Poets Mary Jean Chan, David Whyte, and Anthony Anaxagorou read their work and unpack emotional truth, craft choices, and poems built from lived detail.
You'll learn:
- How early “bad” poems can still be soothing and give you a way through angst.
- Why simplicity of voice can beat complexity when a poem needs clarity.
- How form and layout can carry a poem’s physicality, including a modern sonnet’s constraints.
- How to face writer’s block by writing directly about the ways you can’t write.
- Why repetition works in live readings, helping the audience “hear” what just landed.
- How to mine notebooks for strong lines, then iterate through multiple drafts and edits.
- A simple morning practice for capturing overheard language until you find where the poem starts.
Resources and Links:
About the poets:
Mary Jean Chan is the author of Flèche and Bright Fear (Faber), and their work has won and been shortlisted for major prizes.
David Whyte is a poet and writer whose books include Consolations and The Bell and the Blackbird, alongside ongoing poetry and speaking work.
Anthony Anaxagorou is a poet and publisher, founder of Out-Spoken, and author of After the Formalities and Heritage Aesthetics.
For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.
For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.
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