I’m always happy to read my poems at group meetings or events. I live in Hertfordshire, so London, the South East and Eastern Regions are best for me, but I’m willing to consider travelling further. Please get in touch via the “Contact Me” page.

Forthcoming Events:

“Stanza Bonanza” at The Mad Squirrel, St Albans (24th September, 2025)

Two Poetry Society Stanza Groups, Ver Poets and North Hertfordshire (Poetry ID), are joining forces for a “stanza bonanza” open mic at The Mad Squirrel Tap in St Albans on Wednesday 24th September at 7.30 pm. I’m looking forward to introducing the event and reading one or two poems. It’s free and open to all.

Recent Events:

Poetry at The Adelaide, Teddington (7th September, 2025)

Berkhamsted Festival of Verse (6th September, 2025)

Bushey Performing Arts Festival (8th June, 2025)

Many thanks to Joe Rodrigues for taking these photographs of me reading at the Bushey Performing Arts Festival on Sunday 8th June. I was there with fellow Ver poets, Imogen de la Bere, Lesley Lilley, Gill Macdonald, Margaret Rochford and Juliet Troy. We had a great time and the weather was kind.

Poetry at The Mad Squirrel, St Albans (26 March, 2025)

I was pleased to be able to read two ekphrastic poems at Ver Poets’ open mic event: one about Robert Rauschenberg’s “Monogram” (the stuffed goat with a car tyre round its middle); the other, “Fox Spirit”, one of my poems inspired by drawings in Hokusai’s “The Great Picture Book of Everything”. Our guest reader was Stuart Handysides from Ware Poets, whose first collection, “The last one picked”, is due to be published by Indigo Dreams later this year.

Poetry at The Mad Squirrel, St Albans (29 January, 2025)

We had a very enjoyable open-mic reading at The Mad Squirrel Tap at the end of January. As well as hosting the event, I was able to read some poems from my two pamphlets, “The War with Hannibal” and “The 3-D Clock”. Many thanks to everyone who came.

Poetry at The Mad Squirrel, St Albans (27 November, 2024)

I was pleased to take part in Ver Poets’ open-mic evening at The Mad Squirrel Tap in November, when the featured poet was Peter Raynard. His new pamphlet, The Harlot and the Rake, a crown of sonnets after Hogarth’s prints, is available from Culture Matters.

Write Out Loud Northumberland on Zoom (13 November, 2024)

I was delighted to read three poems at this online event. The guest poet was Trisha Broomfield, who read from her new collection, My Acrostic Mother. (It used to be Write Out Loud Woking on Zoom, but having lived up north for two years, the organiser, Greg Freeman, thought it was time to rename it!)

Launch of SOUTH 70, Southampton (26 October, 2024)

I was very pleased take part in a reading at the Quaker Meeting House in Southampton to launch SOUTH 70. Sadly, this is the last issue of the magazine, which began life 35 years ago. It was great to hear others read, including fellow Ver poet, Louise Walker, who was there with her publishers, Dithering Chaps, to promote her debut collection, “From There to Here”.

National Poetry Day (3 October, 2024)

In the afternoon, Berkhamsted Library held a reading on the 2024 National Poetry Day theme of ‘counting’. I read poems by Robert Graves, W. B. Yeats and Bernard O’Donoghue.

In the evening, I read three of my own poems at an open mic in Bishop’s Stortford Library. The main event was a reading by Rory Waterman, whose latest book, “Come Here to This Gate”, I reviewed for The High Window.

Poetry at The Mad Squirrel, St Albans (25 September, 2024)

I enjoyed reading in the Ver Poets open mic at The Mad Squirrel Tap in St Albans and was delighted to welcome our special guest, the poet and critic Merryn Williams, who judged the 2024 Ver Poets Open Competition.

Poetry at The Mad Squirrel, St Albans (31 July, 2024)

I was pleased to be able read four poems at the Ver Poets open mic at The Mad Squirrel Tap, which I also compèred. It was an enjoyable event with 12 readers in all.

Poems not Bombs, Soho (18 July, 2024)

I had a great time reading at Poems not Bombs in The Spice of Life, Soho, on Thursday afternoon. My thanks to Paul McGrane, who hosted the event, as well as to the other poets who read.

“Glastonbury Open Day” at The Pioneer Club, St Albans (30 June, 2024)

Along with fellow members of Ver Poets, Beliz McKenzie, Greg Smith, Lesley Lilley and Juliet Troy, I read at The Pioneer Club’s Glastonbury Open Day. Ver poet, Neil Beardmore, sang some blues numbers. The event was covered by The St Albans Times.

