Dave Kurley

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Poster introducing the 15 poets whose work will appear in wave twenty-five of online poetry journal iamb.

Meet the 15 poets whose work you can read (and hear read) from March 15th 2026 as part of wave twenty-five of @iamb.uk.

#poetry #newpoetry

Unconference! — Stuff by Dave Kurley This will be my first experience of an Unconference, which (I am reliably informed by Jazz) is ‘a conference created by the participants on the day’. The idea is if you have a skill or some knowledge ...

Unconference bloggage: if you're in the Óbidos area on Saturday, come down!
Also in this week's blog, an updated version of a poem I originally wrote back in 2020! It's called Un-, which I felt chimed with the theme of Unconference...

www.davekurley.net/blogstuff/un...

#blog #unconference #poetry

This is the view from our hotel room balcony in Cascais, Portugal, overlooking the beach and harbour. Below is the calçada’d forecourt of the hotel. There are many small boats anchored in the bay and moored in the harbour. You can see right out in the Atlantic. The sky is partially clouded.

View from the balcony.

#alisbirthdaytreat #cascais #beautifulportugal

New stuff! — Stuff by Dave Kurley …we’re not back on the grid just yet, but our local council have very kindly donated a big red generator to our village so we can have light and heat and internet, which is pretty ace.

Electric bloggage: We have power! Have a look at some new poems to celebrate - www.davekurley.net/blogstuff/new-stuff

#newpoems #poems #poetry #blog #poetrycommunity

Poets are supposed to write about it — Stuff by Dave Kurley So I did. From the bottom of my strange and crooked heart. The results might not be what you expect, and I’m guessing you would be a little disappointed if I did write stuff you expected. Anyway, clic...

Valentine's bloggage: some poetry from the bottom of my strange and crooked heart.

www.davekurley.net/blogstuff/po...

Why We Created an Anti-Prize: On Poetry Awards, Indie Presses, and the Myth of Prestige - The Broken Spine Poetry prizes are everywhere. So are prize-nominated books, prize-listed poets, and presses (not so) quietly using awards as a marketing strategy. Ugh!

thebrokenspine.co.uk/2026/02/08/w...

Odd - a New Literary Journal launching in Mexborough - on 22nd February.

Odd - A new literary journal from #SixtyOdd Poets. Those lucky enough to be within striking distance of Mexborough - Come to the launch... Those who are less lucky than that - you will still be able to buy a copy - and maybe even help me to organise a launch near you. #Poetry

Seems legit.

Blown Away (Nearly) — Stuff by Dave Kurley There was a point, maybe ten minutes or so before the storm moved on, when I genuinely thought the roof might lift up and move on with it. Our bedroom is an attic conversion (I have always loved an at...

Storm Kristin and the aftermath - the ultimate in storny bloggage: www.davekurley.net/blogstuff/blown-away

#blog #writing #poem #poetry #stormkristin #poetrycommunity

Open Mic and more — Stuff by Dave Kurley I joined in for the second half and did a couple of poems - I Am Not and San ctuary , both of which seemed to go down pretty well.

Stormy bloggage - I did a couple of poems at the Wordplay Open Mic in Caldas at the weekend - and you can read them on my website!

www.davekurley.net/blogstuff/op...

#blog #writing #poetry #openmicnight #wordplay #writersclub

Interesting. Maybe related to the idea that in order to be able to paint like Picasso, first you have to learn how to paint.

Marvellous thread, Paul. I tend to shy away from traditional poetic structures (sonnets, etc), simply because I find them too restrictive. My writing becomes forced as a result of fitting into the framework. But using alliteration, internal rhyme, assonance, consonance in free verse, and I am flying

New Year, New Stuff! — Stuff by Dave Kurley …I mean, it’s all very well, spending your time sweating over getting the words in the right order on the page - but what about when you have to present it to your friends and peers? Or to a crowd of ...

First blog of the year: January's been a busy month so far...

www.davekurley.net/blogstuff/ne...

#blog #writing #wordplaywritersclub #portugal #alllanguageswelcome

Well, this is a wonderful surprise! A massive thank you to @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social for including me in this anthology!

#poetry #poems #notadvent #notnewyear #poetrycommunity #blueskypoets

Silence (From "A World Where" 2) is forbidden. All must talk in their sleep. Learn to talk over one another and listen at the same time. Any silence means imprisonment. Babies are encouraged from birth to scream. Writing is seen as a form of silence so everything is read aloud, traffic signs, shopfronts, TV and radio are talked over the top of all the time. Songs are sung constantly. There is no two minute silence as a sign of respect for the dead. It is disrespectful not to talk at the graveside, And in church, during a sermon or any speeches. Hecklers are encouraged. Everyone has a voice that must be heard. Everyone must listen and respond immediately.

