opportunities

The Book Bag: Mædwe by Corinna Board

Welcome back to The Book Bag. I hope you’ve had a poetic week.

This week has been a fairly busy one. I celebrated my birthday on Wednesday and despite the dreary weather had an amazing time. Did I buy a few books? Yes. Did I enjoy a delicious dinner at Lollo Rosso? Yes. Because of the rain, we postponed visiting Howick Hall Snowdrop walk until yesterday where for the first time in what seems like forever we had sunshine! A great Valentine’s Day gift!

I was also able to chill, listen to some  Coltrane and Davis, and play some sax. I also dabbled with my watercolours, finished some books and returned to the Wasteland in Fallout 4.

Also, it was the return of Write Here, Right Now on Thursday evening. Another insightful and informative session. Having time dedicated to writing and being able to gain insightful peer feedback is tremendously valuable. I’m really proud to be part of it.

On top of that, I’ve been reading;

Mædwe

  • Poet: Corinna Board
  • Press: Salò Press


I’ve followed and enjoyed Corinna’s poetry for some time now and always find her work engaging, fascinating and full of beautiful language.

Mædwe is a pamphlet that drops the reader into the countryside, with nature and humanity intersecting in various ways. This begins with the titular poem ‘Mædwe’ that gives a vibrant introduction to the book.

Corinna is able to use imagery with ease. Poems engage the reader fully in scenery that is vivid and dynamic. The piece ‘You Find A Fox Skull’ (one of my favourites) reminded me of growing up in Northumberland and building forts in the willow, birch and hawthorn treeline close to the recreation field. The poem ‘Do You Speak Field?’ is another terrific example where the reader is given space to allow the poem to breathe.

The poems in this pamphlet are filled with heart and admiration for nature and its positive qualities in dealing with complex emotions. ‘Something Like Hope’ is a prosaic piece that takes the reader along on a searching walk with the narrator. ‘Meadow Semantics’ has a sense of survival, resilience and renewal.

Form is fluid throughout the book with multiple styles to excellent effectiveness. One of my favourites uses form terrifically. ‘A Short Guide to Noticing’ is a list poem that transfers to short stanzas full of wonderful language. Another piece (and another of my favourites) ‘Attempting to Translate The Curlew by Listening to Sound Samples on My Phone’ is extraordinary in its use of language, format, spacing and ambition. ‘Emergency For Bees’ is a tremendous use of erasure poetry and has real impact both in terms of message and visually.

This is a book that will appeal to lovers of poetry, lovers of nature poetry, lovers of poetry with heart. Fans of creative use of form will love this. It is an exquisite collection and a book everyone should be reading in 2026. I can’t praise this enough as it is another book that has expanded my perspectives on poetry like Leia Butler’s visual approach in Make Up My Mind.

Favourite Poem:

There are so many special poems in this book. I could name every single one and that wouldn’t be a stretch. So to go along with ‘A Short Guide to Noticing’, ‘Attempting to Translate The Curlew by Listening to Sound Samples on My Phone’ and ‘You Find A Fox Skull’, I’ll go with ‘Human Interviews Local Brook’, ‘A Dunnock’s Prayer’, ‘Meet Me In The Field’, ‘Tournesols’, ‘Field Notes’, ‘Owl In A Box’ and ‘& Then A Lark’.

To learn more about Corinna, click here to read an interview in The Wombwell Rainbow..

To buy Mædwe, click here

As always here’s a playlist that I think accompanies the book well. It’s a quirky mix of modern and vintage this week:

Oasis – Songbird
Fleetwood Mac – Landslide
Joni Mitchell – Little Green
Bill Withers – Ain’t No Sunshine
Passenger featuring Birdy – Beautiful Birds
Miles Davis – Stella by Starlight
George Ezra – Green Green Grass
The Corrs – Summer Sunshine
Sigrid – Home To You
Sting – Deep In The Meadow
Eurythmics – Here Comes The Rain Again
Gregory Porter – Skylark

Before I Go…
Have you been keeping up with The Book Bag: Poetic Voices feature for February? A new piece was added on Tuesday and shows a grittier side to Paul’s work. Read the full feature here.

One More Thing…
I highly recommend Black Bough Poetry’s Crafting Your Year in Poetry session. It’s a great, collaborative session to identify gals that you can realistically aim for and achieve over the year. There’s one happening on Sunday 1st March. Details here.

And Another…
Poetry Wales have a submission call for poetry on the theme of teaching. Find the details here.

And Finally…
The Alchemy Spoon are also looking for poetry. This time on the theme of ‘bugs’. More information here.

Next Week’s Read

  • Title: Along The Home Roads
  • Poet: Andy Perrin

Take it easy and stay poetic, I’ll catch you next week.

