got to Waddy about twenty to twelve. The session didn’t require paper handouts. Enough fiction exercises to last two hours. Afterwards, I read a couple of Meg Pokrass interviews and some of her flash fiction. I stayed at Waddy until twenty past five. Then checked four of my pieces selected for open mic. I went to the library because the pub was awful. I borrowed a copy of Slough House by Mick Herron, off the back of seeing a few episodes of Slow Horses at the weekend. Colpitts Poetry event was great. Jenni did a mint feature set. The Darlington takeover group were engaging. And some class Durham turns too. Poem of the night had to be Pink Slice by Tony Gadd. Thanks to Andy Willoughby for organising and hosting. I felt chilly in Durham but really warm now at home. OK. 11.45pm.


Wednesday 27th May 2026

Today was a wasted day. Besides a few copy-ups I've achieved little. I wanted to ride a bike this afternoon but fell asleep. When I woke up, my stomach was totally bloated; looked like I'd put on two stone in about an hour. No way would I have been able to ride the bike tonight. I watched an interesting interview in which Glen Matlock of Sex Pistols talked about being in the band in the mid-seventies. I also saw a short film about psychobilly band The Cramps. I’ve only heard one best-of compilation but used to see their logo on shirts and jackets all over the place in my teens. Hope I have a productive day tomorrow. And a bike ride. Fingers crossed. OK. 10.40pm.


Thursday 28th May 2026

Good little ride on my Sonder Frontier bike after breakfast. Did some standing hill-climbs and rode my favourite trail from Shotley Bridge to Allensford. This afternoon, at long last, I finished reading STAY FANATIC Vol.3 by Henry Rollins. Vol.4 is close to hand but will probably take till about October to get through all 334 A4 pages. Had a steak and veg dinner. Cut my scalp whilst shaving and had to use a piece of folded toilet roll secured with black electrical tape to stem the blood. I watched some live footage of The Cramps from The Tube in 1986. I'd like to check out more of their music. OK. 10.27pm.


Friday 29th May 2026

I read about twenty pages of Slough House on the bus to Chester-le-Street today. The fiction workshop went well at Arts Centre Washington with six participants. Big thanks to Alwyn Bathan for a lift to Gateshead. I tried to read again on the bus to Consett but fell asleep. I bought loads of naan and cheese crackers from Barry's Bargain Superstore then went to get fresh meat and veg at Lidl. Tonight's For Better or Verse at Blackhill Club was superb: Caitlin Kendall, John Swinton and James Thoroughgood. Loads of great open floor readers. Over forty people in the room. Afterwards, I went to Tesco for a ream of copier paper then walked home. OK. 11.47pm.


Saturday 30th May 2026

Productive day. An hour cutting grass and thirty minutes tidying edges. Poetry Jam pictures uploaded. But the computer is being super slow. I fear I need a new one before the year is through. I listened to Toyah Willcox’s album Prostitute this evening and a young artist called Mimi Barks. Tuesday’s Waddy session ideas are listed. It’s a freebie, so I don’t need a load of printed exercises. I might read for a while. 10.13pm.


Sunday 31st May 2026

I thought I wasn’t going to be able to complete the blog today. Computer took an hour from original boot up to restart for updates before finally allowing me onto my home screen. I know someone who is very good with computers who, if I ask nicely, might pay me a visit to give it an annual check-up. I had a good little ride down by the River Derwent on the Sonder Frontier adventure bike first thing. Did a few decent hill climbs and some technical trails, but some major fails as well. Feet down more than usual on trails I’ve cleaned easily in the past. I’ve put on nearly a stone in weight since last autumn. Need to hit the tuna and chicken salads again. Hope next month is a good one. Thanks for reading. 12.20pm.

CRUELLEST MONTH

Wednesday 1st April 2026

I started in on the new book today. The page margins are the same as Laughter To Split Glass. I've pulled about 40 pages of poems into a file and have a load more to gather up. Then I'll do a big printout and see if I can arrange them into a preliminary running order. I could only manage about four hours because my head started to hurt. I watched some ace bike trials videos this evening. I didn't even get the rider's name, but he was using an old Onza T-Rex bike, pretty much the same set-up as brother Mark had two decades ago. Then another video, in which he was using a thirty-year-old Giant mountain bike. I nipped out for supplies, then watched Queen Live at the Rainbow while doing physio. 10.35pm.


