The Digital Nib

'No matter whether we write about what we know in a literal sense or not, we write about what we perceive, we write about how we imagine life has been, is, or might be.'

Writer and poet, Ysella Sims explains why imperfection is a fertile gift

We’re connected to thousands of years of poetic tradition with Kirk’s fidelity to form. The melodic movement of his visual verse takes us from turbulent sestina to the resting place of Noah’s Ark.

‘He was Adam, separate, oak and beech and hazel trees crowded him, squeezed him, they were pigs buckling and squirming and their flesh heaved against him, sizzled and withered to a crinkled brown mass of labyrinths that formed and melted, formed and melted, and the air was full of screams. His own.’

John Casquarelli’s poems exult in vividness and engage the body of the reader in unexpected ways.

Charlie Gracie weaves a wonderful tale of a bothy and a border post.

Dave Kavanagh reviews ‘The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree’ by Shokoofeh Azar, shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, 2020.

Poet, translator and essayist, Sophia Kouidou-Giles reveals why the freedom of the outdoors is a gift to be treasured.