North Sea Poets

A quote from Joey Connelly. The text is set against a white background and reads: 'Burstiness: how often textual features occur together in bursts. Human texts tend to have higher concentrations of such features – are highly bursty – while AI texts tend towards uniformity, stability, evenness'. North Sea Poets. Metrics: Machine-Tooling a New Human Poetry. Northseapoets.substack.com.' The Substack logo is in the bottom right corner.

Catch up on new writing from the #NorthSeaPoets 🌊

#AmReading Metrics: Machine-Tooling a New Human Poetry – NSP Guest Post! Joey Connelly on perplexity, burstiness and the strange new light AI is turning on our all-too-human art form

northseapoets.substack.com

#PoetrySky

A quote from TS Eliot against a light teal background. The text reads: 'Whether one is a prolific writer or not, the question whether one is a writer at all is one which constantly asks itself and I think ought to go on asking itself ... At any rate I have never got rid of it myself and it attacks me from time to time most unexpectedly.'. – TS Eliot, letter to Henry Treece, 9 Sept 1943' northseapoets.com. The North Sea Poets logo is in the bottom right corner.

– TS Eliot, letter to Henry Treece, 8 Sept 1943

#NorthSeaPoets #CommonplaceBook #PoetrySky

A description of upcoming North Sea Poets events set against a light teal background. The text reads: 'Upcoming Events. 3rd April 7pm BST. The Kirk Sessions: an evening of poetry and music. Kathleen Jamie, Don Paterson, John Glenday, Lesley Harrison, Lisa Brockwell with music from David Ogilvy & Don Paterson at Cortachy Kirk. Starts 13th April 11am-1pm BST. Sunday Morning Reading Circle with Don Paterson. Join Don Paterson on Sunday mornings in April to explore great poems in an online workshop for writers and readers alike. northseapoets.com.'The North Sea Poets logo is in the top right corner.

Coming up on northseapoets.com 🌊

Tickets are now available for the first #NorthSeaPoets live event! Join us at Cortachy Kirk for The Kirk Sessions: an evening of poetry and music.

Still a few tickets left for Don Paterson's Sunday Morning Reading Circle starting 13th April.

#PoetrySky

A quote from Henry Moore against a dark teal background. The text reads: 'There is a right physical size for everything'. – Henry Moore, ‘The Sculptor Speaks’. The Listener 18 Aug 1937. Reproduced on tate.org' northseapoets.com. The North Sea Poets logo is in the bottom right corner.

– Henry Moore, ‘The Sculptor Speaks’. The Listener 18 Aug 1937. Reproduced on tate.org

#NorthSeaPoets #CommonplaceBook #PoetrySky

An AI generated image of a woman in a white robe looking up light bursting from a feather while an old man with a white beard and a brown robe looks at a book, his head in his hands. Below them are signs that say 'burstiness' and 'perplexity'. The text reads: 'Metrics: Machine-Tooling a New Human Poetry. NSP Guest Post! Joey Connolly on perplexity, burstiness and the strange new light AI is turning on our all-too-human art form. North Sea Poets. northseapoets.substack.com'. The Substack logo is in the bottom right corner.

New Guest Post! 📰

Metrics: Machine-Tooling a New Human Poetry – Joey Connolly on perplexity, burstiness and the strange new light AI is turning on our all-too-human art form

Read the post: buff.ly/7rchFm9

#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky

Yes Kirrie is landlocked but North Sea Poets will be there, live, in a kirk on Good Friday. Poetry and music - join us! Details below.

A quote from Karen Solie from 'To Begin at the Beginning.' The text is set against a white background and reads: 'Spring is potential, wonderful horrible potential, that might be at odds with one's inner weather'. North Sea Poets. South of my Days' Northseapoets.substack.com.' The Substack logo is in the bottom right corner.

Catch up on new writing from the #NorthSeaPoets 🌊

#AmReading To Begin at the Beginning – It is spring, or it will be eventually – we look forward to it with some of our favourite poems

northseapoets.substack.com

#PoetrySky

A quote from Louise Glück against a light teal background. The text reads: 'The artist's task, then, involves the transformation of the actual to the true'. – Louise Glück, Proofs and Theories. northseapoets.com. The North Sea Poets logo is in the bottom right corner.

