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David Morley

@profdavidmorley.bsky.social

3.8K followers 10K following 43 posts

Professor at Warwick Uni, Poet at Carcanet, Ted Hughes Award for The Invisible Gift, PBS Choice for FURY, Forward Prize finalist, Writer of The Cambridge Introduction to Creative Writing, Fellow Royal Society of Literature,Thought Fox.

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David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · Nov 14

Releasing the flock into blue sky after the cage closed around Twitter. Let's begin with Beethoven's Yellowhammer.
www.the-tls.co.uk/literature/o...

'Beethoven's Yellowhammer' by David Morley | Original poem | The TLS

“dzi-dzi-dzi-dzi” – call of a Yellowhammer Some birds sing the notes of their names like the Hoopoe and Tinkling Cisticola; or clamour and chatter like the Kittiwake or Chachalaca. Some ask you to tak...

www.the-tls.co.uk

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David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · 2h

Happy World Bird Migration Day
RINGING SWALLOWS
Swallows clip the lake for a sip of water,
or kerfuffle their feathers as they dip for a bathe.
They stipple ellipses across the surface like a skimming stone.
None skitter the water except by glitch or error
nor overwinter under its ice-barred door.

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David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · 3d

🎙️ The Verb, BBC Radio 4 19 Oct, 17:10
David Morley & Sinéad Morrissey join Ian McMillan to chat birdsong, RS Thomas, Tony Harrison, stammering, and a gobful of pebbles. Featuring Daniel Sluman (Versus Versus) & Arthur Sze, new U.S. Poet Laureate.
🔗 bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002l236
#TheVerb #Carcanet

BBC Radio 4 - The Verb, 19/10/2025

Ian McMillan's guests include Sinéad Morrissey and David Morley.

bbc.co.uk

David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · 8d

Bumbarrel, Hedge Mumruffin, Poke Pudding,
Huggen-Muffin, Juffit, Jack-in-a-Bottle,
Feather Poke, Hedge Jug, Prinpriddle,
Ragamuffin, Billy-featherpoke, Puddneypoke,
Bellringer, Nimble Tailor, French Pie,
Long Pod, Bush Oven, and Miller’s Thumb.

I tucked them in this box before they woke.

Carcanet Press @carcanet.bsky.social · 8d

We're delighted to see so many of our poets featured in the 2026 Forward Book of Poetry!💐

Included from Carcanet are: Catherine-Esther Cowie, @profdavidmorley.bsky.social, Fawzia Muradali Kane and Rebecca Watts.

Congratulations to all four of our poets, and all the other poets included!

David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · 9d

Wrapping up BBC Radio 4's The Verb with Sinead Morrissey and Ian McMillan. We stole a 5Live Studio. Happy National Poetry Day.

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David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · 9d

Off to BBC Media City to record The Verb with Ian McMillan, Sinead Morrissey and Fiona Benson. Happy National Poetry Day!

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David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · 13d

Then it's the kumquat fruit expresses best
how days have darkness round them like a rind,
life has a skin of death that keeps its zest.
'A Kumquat for John Keats'
Tony Harrison R.I.P.

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David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · 28d

Mr Cogito's imagination
has the motion of a pendulum

it crosses with precision
from suffering to suffering

there is no place in it
for the artificial fires of poetry

he would like to remain faithful
to uncertain clarity

Zbigniew Herbert

David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · Sep 10

Tonight, with foxes! wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/...

wordsworth.org.uk

Reposted by David Morley

Carcanet Press @carcanet.bsky.social · Sep 8

This Wednesday at 7.30pm, join David Morley online where he will be reading and discussing his recent publication 'Passion', at an event organised by Wordsworth Grasmere. @profdavidmorley.bsky.social

More information here:⬇️
www.carcanet.co.uk/events/passi...

Passion by David Morley: Wordsworth Grasmere Online Event - Carcanet Press

Join David Morley at an online event organised by Wordsworth Grasmere. On Wednesday 10th September, David will read from his latest collection Passion

www.carcanet.co.uk

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David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · Sep 2

‘Speech thaws into life’ – read Rebecca Tamás on how Passion celebrates Romany language, resilience, and our intimacy with the natural world www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

The best recent poetry – review roundup

Passion by David Morley; Versus Versus edited by Rachael Boast; So What by Frederick Seidel; In the Hollow of the Wave by Nina Mingya Powles; Transfigurations by Jay Wright

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by David Morley

Carcanet Press @carcanet.bsky.social · Sep 2

Join David Morley online on Wednesday 10th September at 7.30pm where he will be reading and discussing his recent publication 'Passion', at an event organised by Wordsworth Grasmere. @profdavidmorley.bsky.social

More information here:⬇️
www.carcanet.co.uk/events/passi...

