The Poems We Made Along The Way

On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along The Way Gregory chats with Ella Frears about the need for deadlines, sending work to friends and how to get good at metre. Ella Frears is a poet and artist based in London. She has been shortlisted for prizes like The Forward Prize for Best First Collection and the T.S. Eliot Prize. Ella’s most recent book, Goodlord is published by Rough Trade Books an...

On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along The Way Gregory chats with Stevie Ronnie about developing voice, unpicking what a poem is, and the similarities between visual art and poetry. Stevie Ronnie is an interdisciplinary artist and writer based in Northumberland. He was longlisted for the John Moores Prize for his piece called Thirty Hours or So of Being Awake. Stevie works with The Writing...

On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along The Way Gregory chats with Charlotte Shevchenko Knight about her sad girl Tumblr phase, which is better poetry or prose, and railcards for poets. Charlotte Shevchenko Knight is a poet based in York and her collection Food for the Dead was published by Jonathan Cape in 2024. Charlotte has gone on to win the Laurel Prize for first collection, and has bee...

On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along The Way Gregory chats to Mark Pajak about Seamus Heaney, dyslexia and how to build imagery in poetry. Mark is a poet based in Liverpool and had his debut collection Slide published by Jonathan Cape. He has received a Northern Writers’ Award, a Society of Authors’ Grant, an Eric Gregory Award and an UNESCO international writing residency. Mark is a lect...

On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along The Way Gregory chats to Helen Tookey about stanza construction, Wittgenstein and what it is like to teach poetry. Helen is a poet based in Liverpool who has published three collections with Carcanet, most recently In the Quaker Hotel. She has been shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Prize for Best First Collection and the Forward Prize.  Helen is a...

On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along The Way Gregory chats to Andrew McMillan about sonnets, what counts as a tour and what it's like to move from poetry to prose writing. Andrew McMillan has published three collections of poetry and his first novel, Pity, was published this year by Canongate. His first collection Physical was the first poetry collection to win the Guardian First Book Awa...

On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along The Way Gregory chats to Joe Carrick-Varty about writing based on real experiences, being an editor and his debut collection More Sky.  Joe Carrick-Varty is a poet based in London whose collection More Sky was published by Carcanet and was shortlisted for the TS Elliot Prize. Joe was a founder and editor for the online poetry journal Bath Magg. Yo...

On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along The Way Gregory chats to Malika Booker about sonnets, Afrostyle school and how you develop a sense of voice in poetry. Malika Booker is a poet based in Leeds whose collection Pepper Seeds, published by Peepal Tree Press was shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Centre Prize and in 2023 Malika’s poem Libation won the Forward Poetry Prize for best single poe...