Thursday 2nd April 2026

I was in Consett early this morning for a bank transaction and to get food supplies. I did a bit of work on Ann Porro's pamphlet this afternoon and prepped for Poetry Jam. We had a full house tonight. All the guests were ace. James Whitman took a hilarious swipe at Reform UK Limited and read a few dog-stained haiku, plus four poems about teenagers and parents. Helen Alexandra read heartfelt and hard-hitting poems about domestic abuse and survival. Bob Beagrie treated us to a phenomenal forty-minute set, including a preview of his 'Hand of Glory: A Biography' book show. The open floor jam was packed with talent, some new and familiar faces. Two of the Waddy writers read, and Helen's daughter read a poem about a soldier. Hester, Rosemary, Ivy, Kevin, lots of people, including a newcomer from one of my library events. OK. 11.14pm.


Friday 3rd April 2026

I did a couple of this year's NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month) prompts – but not today's, which was to write about an unconventional perception of a job or vocation. I'll try it in Morning Pages tomorrow. I wanted to get out on the bike, but the high wind this afternoon wasn't appealing. And the risk of rain wasn’t great either. I tried to read 'STAY FANATIC Vol. 3' by Henry Rollins but fell asleep. Chuffed to get the downstairs carpets looking a bit better. The rest of the house is a shithole. My priorities are probably all wrong. OK. 10.50pm.


Saturday 4th April 2026

Morning pages gave me two drafts from NaPoWriMo. I read a few pages of STAY FANATIC Vol. 3 by Henry Rollins, then did bicep physio with additional shoulder exercises. I wrote a new NaPoWriMo draft on the bus to Gateshead, picked up essential supplies, and went to Jen's place. Watched standard Saturday TV, then Whitechapel. It's very windy. Hope my place is okay. 11.13pm.


Sunday 5th April 2026

Up around eight. Wrote some fast-flowing prose in morning pages. Keyed in a recent NaPoWriMo poem and posted one on Facebook. Jenni and I spent a couple of hours with John and Hilary this afternoon. Then back to the attic for the snooker final – but it was too slow, not very engaging. We watched The Imitation Game. OK. 10.40pm.


Monday 6th April 2026

Morning pages are good for NaPoWriMo first drafts this year. Chuffed with my piece again today. Posted it straight to Facebook. I won't be posting every day because I want to keep some back for possible magazine submissions. A flash fiction site called Paragraph Planet popped up on Facebook today. I'd like to submit some prose fragments to that. Jenni and I went to Whitley Bay this afternoon. Got fish and chips then went to the Cooking Pot at Baba Yaga. Our first time at this spoken word night. Been wanting to get there for two years! Jenny Scott's event attracted a good variety of performers – poetry, prose and oral storytelling. Steve Lancaster read a great poem about his dislike of craft fairs and one about digital technology. Hannah, a visitor from London, did a great poem about avoiding school PE, and one about her disdain for flag shaggers. Jenni read some playful NaPoWriMo pieces. I did 'And What Do You Do For A Living?', 'Skip Rat', then 'Madge And Me And The Slippery Digits Disc Jockey'. Great night. We have both been kindly asked to headline. 0K. 11.11pm.


Tuesday 7th April 2026

So, the US Prezza is threatening to wipe out a whole civilisation tonight – and no one in American government has taken the dumb fucker out yet? Failed businessman and proven sexual abuser. Get in the fucking sea! Not fit to serve coffee, much less run a country... I had a canny NaPoWriMo-based workshop with Waddy Writers this afternoon. Only three people in, but we got through six prompts and started a seventh. I already had drafts for each day, but it was good to try again and tidy up some rough stuff. I came straight home after the workshop. I bought a steak pie in Moorside and had it with steamed veg and gravy. Tonight I've done very little. It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow. And even if Donny doesn't do as he threatens - after all the noise around the world in opposition - he should still be taken out anyway. What total fuck-up! OK. 9.52pm.


