James Nash

To completely repurpose T. S. Eliot’s famous line, ‘April is the cruellest month’,  August for me is generally the quietest.  School work is over for the Big Holiday, workshop activity is very low and I tend to spend a lot of time cycling with friends along the canal or sitting contemplating the sea from favourite … Read more

Performing As far as I know Byron didn’t go to open-mic poetry events in pubs or slams in libraries.  Let me rephrase that; I’m pretty sure he didn’t do much of that reading in public stuff at all, but I’m prepared to be corrected by a more erudite person. It’s my feeling that performing your … Read more

Here is the cover for my next collection due out this autumn. It is by the fabulous Jacky Fleming who has illustrated two previous books. It may change a little when Valley Press use it for publication, but I am sure it will be pretty much like this. I’m submitting seventy-five new poems and two … Read more

I’ve been rather quiet of late, thinking, writing and editing my poetry. And yesterday this new poem came almost fully formed, ripe for my new collection ‘Notes of Your Music’ due out in October from Valley Press. As a poem it’s pretty much first draft, so will probably change substantially by publication date. But it’s … Read more

Cymru am Byth. It’s St David’s Day and on this date I always feel a bit of my Welsh heritage nudging me. My Welshness is probably on a level with that of my great poetic hero Edward Thomas, Welsh parents but brought up in London. If only I had his genius. It manifested itself to … Read more

One of my favourite occasions every year is the presentation of the prizes in the East Riding Poetry Competition. This year’s day, Saturday 3rd February, proved no exception. It was held in the light-filled North Bridlington Library with a morning workshop by East Riding Poet Laureate Cassandra Parkin, and just before the announcement of the … Read more

Every published poet and writer can remember the breaks they are given occasionally. I got one back in 2005 when I interviewed poet Lucy Newlyn about her poetry collection ‘Ginnel’ for a Leeds arts magazine.  We had a brilliant telephone chat where she talked about her love for the poet Edward Thomas whom I also … Read more

We nose amongst the gravestones, dog and I,Inside a choir sings a Christmas songWhile I read the names of lives gone by,Sometimes the past and present get along.The old church music always comforts me,I hum along to carols that I knowAmongst angels of stone and memory.The dog just wags her silly tail. The flowOf choir … Read more

There was an ad some time ago [probably longer ago than I think], ‘I can’t believe it’s not butter’, and in the same vein I hear myself thinking, ‘I can’t believe it’s November already’. October was spent doing many things that I love, slowly getting a collection together to share with my publisher, hosting half … Read more