Bob's Current Reading List 

Funland and Other Poems

Dannie Abse

Hutchinson of London, London, 1973

Date completed: 15th May, 2026

(Note: link goes to Abe Books UK)

Five Fifty-Five

Maura Dooley

Bloodaxe Books, Hexham, Northumberland, 2023

Leeds Stanza choice April 2026

Date completed: 7th May, 2026

Touching from a Distance: Ian Curtis and Joy Division

Deborah Curtis

faber and faber, London, 1995. 2001 edition.

For the lyrics of Ian Curtis pp 145-201

Date completed: 7th May, 2026

Dynamo

Luke Samuel Yates

smith | doorstop Sheffield 2023

Date completed: 28th April, 2026

New Cemetery

Simon Armitage

Faber and Faber, London, 2025

I listened to this as an audiobook read by the author on 31st March, 2026

Self-Portrait As Othello

Jason Allen-Paisant

Carcanet Poetry, Manchester, 2023

Leeds Stanza choice March 2026
Poetry Book Society Book choice March 2023

Completed re-reading: 22nd April, 2026

the North

Issue 71

Magazine subscription

Current reading

Invocation

Izzy Brittain

Yaffle's Nest, Horsforth, 2025

Date completed: 11th March, 2026

Letters to a Young Poet

Rainer Maria Rilke

Translated by M.D. Herter Norton

W.W. Norton and Company, London, 2004.

(Revised edition. Originally published 1934.)

Current reading

An Uncharacteristically Lengthy Poem by Dean Wilson About Interpretive Dance

Dean Wilson

DeanWorld, 2025

Date completed: 25th February, 2026

Gain Access

Ian Harker

Smith | Doorstop Books, Sheffield, 2025

Pamphlet

Date completed: 24th February, 2026

House Anthems

Ralph Dartford

Valley Press, Scarborough, 2024

Date completed: 20th February, 2026

Wellwater

Karen Solie

Picador Poetry, London, 2025

Leeds Stanza choice, February 2026

Date Completed: 16/02/2026

My Life In Verse. A Journey Through Poetry

Edited by Alexis Kirschbaum

Penguin Classics, London, 2009

Current anthology read

The Taking Part

Joe Williams

Maytree Press

Pamphlet

Re-read: 31 January 2026

The Iliad

Homer, translated by Emily Wilson

W.W.Norton and Company, London, 2023

Leeds Stanza December 2025 / January 2026 Choice

Date Completed 16/ 01/2026

Side-eye

Matt Nicholson

Yaffle, Horsforth, 2025

Date Completed:18/12/2025

Mouth

Mona Arshi

Chatto & Windus, London, 2025

Poetry Book Society Autumn 2025 choice

Date completed: 30/11/2025

Swell

Maria Ferguson

Penguin Books, London, 2025

Date completed: 27th November, 2025

Pulling Faces

Zakariye

Little Betty, Nottingham, 2025

Pamphlet

Date completed: 26th November, 2025

Like a Tree, Walking

Vahni Capildeo

Carcanet Poetry, Manchester, 2021

Poetry Book Society Choice, Winter 2021

Date completed: 20th November, 2025

Bread and Circus

Airea D. Matthews

Picador, London, 2023

Poetry Book Society Choice Summer 2023

Date completed: 17th November 2025

Thin Spells

Kristina Diprose

Black Cat Poetry Press, UK, 2025

Pamphlet

Date completed: 8th October, 2026

Killing the Piano

Joe Williams

Half Moon Books, Otley, 2017

Date read: 5/10/2025