Poetry on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal

With Canal & River Trust staff and volunteers in Wigan

In July I spent a week travelling along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal - the UK's longest - by kayak, meeting people who live and work on the canal and gathering material for poems for the Canal Laureate project. Huge thanks to The Poetry Society, the Canal & River Trust, and the many individuals I met on the towpath for helping to make this journey possible, and a special shout out to CRT Writer in Residence Jasper Winn and Desmond Family Canoe Trail paddler Greg Brookes who kept me company for a day of paddling, including the passage through the mile-long Foulridge Tunnel.

You can read more about the practical aspects of the journey over at the British Canoeing blog, and a full report is coming soon at Waterlines.

With SLYNCS volunteers outside Blackburn

Objects for the Anthopocene

Last week ClimateCultures invited me to contribute an essay on three objects which might represent my personal timeline of the Anthropocene. You can read my watery selection here.

And for those curious for more on kayaks, over on the Waterlines blog you can read my first Canal Laureate poem.

Sun Beats Collective - Podcast

Nukúnguasik, who escaped from the tupilak

from Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen (1921)

Sun Beats Collective (@sunbeatsco) have launched a new poetry podcast.

In the first episode of Under the Table hosts Sarah and Anna interview me about poetry and place, with the emphasis on the latter - and digressions via kayaks, qivittoq and tupilaks. There are poems from Andrew Fentham (who responds with panache to my challenge to write a sestina using the titles of Pet Shop Boys songs), Jane Yeh and - a new discovery for me - the work of minimalist poet Robert Lax.

I'm looking forward to the next episode already.

Kayaking to Greenland...

… well, no actually. I don't think I'd quite make it around Cape Farewell, despite my training out on the placid waters of the River Thames. But I'm determined to get to Greenland to undertake my residency at Ilulissat Kunstmuseum this summer.

So to raise the funds to cover the substantial costs of flights on Greenland Air I have launched a crowdfunding campaign. There's a range of Arctic-themed rewards for supporters on offer here. Take a look (averting your eyes from the silly movie, in which I appear disguised in sportswear) and do spread the word if you can. Moral support is as gratefully received as the material kind.

Ilulissat Kunstmuseum

No jetty.

UPDATE 4 July: Thanks to the many generous supporters who pledged sums from £2 to £250, this campaign succeeded in raising the funds to cover transport costs to Greenland. Flights are booked, and I am looking forward to continuing my work about the north, in the north this summer.