Passion by David Morley: Wordsworth Grasmere Online Event - Carcanet Press

Join David Morley at an online event organised by Wordsworth Grasmere. On Wednesday 10th September, David will read from his latest collection Passion

www.carcanet.co.uk

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David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · Aug 28

I truly appreciate this Alison. Thank you.

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David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · Aug 28

Sometimes I need to remind myself.

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Reposted by David Morley

Alison Brackenbury @abrackenbury.bsky.social · Aug 26

'When I died, I woke
to a skylark song'...
'Passion' is alive with birds (except the shearwater,its 'stomach full of plastic'). Its poems note
'The crowns of trees do not touch each other'.
'I like to think they do this out of love'.
@profdavidmorley.bsky.social , 'Passion', @carcanet.bsky.social

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David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · Aug 20

A night of poetry in flight—Romani, science, birdsong, and your own bird-poems at the open mic online at Wordsworth Grasmere. wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/... @carcanet.bsky.social

'Go to the poets, they will speak to thee': David Morley - Wordsworth Grasmere

Curated and hosted by poet Kim Moore, our online contemporary poetry reading series continues throughout 2025. We will be listening...

wordsworth.org.uk

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Reposted by David Morley

Carcanet Press @carcanet.bsky.social · Aug 19

@profdavidmorley.bsky.social

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David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · Jul 10

It is a privilege to see Passion acknowledged by @johnclegg37.bsky.social in the @londonreviewbookshop.co.uk this week. His choice of ‘The Shyness of the Crown’ as poem of the year (so far!) is genuinely appreciated. Thank you, John and @lrb.co.uk! www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/booklists/jo...

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David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · Jun 19

A short bird-interrupted film about why passion has a place in poetry.
youtu.be/5Y2BRnwNiXA

Meet the Author: David Morley Discusses Passion

YouTube video by Carcanet Press

youtu.be

David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · Jun 18

‘The baby names for birds—jumplings, pufflings, eaglets, owlets, eyas. The dialect spill of names for long-tailed tits— Prinpriddle, Ragamuffin, Billy-featherpoke, Puddneypoke, Bellringer, Nimble Tailor, French Pie, and Miller’s Thumb.’ open.substack.com/pub/carcanet...

Passion: David Morley

Beethoven’s Yellowhammer by David Morley

open.substack.com

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David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · Jun 18

Passion joins his new friend FURY @carcanet.bsky.social

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David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · Jun 18

Join us to celebrate the launch of my new book Passion, hosted by Sinéad Morrissey. The event will include readings, a lively discussion, and a Q&A with the audience. And yes—I promise flocks of birds. bit.ly/3FVsVU2

Passion by David Morley: Carcanet Online Book Launch - Carcanet Press

Please join us to celebrate the launch of Passion by David Morley. The reading will be hosted by Sinéad Morrissey. The event will feature readings and

bit.ly

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David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · Jun 11

This Sat at St Hilda’s Oxford: join me & Steve Ely for a free reading & talk on writing & the climate emergency, plus local eco-poetry. All welcome. Details: www.st-hildas.ox.ac.uk/events/writi...

Writing Nature, Speaking Human: Poetry in the Age of the Anthropocene | St Hilda's College Oxford

www.st-hildas.ox.ac.uk

David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · May 30

What if God were Salieri to Nature's Mozart?

David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · Mar 30

Thank you!

David Morley @profdavidmorley.bsky.social · Jan 23

I.M. Michael Longley
All the wild flowers of the Burren
to you: thyme, valerian, loosestrife,
Meadowsweet, tway blade, crowfoot, ling, angelica,
Herb robert, marjoram, cow parsley, sundew, vetch,
Mountain avens, wood sage, ragged robin, stitchwort,
Yarrow, lady’s bedstraw, bindweed, bog pimpernel.

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