Monthly Archives: March 2012

Lent 39: Mother-love

This poem, by Christine Coleman, is the second one in Bluebeard’s Wives, an anthology edited by Julie Boden and Zoe Brigley, with a foreword by Sophie Hannah. As you can imagine, it’s a collection of poems inspired by the tale … Continue reading

Posted in Poetry | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Lent 38: Eunoia

I utterly adore this book. Christian Bök’s Eunoia is a playful example of what you can do with and without each of our five vowels. Each vowel has its own chapter, in which it has a starring role – in … Continue reading

Posted in Poetry | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Lent 37: Answering Back

Answering Back, an anthology edited by Carol Ann Duffy, is a fantastic idea for a varied collection of poetry. It is subtitled as “Living poets reply to the poetry of the past” – where a range of poets are invited … Continue reading

Posted in Poetry | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Lent 36: Four Women Poets – on schools and poetry

I got this book, Four Women Poets as someone’s unwanted cast-off. It features Liz Lochhead, Carol Ann Duffy, Jackie Kay and Fleur Adcock. I don’t like it. It feels like poetry for school kids. It probably is. I love Duffy, … Continue reading

Posted in Poetry | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Lent 35: Man and Boy

After yesterday’s Mrs Noah, I promised another bible-inspired story. This one is by Patience Agbabi, from her collection Bloodshot Monochrome, and is based around two bible stories – that of Abraham being prepared to kill his only son Isaac on … Continue reading

Posted in Poetry | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Lent 34: Mrs Noah: Taken After the Flood

I’ve said before that Carol Ann Duffy’s collection The World’s Wife has been a long time favourite. It’s a collection full of the voices of either female versions of known fictional, historical or mythical figures (Queen Kong, Kray Sisters) their … Continue reading

Posted in Poetry | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Lent 33: Dart

Alice Oswald’s second book, Dart, is a 48 page long poem in the voice of the river Dart as it flows from its source to the sea. It’s based on three years of interviews with local inhabitants around the river, … Continue reading

Posted in Poetry | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Lent 32: A Game of Marbles

The 2011 winner of the T S Eliot prize was John Burnside with his twelfth collection, Black Cat Bone. It has some fantastically morbid and twisted poems in. I love this, for example: the girl from the next house but … Continue reading

Posted in Poetry | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Lego Club Girls is no longer! But wait…

When Polly’s LEGO Club magazine first came through the letterbox yesterday morning, I was initially pleased. No mention of Girls! I thought. Perhaps they listened. It includes Friends! Excellent, an inclusive offer to boys AND girls! I was pleased. Then … Continue reading

Posted in Lego | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Argos, LEGO and toy categorisation

I “accidentally” bought two LEGO sets today from Argos as we had a voucher. Since I “forgot” to use the voucher when I first went in, I had to go back and buy another set. What a terrible shame! I … Continue reading

Posted in Lego | Tagged , , | Leave a comment