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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 10h

#Poetry, music and good companionship. This Saturday evening on the banks of the River Ouse (or thereabouts).

Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 28/09/2026

here's the latesr #60Odd page from a prompt given on Bluesky - There will be another #oddChallenge at the beginning of October - but if you want an early preview, its at the bottom of this small collection.

sixtyoddpoets.substack.com

Poetic Recipes

What if you could open a recipe book and find it full of poetry?

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 22/09/2026

Tariq Khan is the Featured fellow on Sixty Odd Poets this week.Thoughtful poetry with a scientific twist. Well worth a click.

sixtyoddpoets.substack.com

110. Tariq Khan

A poet strongly informed by scientific knowledge

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 20/09/2026

Blimey - what a time Ive been having! And part of it was enjoying an Open Mic Poetry session. Just to be helpful, I have created a little article with some tips on how to enjoy one of those. Take it or leave it. (thats the advice - in a nutshell)

zoomburst.substack.com

How to Enjoy a Poetry Open Mic

... if you tend to overthink everything - like I do

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 07/09/2026

I'm giving another of my #Dickens talks next Sunday afternoon at 3pm - this one to be given at Boothby Pagnell Church near #Grantham, Lincolnshire. Its part of a #LincolnshireHeritage Open Day. Look at how young he looks in that picture - Yes! It's him in pre-beard days.

A picture of a young Charles Dickens with a backdrop of the George Hotel Grantham, where he stayed briefly in 1838. I am giving a talk in Boothby Church near Grantham on Sunday 13th of September at 3pm.

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 07/09/2026

It's Luke Meyers AKA the Quill Of Mnemosyne @sonnetsmith.bsky.social on #SixtyOdd poets this week with an elegantly composed collection of #poetry on subjects including (but not limited to) cats, comparisons, and career choices.

sixtyoddpoets.substack.com

109. Luke Meyers

Curling, Coffee and Role Playing Games

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 02/09/2026

#OddChallenge Number 3. Write a poem in the form of a recipe. As ever, I shall be selecting a handful of responses for a future edition of #60OddPoems but I'll only use stuff that has previously been posted on social media. Tag it, bag it, and send it to forensics. #poetry #prompts

The excellent image for this month's challenge comes from Diana who runs a website filled with vintage items and photographs at https://adirondackgirlatheart.com/

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 01/09/2026

Anyone within striking distance of #Wakefield, who has naught better to do this coming Saturday afternoon, is cordially invited to attend Jackanory @ the CoActive Maker Space, Almhouse Lane, where I'll be presenting a short set of #poetry along with 3 other literary worthies. Followed by an open Mic

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 30/08/2026

have a read of some #poetry with titles in different languages to the text. (That was the idea anyway - maybe the realisation is a little different in some examples) all provided by readers of #SixtyOdd Poets

sixtyoddpoets.substack.com

Titled in Other Tongues

The Second Odd Challenge

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Reposted by Mike O’Brien

Rosanna McGlone @rosannamcglone.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Late, I know, but I don't suppose anyone's heading to this poetry book launch from Lincoln- or nearby- with a seat for a little one? 🙏 #poets #poetry #openmike #Lincoln #Lincolnshire #launch

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 28/08/2026

It’s 7am and I’m sitting in a swish sea view apartment in Scarborough. It’s raining outside and we go home today. So excuse me if this is a bit bleak in tone. #PoemsAbout #EndOfSummer

A sad “after the Lord Mayor’s Parade” poem.

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 24/08/2026

Get in there! Books have arrived for next Sunday's #60Odd launch. #poetry, prose and a particularly fine cover illustration. Featuring (amongst others) our Bluesky friends @thepaulconnolly.bsky.social, and @owlnsquirrels1111.bsky.social.

What are the odds? They are some fine poetry journals!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 23/08/2026

The latest #60Odd Poets page is all about my obsession with #CharlesDickens. When I had finished writing it I celebrated by making a postcard from the illustration. To be available as soon as I get it back from the printers! zoomburst.substack.com/p/obsessed-w...

zoomburst.substack.com

Obsessed With Charles Dickens

Some thoughts on Charles Dickens and Obsession

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 19/08/2026

Odd - Vol 1.3 is out and about. its six quid online, but its only a fiver at the Fox Gallery Launch in Mexborough (S64 9JP) on August 30th. There's tons of poetry and articles within its 90 odd pages.

Simply savoy, Art by Rachel Lewis on the cover of Odd Vol 1.3

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 18/08/2026

I'm back in Blighty - I managed to put this on Substack whilst I was away - (no, I didn't ruin the holiday, I did the spadework beforehand and set the thing to post at the usual time) I never got around to promoting it though ... It's a good read - featuring the periodic table and the sands of time

sixtyoddpoets.substack.com

What I've Been Reading 11

The Science Edition

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 14/08/2026

I’m in the South of France, but the pull of #poemsabout #mainstage is strong

Some bloody rock star who we have mostly forgotten about. I don’t actually know who… Put your suggestion of who it might be in the comments.

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 07/08/2026

I spent far too long rummaging in this nonsense - There's an idea in there somewhere, I just cant lay my hand on it.. #PoemsAbout #thriftstore

I really did buy this book, from a real Hospice charity shop and it really did contain some amazing stuff. One day I'll find a way to write about it properly.

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 04/08/2026

@charlotte-l-s-holm.bsky.social Welcome to bluesky. I strongly advise you to goo look at the profile of @thepaulconnolly.bsky.social, Not only is he a really good egg - he has the means to fill your feed with interesting poets. Just subscribe to a few of his starter packs.