– Louise Glück, Proofs and Theories

#NorthSeaPoets #CommonplaceBook #PoetrySky

A description of The Kirk Sessions. The text reads: 'The Kirk Sessions: an evening of poetry and music. Kathleen Jamie, Don Paterson, John Glenday, Lesley Harrison, Lisa Brockwell with music from David Ogilvy & Don Paterson. 7pm Friday 3rd April. Cortachy Kirk, Kirriemuir.' The North Sea Poets and Bookmark Book Festival logos are at the bottom of the image and there's a white arrow pointing to the next slide. In the background is a photo of a brick church with leafy green trees in the background.

Announcing the first #NorthSeaPoets live event 🌊

The Kirk Sessions: an evening of poetry and music

Kathleen Jamie, Don Paterson, John Glenday, Lesley Harrison, Lisa Brockwell with music from David Ogilvy & Don Paterson

🗓️ 3rd April
⏰ 7pm BST
📍 Cortachy Kirk, Kirriemuir
🎟️ £12/£10

buff.ly/1PuNzD4

A quote from August Strindberg against a dark teal background. The text reads: 'I’ve been told that the Malays drill holes in the bamboo stalks that grow in their forests. When the window blows, they lie on the ground to listen to the symphonies produced by these gigantic Aeolian harps. The strange thing is that each listener hears a unique tune and a unique harmony, all according to the whim of the wind'. –August Strindberg, 'On Chance in Artistic Creation' northseapoets.com. The North Sea Poets logo is in the bottom right corner.

– August Strindberg, 'On Chance in Artistic Creation'

#NorthSeaPoets #CommonplaceBook #PoetrySky

A photo looking up into the branches of a cherry blossom tree. The tree is in bloom and the sky is blue. The text reads: 'To Begin at the beginning. It is spring, or it will be eventually – we look forward to it with some of our favourite poems. North Sea Poets. Northseapoets.substack.com' The Substack logo is in the bottom right corner.

New post 📰

To Begin at the Beginning – It is spring, or it will be eventually – we look forward to it with some of our favourite poems

Read here: buff.ly/2YCpWAc

#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky

A quote from Lisa Brockwell's 'South of my Days.' The text is set against a white background and reads: 'Weather often signals how little control humans have over our lives. We are at the mercy of this world, not vice-versa. North Sea Poets. South of my Days' Northseapoets.substack.com.' The Substack logo is in the bottom right corner.

Catch up on new writing from the #NorthSeaPoets 🌊

#AmReading South of my Days – Lisa Brockwell longs for the light while hiding from the glare

Subscribe at northseapoets.substack.com

#PoetrySky

A quote from Douglas Stewart against a light teal background. The text reads: 'I am to break into the conversation / With a word that feels like snow to say'. –Douglas Stewart, The Fire on the Snow' northseapoets.com. The North Sea Poets logo is in the bottom right corner.

– Douglas Stewart, The Fire on the Snow

#NorthSeaPoets #CommonplaceBook #PoetrySky

A quote from guest poster Andrew Neilson's 'Auden's 'Imaginary Friends.' The text is set against a white background and reads: 'With so much readerly attention being drawn to the rhythm and rhyme of formal poems, increasingly so as they become ever more unusual in contemporary verse, not nearly enough attention is paid to the sentences running through that rhythm and rhyme. North Sea Poets. Auden's 'Imaginary Friends' Northseapoets.substack.com.' The Substack logo is in the bottom right corner.

ICYMI 👀

Don't miss this guest post: Auden's 'Imaginary Friends' – @andrewjamesneilson.bsky.social on how the literati cope as Rome falls

buff.ly/2GbQ3tb

#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky

A description of a new North Sea Poets event. The text reads: 'Sunday Morning Reading Circle with Don Paterson. Join Don Paterson on Sunday mornings in April to explore great poems in an online workshop for writers and readers alike. We'll look at what the poems mean, how they work, how they might relate to the longer tradition, and what they might teach us as writers and readers. Reading materials will be provided in advance. Northseapoets.com.' The North Sea Poets logo is in the bottom left corner. The background photo is of a white dog looking down steps into a forest.

