This isn’t the way to ‘teach’ poetry for examination (being touted today):

I would stress, I am being precise about ‘teaching poetry for examination’. Poetry examination at GCSE is a fact: the best way to prepare for this is to read and enjoy poetry – obviously poems set too (!) – and to explore ‘techniques’ as an aspect of this rather than its supreme feature. As a GCSE examiner for 35+ years I can categorically make it clear that exam assessment DOES NOT want the proliferation of feature spotting.

Put that in your metaphor and stroke it.

Pleased to announce the launch of my poetry chapbook, with an introduction by me in the video above.

Further details and how to get can be found on the video page, but also directly here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Being-Dark-Imperious/dp/B0F6LJBYZH?crid=2BA9MK44CB0S1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.7_KYVIW_WGsPICDkVRd2iA.M7QmXUchP8xvM8a7646O_SusNVf_1P0HmCIEt49Mh18&dib_tag=se&keywords=i+being+the+dark+%2F+i+being+the+imperious+mike+ferguson&qid=1748104311&sprefix=i+being+the+dark+%2F+i+being+the+imperious+mike+ferguson%2Caps%2C83&sr=8-1

I am aware of the irony of my anti-capitalist chapbook only being on sale on Amazon! Not much I can do about that, but I will point out that ABP manages to remain a vibrant small press by ‘outsourcing’ through Amazon when so many independents are folding.

I get that further irony too.

More importantly, though not much of a counter-balance, any copies bought earn me a small percentage and I will take the eventual, overall amount, add the same figure to it and donate this to Multiple Sclerosis UK.

We’re not all in it for the money!

My thanks to Rupert and Nick for posting my visual poem on International Times today. You can see it here: https://internationaltimes.it/this-is-a-fake/

I played a miniscule role in a poetry collaboration with Rupert Loydell and John Levy, this posted today by the Symbology Institute in a wide-ranging journal (as you can see from the contents page above). For anyone interested in the discussion and the poems, I will post them in the following sequence.

As I’ve said, my part was incidental (though fun), but what I enjoyed most was the enthusiasm from the editor and the celebration of artistic journeys, this spirit expressed as

‘The work of Loydell and his friends is interesting for the wit of its competing allegories, (and) it is beautiful to see that they were interested in a topic or issue together, across an ocean, and had a conversation through poetry’