Paul

The Book Bag: Songs from Last Imaginations by Dorian Nightingale

Welcome back to The Book Bag. I hope you’ve had a poetic week.

Well it’s good to be back after a good Christmas break where I’ve slowed down a little. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve hosted Write Here, Right Now, hosted another instalment of The Book Bag Open Mic Sessions, attended a Black Bough poetry bootcamp for planning how I’ll make the most of the year to come.

I’ve also been lucky enough to be welcomed by Matthew MC Smith to be a guest sub-editor for Black Bough’s Christmas / Winter Anthology . Last weekend I attended a workshop facilitated by the excellent Vanessa Napolitano, then on Sunday (pre open mic) I read at a Winged Moon launch event.

Due to the weather, the allotment progress has been a little slow, but the ground is thawing and the plot is just about ready for spring planting. We did get the start of a climbing bean arch in last week.

On top of that, I’ve been reading;

Songs From Last Imaginations

  • Poet: Dorian Nightingale
  • Press: Flight of the Dragonfly Press

I’ve been following Dorian’s work for a while now and was over the moon when he announced his book was coming out with Flight of the Dragonfly. Songs from Last Imaginations is a pamphlet of poetry and terrifically curated photography.

Dorian’s major strength is his sound patterning built on a base of incredibly lyrical and melodic language. Poems including ‘One’, ‘Narcissus’ and ‘Sparks’ (one of my favourites) are all prime examples of this using sibilance, alliteration, variations on rhyme. Also, I’ll drop a special mention for ‘Clair de Lune’ as being a gem of a poem (this is the first piece of music I learnt on the saxophone).

There is a vibrancy in the imagery of this collection. ‘A Day At The Beach’ is energetic with quick rhyme in the opening, pulling to a slower pace by the closing line. ‘Deep Blue Day’ is a slower paced piece from the start but maintains attention due to rich, vivid language.

The pamphlet does not shy away from complex emotions. ‘Round and Around’ is an accomplished piece using the spin of a vinyl record as metaphor for waiting and longing incredibly well. ‘In Bloom’ is a great poem on resilience and creates a distinct engaging tone.

Form and style are played with throughout. White space is used to its maximum in the poem ‘Nobody Home’ and in ‘Airlock’ the slash method of line breaks is used to break up the text. The language contained within the pamphlet is incredibly considered and rich. ‘Reverie’ and ‘Reckoner’ are both exemplary in demonstrating this.

The photography included in the book has been carefully considered, adding visual beauty through simple, unfussy images. I’ll also mention the musical scales included in the pamphlet that tie into the theme and ambition of this book.

This book will be a hit with readers of lyrical poetry who appreciate immersive scenery and emotive pieces. These are poems to read aloud and have fun with, test your cadence and style reading speed and style for each one several times and see how they can alter. A wonderful pamphlet to kick off 2026.

Favourite Poem:

There’s a few pieces in this pamphlet. I’ve mentioned ‘Sparks’ already so I’ll add ‘Swan Song’, ‘You’, ‘Spellbound’, ‘The Final Cut’ and ‘Little Wing’.

You can find more on Dorian, here.

Dorian’s pamphlet can be bought here.

And for the first playlist of the year, here’s an eclectic mix to go with Dorian’s exceptional book based on my interpretation and some of Dorian’s musical inspiration (listed in the acknowledgements).

Bob Dylan – Visions of Johanna
Bruce Springsteen – The River
Röyksopp – Eple
David Bowie – Wild is the Wind
Portishead – Roads
U2 – The Sweetest Thing
Phoebe Bridgers – I Know the End
Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Duke Ellington – Sophisticated Lady
Led Zeppelin – Good Times Bad Times
Claude Debussy – Clair de Lune

Before I Go…

It seems The Book Bag Open Mic Sessions are proving popular. Tickets for session 3, taking place on Sunday 8th March 2026 at 7pm, are now on sale and can be bought here. Spaces are limited. Don’t want to read? You can enjoy as an audience member for free.

One More Thing…

You may remember I signed on to assist the team at Frazzled Lit for the fourth issue. Well it’s out in the world and can be read here. It was an honour to be asked and read some excellent writing.

And Another…

The submission window for Black Bough’s Christmas / Winter Anthology 7 opens on 28th January and runs until 1st February. Full details can be found here. Read the guidelines and send your very best work to appear in an always excellent anthology.

And Finally…

I’d love to know what poetry books you got for Christmas. Did you get any from The Christmas Gift List? Is there a title I should be featuring on The Book Bag? Drop me a message in the comments.

Next Week’s Read

  • Title: Circulaire
  • Poet: Bex Hainsworth

Take it easy and stay poetic, I’ll catch you next week.

Paul