Wednesday 8th April 2026

Warmest day of the year so far. And an opportunity to get out on the Sonder Frontier bike. I didn't clean as many sections as last time. On a stream crossing, my front wheel clipped a rock. I lost balance, resulting in a wet right foot for an hour or two. I'm limited now as to how much hopping and shunting I can do since the torn bicep but still managed to get up ledges and do the rooty hill climbs. Back home, I got my NaPoWriMo poems copied up into a notebook, most of them also typed. I wrote three poems from today's prompt. I hope I can keep going for the full month. It will give me a few more good ones as contenders for the next official poetry book. Tonight I watched Twisted Sister: Live at Wacken Metal Fest from 2004. Great stuff! Saw the band with Alice Cooper in 2005. OK. 11.46pm.


Thursday 9th April 2026

Bit of a lie-in and rusty response to the NaPoWriMo prompt; I don't have much interest in animals or plants but managed to write about a mouse. I went to Consett for groceries. Had a chicken dinner, did physio, then an early Sunderland bus to King Ink. Intended to read on the way, but fell asleep. Had a Ginsters steak bake with Greggs' spicy wedges. Then looked at DVDs and CDs in HMV in The Bridges till six o'clock. King Ink was mint tonight. I enjoyed the open mic stuff. Some really stood out for me: Pip MacDonald, David Hodgson, Steve May. There were gothic pieces, anti-war poems, stuff about hated vegetables. And of course, Aaron Wright with Erasmus Croc and Shmuck; a great headline set to launch their story collection BARK SIDE OF THE MOON. Aaron gave me a lift back to Chester-le-Street. I'm now on the 78-bus to Consett. OK. 10.49pm.


Friday 10th April 2026

Up quite late. I did today's NaPoWriMo prompt in rough in the Morning Pages. Read a bit of STAY FANATIC!!! Vol.3 by Henry Rollins. Then went out to cut the grass. It was quite an ordeal with the damaged left arm and the lawn mower that overheats and cuts out every twenty minutes or so. The grass was really long. During one of the rests, I got a private message from Ann Porro saying her son Luke has died. Such terribly sad news. Understandably, she has put her creativity on hold. It was difficult to finish the grass. Later, I tweaked some NaPoWriMo edits and made a steak and steamed veg dinner. This evening, I tried to read, but my body opted for sleep. Later, I watched Cobain - Montage of Heck and managed to stay awake all the way through. Bed soon. 10.29pm.


Saturday 11th April 2026

The NaPoWriMo prompt today was for Erasure (aka blackout) poetry. I just took lines and individual words from a bunch of songs by an 80s pop duo and tried to make something with them. I'll finish it tomorrow. Jenni is a bit under the weather today and wasn't up for Greg Chapman's Discovery of Witchcraft show at Heddon on the Wall Memorial Hall this afternoon. It was brilliant. Informative, funny, thought-provoking, and very well performed. I've eaten too much chocolate. 10.03pm.


Sunday 12th April 2026

Bit of a lie in. A bit warmer this morning. I wrote a new poem for NaPoWriMo and posted it to Facebook. Then went out to Gateshead for groceries. Lots of reduced-price bread and cold cuts. The radio was on in the attic quite a bit today, but I don't remember much of it. Tonight, the Olivier Awards were on TV. Then Krapp's Last Tape starring Harold Pinter, followed by Aidan Dunbar in a Beckett documentary. Great stuff. 10.57pm.


Monday 13th April 2026

Chilly start. Hard to get comfortable sitting on the attic floor, but I got all my pages done, including another NaPoWriMo new draft. Jenni and I watched some episodes of Inside No 9 and a bit of The League of Gentlemen. I've always found the latter quite grotesque. I walk down to Team Valley for the bus. Didn't get home until after five. I've done quite a bit of prep for the week and some number-crunching. Increased the physio weight load slightly for the first time in a while. I'm at Waddy tomorrow. 10.47pm.


Tuesday 14th April 2026

Chuffed to produce a NaPoWriMo poem without having to use a pen or key in the words – spoken directly into Messenger from my pillow, posted online by 8.30am. Felt pretty good about it all day. The session at Waddy went well. It's a freebie from me, so I'm basically running through all the NaPoWriMo prompts, seven per session for the month, to get the writers a pamphlet's worth of material each, in thirty days. Some really great drafts this afternoon. Hope I'm able to sustain momentum. I could have gone out tonight for supplies, but I wanted to stay in and have a lazy evening. I watched the Kurt Cobain documentary 'Soaked in Bleach' again. And a few more recent ones about his death. I'm not doing physio tonight. I want to turn in quite early to get a good start again tomorrow. OK. 10.17pm.