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 03/08/2026

After the success of the first Odd Challenge on poems in the future tense, here is a second one - John Keats did it with "La Belle Dame sans Merci", as did Wilfred Owen with "Dulce et Decorum Est". Can you write a poem with a title in another language? Tag them #OddChallenge, and share the prompt.

Two phrenology heads in conversation, one speaking in English, the other in French - it can only herald an Odd Challenge

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 31/07/2026

There's been some great #PoemsAbout #LastTrain this week. The journeys home, the memories, the history. I have enjoyed reading them all... A few have gone with the disappointment that there are not as many trains and lines as there used to be. I'm one of those

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 27/07/2026

We're all born poets. Just like we're all born swimmers. Our abilities blossom as soon as we start to develop language/hit the water. Then the rules and the fear kick in and we forget how to do it properly. #poetry

zoomburst.substack.com

Forget the Rules of Poetry

We all have poetic DNA in us - slavishly following rules prevents us from showing it

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 24/07/2026

#poemsabout #BadHabits An interesting challenge this week... let's go visit a dusty old classroom in the 1970s

No... it isn't true... I made the whole story up... (apart from the twitching cheek of a teacher reputed to have been a prisoner of war in Japan)

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 20/07/2026

Its back - by Popular Demand - This time at Mexborough Library - Join me to find out about Charles Dickens' double life, and his visit to Doncaster, with more than horse racing on his mind.

Charles Dickens outside a Doncaster Pub, where he stayed in 1857 - I will be giving a talk about it in Mexborough Library this Friday!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 10/07/2026

#PoemsAbout #PowerCuts My wife thinks that I am packing a suitcase to get ready for a holiday... I'll do it in a minute.

Who does he think he is? William Carlos bloody Williams, or what? cupboard under the stairs. For God's sake!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 08/07/2026

I saw #DavidSedaris at the Royal Festival Hall last night. Wonderful stuff. I normally wouldn’t pay anything like £55 for a show. But it was well worth it. All he did was read some of his stuff and chat. Like me at Bawtry library. But better paid. And excellent.

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 05/07/2026

There's some fine poetry from music enthusiast and all round good egg Graham Lock on sixty Odd Poets today. Have a click and a read. You won't regret it!

sixtyoddpoets.substack.com

104. Graham Lock

A man steeped in words and music

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 03/07/2026

Heres a well travelled and oft rejected poem... #PoemsAbout #CheapMotels

This Travelodge poem has been rejected by The Rumpus, Acumen, and Northern Gravy. Rightly so! I have tweaked it a bit but, I don't hold out a lot of hope for it. Still... Onwards and upwards!

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 03/07/2026

Its not a competition, or submissions call , just a bit of fun, but I might well ask the writers of some of the ones that I enjoy if I can use them in a Sixty Odd Poets page later in the month. If there's any response I might do another in August. sixtyoddpoets.substack.com #Poetry #OddChallenge

A blackboard with a poetry challenge on it - "Write a poem in the future tense"

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 29/06/2026

I wanted to boast about my literary successes in my latest Substack essay. But then the creator of all things humbled me with a short period of hospitalisation. Still, I boasted as well as I could, through gritted teeth and with the help of painkillers. #Poetry #kidneys

zoomburst.substack.com

Pride Comes Before a Fall

One minute you're riding high, the next...

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 29/06/2026

I love this. As ever, I’m a sucker for Dad poems!

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Reposted by Mike O’Brien

David Birch @davidbirch.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Delighted to be featured in today's #SixtyOddPoets. Many thanks Mike O'Brien @zoomburst.substack.com for including me in this fabulous labour of love open.substack.com/pub/sixtyodd...

open.substack.com

103. David Birch

Cricket loving poet from Devon.

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roger waldron @throwawayreg.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

here’s me doing a bit of self promotion, if you like my “throwaway” poetry 🛋️ here’s a book full. Published by 60 Odd Press,thanks Mike @zoomburst.substack.com available from Amazon @jenthorne.bsky.social @rburrows.bsky.social @johnchmura.bsky.social @zentinl.bsky.social @stacebot.bsky.social

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roger waldron @throwawayreg.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

these 3 are just waiting for tomorrow #PoemsAbout are you 🤷‍♂️🦆🦆🦆

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 23/06/2026

Here's a couple of reviews pointing you in the direction of two fine #poetry collections "Lives Outgrown" from Susan Darlington @susandarlington.bsky.social and Coquet Tales from Ali Rowland. Both are well worth exploring further.

sixtyoddpoets.substack.com

What I've Been Reading 9

mmmm

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 21/06/2026

#PoemsAbout #OutAfterMidnight Im late to the party, and there have been so many good things happening. My mind turns to another party, many years ago. youtu.be/-14L7wDwuGc

A party at my grandmas house. probably about the time when people were mostly listening to the Beatles.

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Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 17/06/2026

My #poetry reading at the Bawtry festival was a success (even though I say it myself) I managed two forty minute sets of poetry, anecdotes and chatter which was well received. No one walked out in disgust, and I managed to sell a few books. Anyone want to book me? (seriously - I have the bug now.)

Hastily cobbled together publicity material attempting to make me look human and approachable - which I actually am, although sometimes its hard to discern from other images that I have put out.

Seriously though. I would love to do a set at your arts centre, library or small theatre. it needn't be the full 2x40 minutes, and I'm happy to support anyone else. And I won't ask for a shitload of money either. As long as I don't end up out of pocket re expenses, and have the opportunity to tout a few books, I'll be happy.

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