Write Out Loud Woking (19 June, 2024)

I joined WOL Woking for a very enjoyable Zoom reading with special guest, Dave Morgan, the co-founder of Write Out Loud, whose latest collection, On Not Being Observed, was published by Flapjack Press in April. I was able to read five of the sonnets I’ve written about people I met in hospital many years ago.

Launch of SOUTH 69 in Salisbury (25 May, 2024)

I was delighted to be among the readers at the launch of SOUTH 69 in the Quaker Meeting House in Salisbury. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming and I bought, sold and swapped some books/pamphlets. It was the first time I’d submitted to the magazine, which will be closing after the next issue because of increasing costs—terribly sad news (just as I was getting to know them and had taken out a subscription). Unfortunately, they’re one of a number of recent casualties.

Poems not Bombs (16 November, 2023)

I enjoyed reading poems from each of my two pamphlets at Poems not Bombs, hosted by Paul McGrane, in The Spice of Life, Soho. I had a great afternoon listening to some excellent poems in a wide variety of styles.

Write Out Loud Woking (31 October, 2023)

It was good to join WOL Woking for one of their monthly Zoom readings, hosted by Greg Freeman and Rodney Wood. I don’t have any Halloween poems, so instead read three poems about death. We were asked to screen-share the text, which enabled me to include one, “Bug”, that you need to see on the page.

Summer Anywhere Festival (21 September, 2023)

I was very pleased to have been able to take part in the Summer Anywhere Festival reading at The Spice of Life in Soho, hosted by Paul McGrane. It was great to hear such a diverse range of poetry being read. I contributed a couple of poems from “Dreich” magazine—an elegy for my friend, Bill Shepherd, and one of my Hokusai “The Great Picture Book of Everything” poems. My thanks to Paul and to Jack Caradoc, the Editor of “Dreich” and organiser of Summer Anywhere events.

Not a Bad Word (20 September, 2023)

I braved heavy rain and flooding to attend Not a Bad Word’s reading at their new venue, the Crouch End Picture House. I was pleased to be able to read a poem from each of my two pamphlets. My thanks to Anna Meryt, who organised the event, and Alan Wolfson, who hosted it.

Write Out Loud Woking (9 August, 2023)

It was good to take part in WOL’s Zoom reading on 9 August. I read two ekphrastic poems—about pictures by Cézanne and Hokusai. Co-host, Greg Freeman, has moved north and it was good to have a Northumberland contingent at the reading. I miss my own time up there.

Toddington Poetry Society (13 June, 2023)

I had a great time reading to the Toddington Poetry Society in Luton on 13 June. I read poems from my two pamphlets, The War with Hannibal and The 3-D Clock, as well as some more recent work. After the break, Society members read their own poems on my chosen theme of memory, after which I rounded off the evening with a couple more poems. My thanks to John Godfrey for inviting me and to everyone there for making me so welcome.

Ver Poets: “Puddings and Poetry” Evening (11 May, 2023)

I was very pleased to have taken part in the Ver Poets’ “Puddings and Poetry” Evening at The Pudding Stop in Harpenden. Seven of us had reading slots and there was an open-mic session as well. The food was excellent! Thank you to The Pudding Stop for having us, to Beliz McKenzie for organising the event and to Greg Smith for taking the photos.

Celebration of Acumen 105 (20 April, 2023)

I was very pleased to attend the Zoom reading to celebrate Acumen‘s 105th issue, published in January. There was a good turnout and it was interesting to have discussions in break-out sessions as well as hear poems from the magazine. I read “Mythical Beasts”, which is one of a series of poems I’ve written about drawings in Hokusai’s The Great Picture Book of Everything.

Ver Poets Ten-Liners Competition 2022 (24 February, 2022)

I joined fellow Ver Poets for an excellent Zoom reading of poems from the 2022 Ten-Liners Competition anthology. I read three poems: “Shun” (joint second prize); “The Right Stuff” (highly commended); and “Albert” (selected). Congratulations to Sylvia Banham, who won first prize, and David Jones, who was joint second, as well as to everyone else. Many thanks to the judge, Ruth Higgins, and Terry Jones, who organised the competition and hosted the event.

Write Out Loud Woking (27 October, 2022)

It was great to be with WOL Woking again for an in-person event at The Lightbox. The reading was held to launch their anthology, Finding Our Voices: Write Out Loud Woking: The First Six Years 2016-22, to which I contributed a poem. The anthology costs £5 and is available from Amazon here.

National Poetry Day at Bishop’s Stortford Library (6 October, 2022)

Delighted to have taken part in this event in Bishop’s Stortford along with members of Enfield Poets. My thanks to Ben Holden for organising it.

Write Out Loud Woking (10 August, 2022)

I was with WOL Woking again on 10 August – for a Zoom meeting this time. They’re invariably fun occasions and the other participants are always very welcoming.