Wednesday 15th April 2026

NaPoWriMo prompt: a love poem, but not about a romantic relationship. I just riffed on generational views of popular music for a page and a half. Then out to Consett for bank transactions and supplies. I picked up a pair of black trainers in great condition for a fiver. Then bought a '200 best goth albums' magazine. It's okay but could have been better. I've heard nearly a quarter of the 200 albums. This afternoon I got a preliminary sequence of poems ready for The Smoke Room gig. I aim to make an expanded edition of a very limited-run pamphlet I did in 2015. It will contain one or two new pieces. Tonight I listened to the Nirvana album Nevermind whilst doing physio and other exercises. Rain prevented a bike ride. OK. 10.26pm.


Thursday 16th April 2026

Productive day. I got my sets pretty much sequenced for readings at The Smoke Room and was writing intros when the lineup was announced on Facebook. I'm chuffed to be doing a gig with Bedsit Manor, Your Casket or Mine, Phil Tyler and Nev Clay. I'm chuffed to have enough music-related poems to expand the Failed Rock Star pamphlet. I'll have a few runs through the sets just to be sure and will hopefully be able to reformat all the poems in a pamphlet for 9th May. This will function as a sampler in much the same way as the Prohibition pamphlet did in 2024. Tonight I listened to Lodger by David Bowie. I only recognised the single Boys Keep Swinging. There aren't enough hours in the day to go through the full back catalogues of musical legends. I'm off to bed early so I can be up sharp for Washington. OK. 10.14pm.


Friday 17th April 2026

Session at Washington went well. Five of the regulars and two newcomers. We warmed up with Absurd Words, then did a picture half-marathon. The darker images seemed to work best for most people. Big thanks to Alwyn Bathan for the lift to Gateshead. I went to Jen's place for a while, then got the X20 bus to Alnwick. A longer journey than the recommended X18, but I enjoyed the route through Amble in the early evening sunshine. I got to Alnwick Playhouse by 7.000pm. Toyah Willcox was brilliant. More stories than songs. Some of the covers were abbreviated versions, including School's Out and Enter Sandman. She answered my question about obsessive fans, the most recent being a septuagenarian who took loads of paper to sign at a Meet and Greet in Scarborough last night. I spoke briefly to technician John Greenacre afterwards. Got to Alnmouth train station okay, but my train is delayed by almost an hour. Jenni has kept me updated via mobile from the attic. I'm now due onboard at two minutes to midnight. Hey, Iron Maiden song. OK. 11:52pm.

 
NaPoWriMo 2026 Day Twenty-Six

WELL NOW, PHILIP

Rhyme time
A few complaints
One poem in particular
Not exactly Incy Wincy Spider
Anti-family lectures
Down the student union, perhaps

But not the sort of thing we
Encourage for toddlers
We want Wheels on the Bus
We want Jack and Jill
Not some cod psychology

The language from the outset
Mrs Thompson nearly had a coronary
We thought a proper poet would be a treat
But not this crude misery
And rumour has it
You're also a bit of a racist

As far as this library is concerned
Keep your mean-spirited
Verse away from decent folk
Go on, that's all
Cheque's in the post


Saturday 18th April 2026

Not much done today. I listened to some Toyah tracks. My ears are okay. I went to Gateshead for supplies. Then tried to attend a writing workshop, but the venue was deserted. Must have been cancelled. Banana on peshwari naan for tea. I wrote up my trip to Alnwick as an antiquated epic poem for National Poetry Writing Month. Checked out the new Toyah book, Meteorite, but it's very expensive. Washed a load of crockery whilst Jenni was out. Scrolled and slept. 0K. 10.17pm.


Sunday 19th April 2026

Big lie in. Jenni and I had a huge Sunday dinner delivered from Toby Carvery. A bit too expensive for my liking, but the meal was nice. We watched a horror film called Never Let Go starring Halle Berry. Then a bizarrely entertaining 'It Couldn't Happen Here' starring The Pet Shop Boys. I got the 47-bus via Chopwell back to Consett tonight and walked down to Moorside, narrowly avoiding a toilet accident. 0K. 11.50pm.