Just a few tickets left for the Sunday Morning Reading Circle!

Join @dharmabam.bsky.social on Sunday mornings in April for the Sunday Morning Reading Circle.

🗓️ Sundays 12th/19th/26th April
⏰ 11am-1pm BST
🎟️ £115/£85 for all three events

#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky

A photo looking out to bright aqua sea with trees framing the right and left corners. The text reads: 'South of my Days. Lisa Brockwell longs for the light while hiding from the glare. North Sea Poets. Northseapoets.substack.com' The Substack logo is in the bottom right corner.

New post 📰

South of my Days – Lisa Brockwell longs for the light while hiding from the glare

Read here: buff.ly/0jexV9x

#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky

A quote from guest poster Andrew Neilson's 'Auden's 'Imaginary Friends.' The text is set against a white background and reads: 'Poets have always written for an imaginary friend, and not just in the specific mode of literary address that Anthony Hecht refers to. Poets write, in a conversation of influence and allusion, with poets that went before them – and given those poets tend to be dead, any friendship being forged is by definition imaginary. North Sea Poets. Auden's 'Imaginary Friends' Northseapoets.substack.com.' The Substack logo is in the bottom right corner.

Catch up on new writing from the #NorthSeaPoets 🌊

#AmReading Auden's 'Imaginary Friends' – @andrewjamesneilson.bsky.social on how the literati cope as Rome falls

Subscribe at northseapoets.substack.com

#PoetrySky

A quote from Louise Glück against a light teal background. The text reads: 'We look at the world once, in childhood. The rest is memory. –Louise Glück, Nostos' northseapoets.com. The North Sea Poets logo is in the bottom right corner.

– Louise Glück, Nostos

#NorthSeaPoets #CommonplaceBook #PoetrySky

A quote from Karen Solies's Substack post 'Deadlines and Reverie' against a white background. The texts reads: 'In reverie I was able to return to an experience that was – ironically, given the mandate of the discount store – rich, multidimensional with fear and comfort, awe and novelty. North Sea Poets. Reverie and Deadlines. Northseapoets.substack.com.' The Substack logo is in the bottom right corner.

ICYMI 👀

Reverie and Deadlines - Karen Solie revisits the Army & Navy store

Read here: buff.ly/qaxOVUW

#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky

A painting by Thomas Cole showing the destruction of a classical city. The text reads: 'Auden's 'Imaginary Friends' NSP Guest Post! Andrew Neilson on how the literati cope as Rome falls. North Sea Poets. Northseapoets.substack.com' The Substack logo is in the bottom right corner.

New guest post 📰

@andrewjamesneilson.bsky.social on how the literati cope as Rome falls

Read here: buff.ly/2GbQ3tb

#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky

A description of a new North Sea Poets event. The text reads: 'Sunday Morning Reading Circle with Don Paterson. Join Don Paterson on Sunday mornings in April to explore great poems in an online workshop for writers and readers alike. We'll look at what the poems mean, how they work, how they might relate to the longer tradition, and what they might teach us as writers and readers. Reading materials will be provided in advance. Northseapoets.com.' The North Sea Poets logo is in the bottom left corner. The background photo is of a white dog looking down steps into a forest.

New event on northseapoets.com 🌊

Join @dharmabam.bsky.social on Sunday mornings in April for the Sunday Morning Reading Circle.

🗓️ Sundays 12th/19th/26th April
⏰ 11am-1pm BST
🎟️ £115/£85 for all three events
⭐ Only a few tickets left!

#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky

A quote from Karen Solies's Substack post 'Deadlines and Reverie' against a white background. The texts reads: 'A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper. North Sea Poets. Reverie and Deadlines. Northseapoets.substack.com.' The Substack logo is in the bottom right corner.

Catch up on new writing from the #NorthSeaPoets 🌊

#amreading Reverie and Deadlines - Karen Solie revisits the Army & Navy store

Subscribe at northseapoets.substack.com

#PoetrySky

A quote from Michael Donaghy against a light teal background. The text reads: 'In the entire shameful history of academic over-interpretation there is no greater disproportion of text to commentary than the case of Pound's little poem about faces on the Paris underground. Michael Donaghy, The Shape of the Dance' northseapoets.com. The North Sea Poets logo is in the bottom right corner.

