Kathy Pimlott

June 2025

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I was thrilled to be the featured reader for the monthly Dandelions Poetry event in my hometown of Nottingham. I go to it whenever my regular visits to Nottingham coincide and take part in the open mics. It's a pleasure to get to know some local poets and find out what's happening in the poetry world outside the hothouse of London. The previous evening I gave an on-line reading for the Oxfordshire Stanza group, who were very welcoming. I really enjoy reading, thinking about what to read for any particular audience, preparing and delivering. 

I'm  looking forward to the in-person launch on 16th July of Magma 92, the Ownership issue, which I have co-edited with Paul Stephenson and Danne Jobin. It has been a lot of admin but so interesting to work at the backend of Submittable and to gain an understanding of the various elements which inform editorial decision-making. I think we've pulled together a selection of poems varied in both form and thematic interpretation which will be a pleasure to read, along with thoughtful essays on AI and the ghazal and other regular features. Magma has always been one of my favourite magazines, partly I think because it was there that my first poem was published after a 20 year hiatus, so it has been an honour to be involved in the production of this summer issue. 

Another new experience for me was a collaboration, Poetry Plays with the arts magazine Pomegranate, the author Louis de Bernières, Théâtre Volière and poets Jill Abram, Ellen McAteer, Clarissa Aykroyd and Mary Mulholland. This was staged at London's Cockpit Theatre. It was exciting to see how the project - six poems, each one in the voice of an object from nearby Alfie's Antique Market - was woven together into a narrative monologue.   My poem was in the voice of six soup spoons and I was delighted by the laughter it provoked - almost convinced I could have a new career in stand-up.

I’m reading

Rachel Spence's Daughter of the Sun (The Emma Press); Suzannah Evan's Green (Little Betty); Claudine Toutoungi's Emotional Support Horse (Carcanet) and Pam Thompson's Sub/urban Legends (Paper Swans Press)