Kathy Pimlott

September 2026

Writing very slowly but writing. One poem came from going to see a film about the sculptor Steve Dilworth who, until very recently, lived on the Isle of Harris and took his inspiration and his materials from the landscape surrounding him. In the Q&A afterwards, I was very struck by Steve's ambivalence about what happens to his work once a piece is finished. He is a natural chatterer and told stories about his thinking behind the pieces, many of which contain concealed items. I was interested to know how much it mattered to him that we, the viewers/consumers, know about those secrets. His queasiness about ownership and fixed placement was also instructive. I came away with a renewed conviction of the primacy of the act of making. Nevertheless, you can read my subsequent poem, Stuff the World is Made Of, here. 

Yes, I like to be read. I would like to be a pure artist and derive all my self-worth from making but I'm not. I know that's where the true value lies, but I do like a bit of recognition. So am very pleased this month to have poems in The Alchemy Spoon and on Ink, Sweat and Tears. I'm also particularly thrilled to have poems in one of Candlestick Press's 'instead of a card' mini anthologies, 10  Poemsabout Beerand in Macmillan's very smart collaboration with Deb Alma, Poetry Poison: Humbug,due out in October.

I'm reading:

Martin Figura's The Remaining Men (Cinnamon Press); David Floyd's A Night at the Snooker (Hearing Eye) and Jake Wild Hall's Alanis Morisette (Broken Sleep Books)

​