Monday 20th April 2026

Long day, mostly working downstairs at the drop-leaf table on copy-ups and edits of recent NaPoWriMo efforts. Some of the prompts and examples are stupidly long and really fucking annoying. But I've attempted them – albeit with a rather cavalier approach to the flower dictionary request and anything involving animals. This evening I made a mock-up pamphlet of my forthcoming sets for The Smoke Room, but I don't think the font is right. It was great for Letting The Minimalism Slip, but maybe the next one should look less like a seventies small press pamphlet. Maybe something glossy. Computer updates slowed me down, but I got the Waddy paperwork done. OK. 11.53pm.


Tuesday 21st April 2026

Great day. The Waddy session went well. Just another NaPoWriMo freebie workshop with a couple of the regular participants, but a good opportunity for those without internet access to have a crack at prompts from the last seven days. Afterwards, I tweaked the sampler pamphlet for the upcoming gigs. Had some lush bacon and mushroom sandwiches for tea at Waddy, watched a few Brian May clips online, then walked up to Redhills Hall with Jenni, Hilary and David (Rutherford). Bob Beagrie's Hand of Glory poetry show was brilliant. Musical backing, great performance. Will need to check the book to jog my memory. Strong open mic from a bunch of top North East talent. Fell asleep on the bus back to Moorside. OK. 11.46pm.


Wednesday 22nd April 2026

Lights blazing towards midnight. Cup of squash untouched. Ears fizzing. Computer whirring, whirring, whirring. Feet numb. Stuck to the spot. Eyes glued to the screen, fingers tapping keys, shifting shapes, moving words and images. It can only mean... I'm busy on a book cover. Really chuffed with tonight's design for FAILED ROCK STAR. I think I'm going to run with it. I reckon it could be good to go next week. 0K. 11.57pm.


Thursday 23rd April 2026

It's all trial and error. It's good to get the buzz from a white-heat first draft and want to push it to completion. But rarely do you complete it straight away. Still, it doesn't stop you some days thinking a piece of work is ready and okay to post online. Then five minutes later, you spot a glaring error. You fix it, hoping no one saw. Then repost. And an hour later, another line needs attention. The fear of being called incompetent makes you revise stuff. In the old days, these drafts would go in an envelope, sit in a slush pile for weeks. Then, understandably get rejected. More from that idiot in County Durham! But putting a piece on social media makes you conscientious. It's good to trial and error. No one wants to look incompetent. Letting others see works-in-progress often makes you work harder. Well, it does with me anyway. 11.55pm.


Friday 24th April 2026

Didn't get to Waddy till one o'clock. I sorted a copy of my little sampler pamphlet. It could do with a sharper font, but I should be able to fix it. I got a 21-bus to Newcastle and slept most of the way. Got a steak pie from Tesco and spicy wedges from Greggs for tea. Then the 10-bus to Hexham. Had a great time at Quillseekers. Cat Bell was brilliant. Two sets with a mix of hilarious and hard-hitting poems. And lots of great open floor readings, including Steve Wood. Aaron Wright. James Oates, David Rutherford, amongst others. It was great. I read four pieces: The Dark House, Macy Gray, Villanelle? and Kate Bush. Many thanks to Aaron Wright for the lift back to Gateshead. 11.27pm.


Saturday 25th April 2026 

Slow start. My device wouldn't let me look at today’s NaPoWriMo example poem, so I struggled. I hate being asked to write metaphors on demand. Jenni and I went to see The Ballad of Wallis Island at Tyneside Cinema with a Q&A from Tim Key. Great afternoon. Supplies in Tesco. Then BGT and The Madness of King George. Chicken, hot cross buns. Ordered an out-of-print Behemoth book that is often listed for over one hundred pounds, but mine was twenty plus postage from a Liverpool Oxfam shop. OK. 10.44pm.


Sunday 26th April 2026

NaPoWriMo 2026 Day Twenty-Six

ANOTHER STAB AT A PROSE POEM IN SEARCH OF A DEFINITION OF ITSELF
(With Apologies to Brian Patten for vaguely recalling his title)

Once again, the daily National Poetry Writing Month prompt seems to be chosen deliberately to match a poem I've recently written or read from my back catalogue, thus making it impossible to write another of equal calibre. The same water doesn't flow in the same stretch of river twice over. Any subsequent attempt on my part will be but a pale imitation of the first.

Ars Poetica? What is poetry? Why, to me poetry is whatever it wants to be. Of course this includes chopped-up prose, lacking rhythm, metaphor, simile, imagery. A three-line joke, an excuse to poke and pry, hang dirty linen out to the astonished eye, put a little bit of life under the microscope, but hopefully without paraphrasing a former self or god forbid anyone else...

