Stayed up watching SummerSlam, then at 3:30am decided The Exorcist audiobook in the dark was a sensible choice. I am 43 years old & still scared myself shitless.
Alan Parry He/Him
@alanparrywriter.co.uk
Independent Writer Spoken-Word Artist EiC @thebrokenspine.co.uk Workshop Facilitator Podcast & Events Host #PromoteIndieLit
Wedding & graduation outta the way, now I can spend the rest of my summer as a blonde, without disappointing the family!
Me and Mrs P are all dressed up (as formal as I get) for my lil bro's (the absolute fucking hero he is) wedding!
I’m properly excited to be dipping my toes back into poetry waters: replying to emails, developing new ideas & finally completing work that sat on the back burner for a LOOOONG time because of my ill health. It feels good to be returning to @thebrokenspine.co.uk projects!
The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN)@thebrokenspine.co.uk · 2w agoA new Broken Spine workshop is in development. The Poetry of Cultural Debris will explore how mixtapes, cinema tickets, obsolete technology, childhood toys, half-remembered sitcoms & other pop-cultural remnants can become poems of memory, identity & private mythology. More soon.
A reputation built on performance eventually needs a bigger performance. A reputation built on the work only needs the work.
My earring collection has officially outgrown random drawers. New home: one tiny shipping container. I regret nothing.
For #FragmentsFriday host @matthewmcsmith.bsky.social of @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social A warning scratched into the tiled walls of the subconscious. A fragment about desire, denial, & the burdens we bury until they begin to bury us.
Who knew getting my ears pierced would unleash a full-blown earring addiction? 😂 What started as “I’ll just grab a couple of funky pairs” has spiralled into a situation where my earrings now need their own postcode. They’re running the place.
I'm so tired, I just tried to stroke my robot vacuum, thinking it was the dog.
Crack on peeps!
Mike O’Brien@zoomburst.substack.com · 2mo agoIn the absence of a #PoemsAbout this week, I am going to suggest an #OddFriday of #PoemsOn #OpportunityKnocks. I don't want to tread on the toes of @alanparrywriter.co.uk - so I am more than happy to take this down if he has something up his sleeve. I just want to have my regular read this Friday.
Really looking forward to attending @thebrokenspine.co.uk #poemsabout #openmic … thank you 🙏 @alanparrywriter.co.uk , these evenings have always been super wonderful supportive spaces 🥰
The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN)@thebrokenspine.co.uk · 4mo agoThis night matters more than it looks. To the room. To the people in it. To the ones rebuilding. 26 April, 19:00. #PoemsAbout #OpenMic #Return
Absolutely honoured to be part of this. Many thanks @alanparrywriter.co.uk
The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN)@thebrokenspine.co.uk · 4mo agoMajor announcement: #Wave3 of #TheWhiskeyTree is complete. Built on the work of #Wave1 + #Wave2 — writers like @karenpgonzalez.bsky.social @markantonyowen.com @eatthestorms.com et al — who laid the foundations and built this project into what it is. This is the final wave. #TheWhiskeyTree #Wave3
These are deep and perfectly suited for surfing #poetry that catches the waves to and from any shore. Another great @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk project! bsky.app/profile/theb...
The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN)@thebrokenspine.co.uk · 4mo agoMajor announcement: #Wave3 of #TheWhiskeyTree is complete. Built on the work of #Wave1 + #Wave2 — writers like @karenpgonzalez.bsky.social @markantonyowen.com @eatthestorms.com et al — who laid the foundations and built this project into what it is. This is the final wave. #TheWhiskeyTree #Wave3
I don’t say this lightly, this has been years in the making. I’ve worked with some of the finest poets I’ve come across, building this series: ten collections in total. Three waves of three — and one final, bumper anthology that will bring the whole project together. #TheWhiskeyTree #Wave3
The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN)@thebrokenspine.co.uk · 4mo agoMajor announcement: #Wave3 of #TheWhiskeyTree is complete. Built on the work of #Wave1 + #Wave2 — writers like @karenpgonzalez.bsky.social @markantonyowen.com @eatthestorms.com et al — who laid the foundations and built this project into what it is. This is the final wave. #TheWhiskeyTree #Wave3
Calling all troubadours! An idea. Post your audio poems. Tag them #PoemsAloud so they're easy to find & share. That's the idea. 🥳 Why? #PoemsAloud syncs perfectly w/ #PoemsAbout or can stand on its own. Some poems live beyond the page. I recorded a bunch & don't know what else to do w/ them 🤷♀️
Cmon Bluesky, do your thing! Wonderful to see BBP being increasingly active here!
Black Bough Poetry@blackboughpoetry.bsky.social · 4mo agoA one off #TopTweetTuesday where we will also run this on Bluesky. Next week’s prompts: - prophecy, collision of present day and myth, ritual, the future, the city. Up to 120 words. Imagistic, metaphorical, free verse. Inventive, quirky. Bold title, your name italicised. No A.I.
There’s a difference between critique and performance. Writers deserve more than recycled criticism dressed up as authority.
Yesterday I covered a Harry Potter inspired tattoo, because... Rowling! In its place something that celebrates a mate who took his own life in 2005.
But yeah, stay on X 🙄 Clubs complain to X about 'sickening' Grok posts - www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
Liverpool and Manchester United complain to X about 'sickening' Grok posts
The UK government says it is
bbc.co.uk
A5 page. 2 poems. 10pt Times New Roman. That’s the formality. Everything else? Break it. Rip up the rulebook. Burn the workshop. Write it like it matters. #PoemsAbout #LiftToTheSky #PoetsOfBluesky #WednesdayWIPs #Poetry #SubmissionWindow
Call for Submissions: Poetry With Spit, Spine, and Something to Say - The Broken Spine
Submissions Open Throughout February 2026 | Publication Later That Year
thebrokenspine.co.uk
Well this is annoying! Alt Text: A person stands in low, warm light wearing a yellow sleeveless bodysuit. Their arms are tattooed, and they hold a pineapple at their lower torso. Their head is slightly bowed, expression unreadable.
The Broken Spine (SUBS OPEN)@thebrokenspine.co.uk · 6mo agoLast week stripped us bare. This week: #UnderTheSkin. Not what touches you. What stays. Write the wanting that lingers. The look that learns your name. The ache that doesn’t leave when the body does. New theme opens Friday. Don’t post early. Use Alt Text. Tag #PoemsAbout to be found.
Small Prophets is the first time I've been able to concentrate on a TV show since last October, & fuck me was it good! Tender and beautifully funny with an outstanding cast!
Love an acceptance email on a Monday evening! 🥳 A poem I wrote for #PoemsAbout will be on #BBC #Upload Thursday night. Thank you so much @adamcrowther.bsky.social for choosing it and @alanparrywriter.co.uk for prompting it! ❤️ #poetry #writing
whenever someone talks about line breaks online someone always shows up and says something like LINE BREAKS ARE ONLY THERE FOR BREATHS and I just can't imagine saying you love poetry while hating it so much