– Michael Donaghy, The Shape of the Dance

#NorthSeaPoets #CommonplaceBook #PoetrySky

The text reads: 'Follow North Sea Poets on Substack for reflections on poetry, poetics and the writing life that complement our online courses and events. @northseapoets northseapoets.com' The Substack and North Sea Poets logos are in the bottom left corner and middle. In the background is a photo of a grassy hill leading down to the beach. There's a small white house in the bottom right corner and beyond that the sea.

The Spring #NorthSeaPoets course starts tonight!

Missed out on tickets? Want first access to new courses and events? Subscribe for reflections on poetry, poetics and the writing life that complement our online courses and events delivered to your inbox ✉️

northseapoets.substack.com

#PoetrySky

A quote from Hannah Arendt against a dark teal background. The text reads: 'Poetry, whose material is language, is perhaps the most human and least worldly of the arts, the one in which the end product remains closest to the thought that inspired it. Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition.' northseapoets.com. The North Sea Poets logo is in the bottom right corner.

– Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition

#NorthSeaPoets #CommonplaceBook #PoetrySky

A brown garage door surrounded by yellow bollards. The text reads: 'Army & Navy. A Poem by Karen Solie. Reverie and Deadlines. Karen Solie revisits the Army & Navy store. North Sea Poets. Northseapoets.substack.com' The Substack logo is in the bottom right corner.

New post 📰

Deadlines and Reverie – Karen Solie revisits the Army & Navy store

Read here: buff.ly/CGDVkBb

#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky

An AI-generated image of a man in an old fashioned brown suit equipped with a gun. The text reads 'The Burns Identity. Northseapoets.substack.com'. The Substack logo is in the bottom right corner.

A quote from Don Paterson's Substack post 'The Burns Identity' against a white background. The texts reads: 'Burns was a genius at fastening the form of address best able to manipulate the emotions and affections of his interlocutor, through a brilliant mix of insight, impersonation and flattery, both concealed and unconcealed. North Sea Poets. The Burns Identity. Northseapoets.substack.com.' The Substack logo is in the bottom right corner.

Catch up on new writing from the #NorthSeaPoets 🌊

#amreading The Burns Identity - Don Paterson on the sudden disappearance of Robert Burns

Subscribe at northseapoets.substack.com

#PoetrySky

A quote from Alice Oswald against a light teal background. The text reads: 'It's only when other communication is absolutely impossible that a poem has to exist. Alice Oswald, The Paris Review no. 119.' northseapoets.com. The North Sea Poets logo is in the bottom right corner.

– Alice Oswald, The Paris Review no.119

#NorthSeaPoets #CommonplaceBook #PoetrySky

A quote from TS Eliot Prize Chair Michael Hofmann on Karen Solie's Wellwater. The text reads: 'The poems of Wellwater come from the whole of an adventurously lived life. They hold the two sentiments, The world is a beautiful place/The world is a terrible place, in perfect equipoise. They offer no happy endings, no salvation in past or future, in epiphany or private happiness. And yet they are anything but grim, with an ironic humour that plays over our increasingly euphemism-hungry culture.' In the background is a photo of the frothy sea and dark blue skies. The North Sea Poets is at the bottom.

ICYMI 👀

We're still celebrating Karen Solie's 2025 T.S. Eliot Prize for her collection 'Wellwater' (Picador Poetry). Congratulations Karen!

Read more of what Chair Michael Hoffmann and the other judges had to say: buff.ly/M30pzBF

#NorthSeaPoets #PoetrySky #TSEliotPrize

A quote from Milan Kundera against a dark teal background. The text reads: 'HAGGARD. I love this old German word, which expresses the feeling of being lost in a foreign language. Milan Kundera, 89 Words followed by Prague, a Disappearing Poem.' northseapoets.com. The North Sea Poets logo is in the bottom right corner.

– Milan Kundera, 89 Words followed by Prague, a Disappearing Poem

#NorthSeaPoets #CommonplaceBook #PoetrySky