The journal extract I performed last in the first round of open floor at Quillseekers on Friday night - about listening to poignant popular music on a quiet afternoon - comes close to why I try to capture fleeting thought and feeling. But I personally no longer give a fig if people deem my poetry merely prose. I've been chopping lines and sharing serendipity for nearly four decades. Poetry is just a few scrambled letters away from poverty. Ritual scribbles and personal introspective communion let loose on a mostly indifferent universe. Wax lyrical all you like about metre and scansion. Stack sentences, trim experiences and scatter at the feet of gatekeepers. Shout out loud on small stages, or wait ages for names to be printed down the slim spines of short-run paperbacks. From late teens to mid- thirties for me that was the real deal...

Quite a few of this month's NaPoWriMo prompts could be met with previous moments when my pen hit a good groove alone in my room, at a workshop, or on the upper deck of an X15 bus.

Ars Poetica? I don't care these days about how sacred the artform should be. About how it's a disgrace to share half-baked verse within an echo chamber. I write for myself and anyone else who wants to read it.

Sure, words have weight, carry meaning and responsibility. But what do I care if someone who only allows rarefied, agonised, carefully-considered-for-half-a-decade stanzas to see the light of day takes offence at tongue-in-cheek diaristic output. It's not compulsory to read everything. Or criticise it.

Writing saved my life. I'll do it wherever, whenever and however I like. And until fascists kill our modern methods of publication, I'll continue to spew my innards and document chosen moments to the best of my ability, however mediocre to others that may be.

And that, dear reader, is how it's always been. The talking pen provides the means. Diary, memory, anxiety. Poetry? I'm just a failed rock star wannabe living my own writing dream. Shoot me!


Monday 27th April 2026

Really productive day. I did a draft for the NaPoWriMo prompt and will have another look at it in the Waddy session tomorrow. Then I worked on my Failed Rock Star pamphlet for the upcoming gigs. Took a while to get the set together for the late show open mic but I think I'm there. I ditched an old chestnut in favour of a 2023 NaPoWriMo poem. I put the open mic set in between the two sets for The Smoke Room. I then did the prep for my Durham Carers workshop. It was mainly just replenishing the handouts and checking the files to see what I could I did in Bishop Auckland last time. This evening I reformatted the files for the pamphlet. I've had baked potato, tuna and curried beans. And oxtail soup. And Jacobs club mint biscuits. Still got physio to do. 0K. 11.45pm.


Tuesday 28th April 2026

Long, long day. Up super early to get more work done on the pamphlet, tweaking the page margins to compensate for the loss of print position on the Waddy machine. Thankfully, I've sussed how to do the spacing on fonts to get the left and right page poem titles and page numbers to print level on both sides of the paper. Waddy session was another bunch of NaPoWriMo stuff. I got more booklet covers printed and two test copies of pages on 120gsm paper. Tonight I tweaked the left and right margins to compensate for trimming. Hope to be able to print this weekend at Waddy. 0K. 11.10pm.


Wednesday 29th April 2026

A good workshop in Bishop Auckland this afternoon, overshadowed by printing hassles for the sampler pamphlet that I hope to have ready for the gigs at Station East on the 9th of May. Looks like the format and weight of stock I'd set my heart on might be in jeopardy because I can't get access to the computer I need to print the pages. Two computers in the same room, hooked up to the same printer using the same PDF from my USB stick, and they print it in different sizes. Peter the tech wizard is on holiday next week. If I can't get the job done on Saturday, I'm not going to have pamphlets in time for the gigs. I've not slept well or had decent food. It's not quite half nine. I need to be in bed as soon as possible. Knackered. 9.25pm.


Thursday 30th April 2026

The Behemoth book arrived this morning from Oxfam Books. Mint condition. I only like the band’s recent albums, but an opportunity to grab a copy of their out-of-print illustrated biography for twenty quid was just too good to let pass. I spoke to Waddy staff on the phone. If I can’t get the pamphlet sorted on Saturday, I will be given access to Peter’s computer to finish the job while he is on holiday. I’ve prepped my session for Washington and feel surprisingly chipper considering I’ve been going for thirteen-and-a-half hours with a couple more to go. Cheers for reading. OK. 8.37pm.