Rishi Dastidar on life, poetry, and writing.

Rishi Dastidar and I chat about life, poetry, writing and poets always having another job. Rishi gives advice on how to be a poet, embracing Insta poets and whether last lines are harder than first lines, or second books harder than first books; and why we love lists and why we need to pay more attention to verbs. He is open to offers from companies seeking a Chief Poetry Officer. A fascinating and wide ranging chat from this leading British poet. Transcript at the blog here with video.   Links to Rishi’s books: Tickertape here and Saffron Jack here. His twitter here.  *** Rishi Dastidar’s poetry has been published by Financial Times, New Scientist and the BBC amongst many others. His debut poetry collection Ticker-tape and his second book is Saffron Jack. He is chair of the London writer development organisation Spread The Word. Rishi edited  the final part of the Nine Arches Press writers’ trilogy, The Craft: A Guide to Making Poetry Happen in the 21st Century.  (Blog on that here). Rishi is also head of brand language for Brand Pie.