The Perils of Optimism by Frank McMahon This is the ninth volume of poetry from Nottingham’s ‘Bard of the Brief’, DIY poet’s founder Frank McMahon. A very prolific writer over the years (he confesses to having written over two thousand five hundred poems) his talent show no sign of waning. Written in easily digestible bite-sized chunks, the topics addressed in this collection range from Christmas in the trenches to cars with KKK number plates, from running to Heinz baked beans….

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WHAT’S SUE BEEN READING? A CHOOSING by LIZ LOCHHEAD POLYGON 2011 (PAPERBACK 2015 REPRINT) I came late to Liz Lochhead, finding her in an anthology earlier this year, later buying this collection with birthday book tokens. It was love at first sight. This collection is engaging and accessible, written with a purity that shines from each piece. I love the way her poetry carries me along and makes me think, sometimes smile and nod, sometimes pause and reflect but always…

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Review of Liz Berry’s Black Country/ Black Country is the first collection from Liz Berry, a poet from the Black Country, the industrial area west of Birmingham. Berry uses a lot of dialect and vernacular in her poems. Examples are Bostin Fittle which means great food. There is a lovely poem called Homing which is about a relative who hid or toned down her accent after elocution lessons with the striking image of her keeping her accent in a box…

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Q. What inspires you to write? A. I know others have said it, but it does seem to be true. I come from a big noisy family and – you may not believe this – I was probably the quietest one, partly cos I was a bit deaf and conversation kept flying by me and I missed loads of whatever was going on. My brothers and sisters are all bright and interesting people, and they were all better at commanding…

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DIY Poets Frank, Lytisha, Martin and Leanne recently supported folk musician Sam Carter at The Hop Barn in Southwell.