For @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk #PoemsAbout #Static

Holidays When I was small, we took our holidays in a static caravan at the coast I would fall asleep listening to imagined voices in the radio silence As outside, creatures of the night prowled in a field of static The darkness illuminated by the white noise of the North Sea At dawn, a metal gas canister wheezed as my dad turned on the stove to boil a kettle which hissed and whistled to a gradual climax Tea made with boiled egg water is good for bones and teeth And blackened toast, thinly spread with margarine, fortifies the blood

#PoemsAbout #Static

Poem: Laundered In the arid, winter-dark a thousand sparks fly, looking for a conductor, any could cause a conflagration-- infinite possibilities (to breathe free) imagine if we could (stop shooting) wash and rinse in sun-streams and moon-rivers, apply a fabric sheet layered with feathers from a galactic phoenix to tumble us dry, to soothe the static, to leave us scented with hope as we rise.

Good morning! It's great to be back to #PoemsAbout #Static.
Thank you to @alanparrywriter.co.uk and @thebrokenspine.co.uk .

Happy New Year? — Stuff by Dave Kurley Also, a quick reminder: January 5th 6-8pm at The Hub, Alvaiázere is the inaugural meeting of the new branch of the Wordplay Writers Club. If you fancy a couple of hours of messing about with words (...

Last blog of the year - @zoomburst.substack.com's New Year post is live, with a whole bunch of poems musing on the passage of old into new, including Handover by yours truly!

www.davekurley.net/blogstuff/cl...

#blog #poetry #writers #HNY #poetrycommunity

The Starbeck Orion issue #14 Not Advent Anthology Day 4 of 25 featuring the poetry of Abigail Ottley A Feast of Image And Word

The Starbeck Orion issue #14 Not Advent Anthology Day 4 of 25 featuring the poetry of @abigailottley.bsky.social Abigail Ottley
the880.substack.com/p/the-starbe...

Out With the Old - In With the New Some thoughts to take into the New Year

As we approach New Years Eve, #sixtyodd poets would like to offer you some new year #poetry in Out With The Old - In With The New. And as an added bonus for Mary Pickford fans, there is a New Year photograph of her for you to cut out and keep. (although you will have to print it first)

The Starbeck Orion issue #14 Not Advent Anthology Day 2 of 25 featuring the poetry of Andrew Darlington A Feast Of Word And Image

The Starbeck Orion issue #14 Not Advent Anthology Day 2 of 25 featuring the poetry of Andrew Darlington
the880.substack.com/p/the-starbe...

A Poetry Award That Puts Poets First – And You Can Make It Happen - The Broken Spine Poets deserve more than empty prestige. They deserve real recognition, real opportunities, and real support. That is why I am launching The Broken Spine

The poetry community built this award. It was never about me—it was always about funding a career-changing prize for poets. Facilitated by @AlanParry83.bsky.social, but made possible #ByWritersForWriters. Last chance to give. 🔗

The Starbeck Orion issue #14 Not Advent Anthology Day 3 of 25 featuring the poetry of Mandy McDonald A Feast Of Word And Image

The Starbeck Orion issue #14 Not Advent Anthology Day 3 of 25 featuring the poetry of Mandy McDonald
the880.substack.com/p/the-starbe...

Susie Dent calls it the Merryneum.

The Starbeck Orion Issue #14 Not Advent An Anthology. Page 1 of 25 Featured Artworker: Seranya A Feast Of Image And Word

The Starbeck Orion Issue #14 Not Advent An Anthology. Page 1 of 25 Featured Artworker: Seranya
open.substack.com/pub/the880/p...

Season’s gratings… — Stuff by Dave Kurley …wherever you are, whatever deity you may or may not believe in, do your best to be nice to each other. At least until the Monopoly board comes out.

Last blog before Christmas: @zoomburst.substack.com's Dark Side of Christmas is out - and there's one of my poems in there! Have yourself a grim old Christmas...

www.davekurley.net/blogstuff/se...

#blog #poems #poets #poetry #poetrycommunity #krampus #seasonsgratings

The Dark Side of Christmas Festive wickedness from some of Sixty Odd's favourite Poets

Cheer up! This time next week it'll all be over! In the meantime try and get into the mood with some #Christmas #sixtyodd #poetry. Merry Christmas darlin' - Wherever you are...

Thank you, John, for your lovely, positive words.

Thank you, Sue. Money and death achieving some sort of unholy balance.