Matthew Stewart
@roguestrands.bsky.social
Weaving ways through poetry. Second full collection, ‘Whatever You Do, Just Don’t’, a Poetry Society Book of the Year 2023, available from HappenStance Press.
The launch of Whatever You Do, Just Don't. Two years ago today. A terrific night and a packed house...
November 7, 2025 at 4:33 PM
The launch of Whatever You Do, Just Don't. Two years ago today. A terrific night and a packed house...
If you fancy a copy, just drop me a DM and I'll sort one out for you (U.K., mainland Europe, Canada and Oceania)...
November 2, 2025 at 1:43 PM
If you fancy a copy, just drop me a DM and I'll sort one out for you (U.K., mainland Europe, Canada and Oceania)...
What's it like to return to your home town years after leaving?
This poem from Whatever You Do, Just Don't finds that nothing's changed. But then everything's changed too...
This poem from Whatever You Do, Just Don't finds that nothing's changed. But then everything's changed too...
November 2, 2025 at 11:13 AM
What's it like to return to your home town years after leaving?
This poem from Whatever You Do, Just Don't finds that nothing's changed. But then everything's changed too...
This poem from Whatever You Do, Just Don't finds that nothing's changed. But then everything's changed too...
Everything depends on your perspective...
October 31, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Everything depends on your perspective...
This poem from Whatever You Do, Just Don't is for anybody who's had to clear a house, who's found objects that must have had significance for someone no longer here to tell their story....
October 28, 2025 at 6:48 PM
This poem from Whatever You Do, Just Don't is for anybody who's had to clear a house, who's found objects that must have had significance for someone no longer here to tell their story....
A Rogues' Gallery of the ace poets who read for us last night...!
October 23, 2025 at 11:20 AM
A Rogues' Gallery of the ace poets who read for us last night...!
Rogue Strands on Richard Meier's After the Miracle...
"In these poems, apparently simple words portray a maelstrom of life events. They provide a lesson in how to meet intense experience head-on, and turn it into art..."
roguestrands.blogspot.com/2025/10/rich...
"In these poems, apparently simple words portray a maelstrom of life events. They provide a lesson in how to meet intense experience head-on, and turn it into art..."
roguestrands.blogspot.com/2025/10/rich...
October 9, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Rogue Strands on Richard Meier's After the Miracle...
"In these poems, apparently simple words portray a maelstrom of life events. They provide a lesson in how to meet intense experience head-on, and turn it into art..."
roguestrands.blogspot.com/2025/10/rich...
"In these poems, apparently simple words portray a maelstrom of life events. They provide a lesson in how to meet intense experience head-on, and turn it into art..."
roguestrands.blogspot.com/2025/10/rich...
The best editor a bloke could wish for...
October 8, 2025 at 7:09 AM
The best editor a bloke could wish for...
¡Pimentón de la Vera...!
September 28, 2025 at 12:56 PM
¡Pimentón de la Vera...!
By chance, this was on my bedside table right now. R.I.P. Tony Harrison...
September 27, 2025 at 8:49 AM
By chance, this was on my bedside table right now. R.I.P. Tony Harrison...
My esteemed publisher (Nell at HappenStance) informs me that the Whatever You Do, Just Don't express train is fast approaching Reprint City. Yay!
However, in the meantime, both she and I still have some copies of the first print run available for purchase. You know where to find us...!
However, in the meantime, both she and I still have some copies of the first print run available for purchase. You know where to find us...!
September 25, 2025 at 9:06 PM
My esteemed publisher (Nell at HappenStance) informs me that the Whatever You Do, Just Don't express train is fast approaching Reprint City. Yay!
However, in the meantime, both she and I still have some copies of the first print run available for purchase. You know where to find us...!
However, in the meantime, both she and I still have some copies of the first print run available for purchase. You know where to find us...!
Good news ar the winery today...!
September 25, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Good news ar the winery today...!
I only want a single pair of hands to stretch my spine and open me at last...
September 21, 2025 at 11:07 AM
I only want a single pair of hands to stretch my spine and open me at last...
Certain numbers accompany us through our lives, connected to our memories of people and places, of significant events. What numbers remain with you decades later? And why?
This poem is taken from Whatever You Do, Just Don't (HappenStance Press, 2023), my second full collection...
This poem is taken from Whatever You Do, Just Don't (HappenStance Press, 2023), my second full collection...
September 11, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Certain numbers accompany us through our lives, connected to our memories of people and places, of significant events. What numbers remain with you decades later? And why?
This poem is taken from Whatever You Do, Just Don't (HappenStance Press, 2023), my second full collection...
This poem is taken from Whatever You Do, Just Don't (HappenStance Press, 2023), my second full collection...
This is perhaps my favourite George Kendrick poem, muscular yet restrained, packed with latent emotional impact.
September 6, 2025 at 10:15 PM
This is perhaps my favourite George Kendrick poem, muscular yet restrained, packed with latent emotional impact.
This is Villafranca de los Barros tonight as the summer heat begins to wane.
September 4, 2025 at 9:21 PM
This is Villafranca de los Barros tonight as the summer heat begins to wane.
A stellar line-up that would grace any of the top poetry festivals in the country. Except this time it's all free. We'd be delighted if you could join us in London on 22nd Oct...!
August 26, 2025 at 8:01 AM
A stellar line-up that would grace any of the top poetry festivals in the country. Except this time it's all free. We'd be delighted if you could join us in London on 22nd Oct...!
Richard Hoyes, sadly missed, my English teacher at Farnham College, in later years my friend. The first person to back my writing. The reason why I'm a poet today...
August 21, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Richard Hoyes, sadly missed, my English teacher at Farnham College, in later years my friend. The first person to back my writing. The reason why I'm a poet today...
Copy by copy, every hard-earned sale of a poetry collection is an act of trust, a contract between the poet and the reader that reaches far beyond cash. This is why I refuse to shy away from reminding you about Whatever You Do, Just Don't.
Drop me a DM and I'll sort out your signed copy for you...
Drop me a DM and I'll sort out your signed copy for you...
August 20, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Copy by copy, every hard-earned sale of a poetry collection is an act of trust, a contract between the poet and the reader that reaches far beyond cash. This is why I refuse to shy away from reminding you about Whatever You Do, Just Don't.
Drop me a DM and I'll sort out your signed copy for you...
Drop me a DM and I'll sort out your signed copy for you...
Who said there's no poetry to be found at a car boot sale?! I have a new poem in this week's issue of The Spectator...
August 14, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Who said there's no poetry to be found at a car boot sale?! I have a new poem in this week's issue of The Spectator...
The peppers are changing colour here in Extremadura...
August 5, 2025 at 9:49 AM
The peppers are changing colour here in Extremadura...
Close editing is an act of creative generosity. Working with the poet, line by line, word by word, takes so much out of editors that they often struggle to sustain their own writing. It's a huge sacrifice!
This is why I'm so grateful to Helena Nelson for her graft with Whatever You Do, Just Don't.
This is why I'm so grateful to Helena Nelson for her graft with Whatever You Do, Just Don't.
August 4, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Close editing is an act of creative generosity. Working with the poet, line by line, word by word, takes so much out of editors that they often struggle to sustain their own writing. It's a huge sacrifice!
This is why I'm so grateful to Helena Nelson for her graft with Whatever You Do, Just Don't.
This is why I'm so grateful to Helena Nelson for her graft with Whatever You Do, Just Don't.
La caña. Y la tapita.
July 27, 2025 at 12:42 PM
La caña. Y la tapita.