When you start writing a poem, do you try to work out in advance what you are going to say?   When we read strong poems written by other people, it is easy to believe that they arrived perfectly finished and fully formed. In fact, the best poems can grow out of the silliest ideas or a fragment ...

What creative endeavours are you considering for 2026? As you contemplate new projects and recommit to old ones, do you wish you could tap into the spontaneous energy of children?   As we celebrate International Day of Education on 24 January, the AVBOB Poetry Project celebrates the courageous,...

We gather enormous quantities of information in the course of a lifetime. When we write poetry, however, we often fail to draw on this specialised information, limiting ourselves to the world of emotions and personal recollections.   Keith Gottschalk is a poet and retired academic with a boundl...