Enfield Poets (4 August, 2022)

Grateful for the very warm welcome that other members of Ver Poets and I received from Enfield Poets. Hannah Hobsbaum, Aidan Baker and I were given headline slots and other Ver poets read during the open-mic session. With luck, we’ll have more of these joint meetings.

1000 Monkeys (2 August, 2022)

You can read a report of the meeting here. It includes a video clip of me reading “Deor”, my response to the Old English poem of the same name.

Write Out Loud Woking (30 June, 2022)

After so many Zoom readings, it was a pleasure to join WOL Woking at their reading in The Lightbox on 30th June. I’m grateful to the hosts, Rodney Wood and Greg Freeman, for making me so welcome. It was Rodney and his wife’s wedding anniversary, so a number of the poets read love poems in tribute. Here I am shamelessly promoting my two pamphlets.

1000 Monkeys (1 March, 2022)

It was good to take part in a Zoom meeting of The 1000 Monkeys, hosted by Janice and Dónall Dempsey. I read three poems, one about my mother, who was Welsh, in honour of St David’s Day. There’s an account of the reading here.

Poetry in the Crossing (13 October, 2021)

I was delighted to read with Dan Simpson and three other poets at his farewell appearance as poet-in-residence at St Albans Cathedral on Wednesday 13 October. Details of the event are here.

Open-mic Readings (June-August, 2021)

I’ve recently taken part in some very enjoyable open-mic readings at Write Out Loud Woking (24 June), Ver Poets Members’ Evening (23 July) and 1000 Monkeys (3 August).

Write Out Loud Woking (27 May, 2021)

I was honoured to have been invited by Write Out Loud Woking to be their featured poet in May. It was a very enjoyable evening. We were joined by a friend from New York State, whom I haven’t seen in years.

Ver Poets Members’ Evening (14 May, 2021)

Pat Francis, Juliet Troy and I read alongside Ver Poets’ President, John Mole. It was a great evening with some fine poems read during the open-mic slots.

Write Out Loud Woking (29 April, 2021)

Greatly enjoyed taking part in WOL Woking’s open-mic event on Zoom. You can see a You Tube video of me reading my two poems, “On the Doorstep” and “The Snapper”, here.

Ver Poets Members’ Evening (20 November, 2020)

This is an annual event, at which members who have published poems during the past year have an opportunity to read from their work. I was pleased to join four other members and read poems from my two pamphlets. There was also an enjoyable open-mic session. You can joint Ver Poets at: https://verpoets.co.uk/membership/. Although based in St Albans, they have a national and international membership and all meetings are currently held via Zoom.

Launch by Dempsey & Windle (4 November, 2020)

This was a very interesting and enjoyable Zoom reading to launch Ranald Barnicot’s lively versions of the shorter poems of Catullus, Friendship, Love, Abuse, etc. I had an opportunity to continue the classical theme by reading the title poem of my pamphlet, The War with Hannibal.

Write Out Loud Woking (23 September, 2020)

I was pleased to have been invited by Greg Freeman and Rodney Wood to take an open mic slot at one of their monthly Zoom meetings. It was a great evening; the featured poet was Michael Cutchey. Greg has posted video clips of the individual readers on WOL Woking’s YouTube channel. You can see me reading the title poems of my two pamphlets at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMiBiYzH8Qg&t=88s.

Dempsey & Windle Showcase (26 August, 2020)

This was a Zoom event, held as a belated launch of publications by David Cooke, Robbie Frazer and me. We were due to have read at the Poetry Café in London earlier in the year, but Covid-19 put a stop to that. As well as two spots (15 and 5 minutes each) for the three main readers, there were excellent poems from a number of guests. I made this video reading of four of the poems shortly after the event, which wasn’t recorded: https://youtu.be/jFde9HY_OE4.

Launches by Dempsey & Windle (22 & 29 July, 2020)

I was delighted to attend the on-line launches of Last of the Cake by Alison Mace and How to Punctuate a Silence by Claudia Court on 22 and 29 July respectively. As well as having the pleasure of listening to these two excellent poets read from their work and of hearing some fine poems by other members of the audience, I was also able to read a few poems from my own pamphlet, The 3-D Clock. Copies of all three publications are available from https://www.dempseyandwindle.com.

Tring U3A, Nora Grace Hall, Tring (19 February, 2020)

On 19 February, I read poems from The War with Hannibal and The 3-D Clock to the poetry group of Tring University of the Third Age. They were most welcoming and I very much enjoyed answering their questions and chatting to them over coffee. My thanks to the group’s leader, Thelma Fisher.

The King’s Arms, Berkhamsted (18 December, 2019)

On 18 December, I launched my Poetry Salzburg pamphlet, The War with Hannibal, with a reading at the King’s Arms in Berkhamsted.