Poetic Podcast

Still on the subject of poetry, Wadham College impresario Martin Dunkley-Smith has recorded a conversation with me to mark the publication of Little Silver, where we discuss poetic process, the inspiration behind the book, and working on too many things simultaneously.

I listened to the draft version the other day and can recommend it for its comedy effect. Martin’s questions and editing are excellent, and some of what I say may even be true, but it sounds as if we’re talking to each other from different centuries: Martin is squarely in 2022 and I sound as if I’ve been imported from somewhere around 1958.

The title, ‘From Rightmove to Writing’, is also disturbingly appropriate given how many times I’ve moved house in the last 20 years, and how much time I spend online idly considering alternative properties – which is exactly what I was doing when I saw that my childhood home was being advertised as a development site, and so was prompted to visit, and so ultimately arrived at the title poem.

For any of you with a 20 to 30-minute drive or pile of ironing, it’s at: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2003548/episodes/11647172-6-from-rightmove-to-writing-with-jane-griffiths# (and contrary to first impressions, you don’t need to log in). Apparently it’s on its way to youtube as well. I should have practised saying ‘This is the BBC Home Service’.