Matthew Francis
@mfrancispoet.bsky.social
Poet, novelist and professor emeritus in creative writing at Aberystwyth University. Latest novel, Nocturne with Gaslamps out now from Neem Tree Press.
Wonderful launch for The Green Month last week at Waterstone's, Aberystwyth. Here I am, flanked by Professor Dafydd Johnston (Dafydd ap Gwilym expert) and Professor Matthew Jarvis (Welsh literature and interviewing expert), whose combined skills added an extra dimension to proceedings.
October 25, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Wonderful launch for The Green Month last week at Waterstone's, Aberystwyth. Here I am, flanked by Professor Dafydd Johnston (Dafydd ap Gwilym expert) and Professor Matthew Jarvis (Welsh literature and interviewing expert), whose combined skills added an extra dimension to proceedings.
Review of The Green Month in the FT: "Matthew Francis's lively versions of medieval poet Dafydd ap Gwilym pay skilful tribute to the randiest of bards... even in church he's ogling girls. 'If I could only get one of them / out of this echoing stone / into soft forest!' Alas, they don't succumb."
October 18, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Review of The Green Month in the FT: "Matthew Francis's lively versions of medieval poet Dafydd ap Gwilym pay skilful tribute to the randiest of bards... even in church he's ogling girls. 'If I could only get one of them / out of this echoing stone / into soft forest!' Alas, they don't succumb."
One week to go before the launch of The Green Month. #poetry #Aberystwyth
October 16, 2025 at 11:59 AM
One week to go before the launch of The Green Month. #poetry #Aberystwyth
An old poem of mine that has been having a bit of a moment on Facebook.
October 9, 2025 at 11:04 AM
An old poem of mine that has been having a bit of a moment on Facebook.
My new book, The Green Month, will be launched at Waterstones, Aberystwyth, on Thurs 23 October at 7pm. Matthew Jarvis and Dafydd Johnston will be joining me to talk about the great Welsh poet Dafydd ap Gwilym, and I'll be reading from my adaptations of his work.
www.waterstones.com/events/matth...
www.waterstones.com/events/matth...
Matthew Francis launches The Green Month | Events at Waterstones Bookshops | Waterstones
Events at Waterstones get you closer to the books and authors you admire most. Find information and tickets about Matthew Francis launches The Green Month today.
www.waterstones.com
October 6, 2025 at 11:29 AM
My new book, The Green Month, will be launched at Waterstones, Aberystwyth, on Thurs 23 October at 7pm. Matthew Jarvis and Dafydd Johnston will be joining me to talk about the great Welsh poet Dafydd ap Gwilym, and I'll be reading from my adaptations of his work.
www.waterstones.com/events/matth...
www.waterstones.com/events/matth...
I'm tired of the film cliche whereby characters greet each other by just saying a name. It's a principle of writing dialogue that you should leave out empty formulae like "Hallo", "How are you?" but we need to know the names, so "Hi Joan, how are you?" becomes "Joan." But it sounds so artificial.
September 21, 2025 at 3:55 PM
I'm tired of the film cliche whereby characters greet each other by just saying a name. It's a principle of writing dialogue that you should leave out empty formulae like "Hallo", "How are you?" but we need to know the names, so "Hi Joan, how are you?" becomes "Joan." But it sounds so artificial.
My contribution to next year's @faberbooks.bsky.social Poetry Diary, from my forthcoming collection The Green Month.
August 16, 2025 at 4:04 PM
My contribution to next year's @faberbooks.bsky.social Poetry Diary, from my forthcoming collection The Green Month.
Shooting Star
Magnesium streak running from nowhere to nowhere
spat out of a corner of the night sky
to end in a mute fizzle –
a shy firework, scuttling
across the dark when
no one’s looking.
Magnesium streak running from nowhere to nowhere
spat out of a corner of the night sky
to end in a mute fizzle –
a shy firework, scuttling
across the dark when
no one’s looking.
August 12, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Shooting Star
Magnesium streak running from nowhere to nowhere
spat out of a corner of the night sky
to end in a mute fizzle –
a shy firework, scuttling
across the dark when
no one’s looking.
Magnesium streak running from nowhere to nowhere
spat out of a corner of the night sky
to end in a mute fizzle –
a shy firework, scuttling
across the dark when
no one’s looking.
Today I lost patience with Word's tortuous logic and googled "how do I get pictures to go where I want them?" The answer was bizarre, but it worked: "Select the Behind Text option from Layout". So that's solved, even if I have no idea why.
August 2, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Today I lost patience with Word's tortuous logic and googled "how do I get pictures to go where I want them?" The answer was bizarre, but it worked: "Select the Behind Text option from Layout". So that's solved, even if I have no idea why.
Just back from a wonderful cruise up the Norwegian coast.
June 9, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Just back from a wonderful cruise up the Norwegian coast.
New novel by my former student Stefano Teatini, his first in English.
March 30, 2025 at 2:07 PM
New novel by my former student Stefano Teatini, his first in English.
The cover of my forthcoming #poetry collection. I am delighted with it. Brilliant work by the @faberbooks.bsky.social designers.
March 6, 2025 at 1:28 PM
The cover of my forthcoming #poetry collection. I am delighted with it. Brilliant work by the @faberbooks.bsky.social designers.
Someone on the radio today referred to President Pump. I'd been thinking it's about time we declared a moratorium on that man's name, and his photograph, too. If in future all White House decisions were publicly ascribed to President Musk, that might have the bonus of causing a sacking.
March 4, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Someone on the radio today referred to President Pump. I'd been thinking it's about time we declared a moratorium on that man's name, and his photograph, too. If in future all White House decisions were publicly ascribed to President Musk, that might have the bonus of causing a sacking.
My shortest poem:
EMPIRE
It is remote here.
Send marmalade.
EMPIRE
It is remote here.
Send marmalade.
March 2, 2025 at 12:18 AM
My shortest poem:
EMPIRE
It is remote here.
Send marmalade.
EMPIRE
It is remote here.
Send marmalade.
From a forged New Testament text: Jesus tell his disciples about the place where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 'But, Rabbi,' one asks, 'what will happen to those who have no teeth?' 'O ye of little faith,' Jesus replies, 'for those who have no teeth, teeth will be provided.'
February 16, 2025 at 3:00 PM
From a forged New Testament text: Jesus tell his disciples about the place where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 'But, Rabbi,' one asks, 'what will happen to those who have no teeth?' 'O ye of little faith,' Jesus replies, 'for those who have no teeth, teeth will be provided.'
Lovely review of my novel Nocturne with Gaslamps on the Historical Novel Society's website: "a Victorian theatrical melodrama on the page".
I unreservedly recommend @mfrancispoet.bsky.social's Nocturne with Gaslamps. My #bookreview: historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/noct... a Victorian theatrical melodrama on the page @neemtreepress.bsky.social #historicalfiction #noir
February 2, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Lovely review of my novel Nocturne with Gaslamps on the Historical Novel Society's website: "a Victorian theatrical melodrama on the page".
Crazy phrase from a P.G. #Wodehouse novel: "You start the day with the fairest prospects, and before nightfall everything is as rocky and ding-basted as stig tossed full of doodlegammon.” Borrowed from a baseball report, as explained in this delightful article: www.madameulalie.org/annots/pgwbo...
www.madameulalie.org
January 17, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Crazy phrase from a P.G. #Wodehouse novel: "You start the day with the fairest prospects, and before nightfall everything is as rocky and ding-basted as stig tossed full of doodlegammon.” Borrowed from a baseball report, as explained in this delightful article: www.madameulalie.org/annots/pgwbo...
#AI - the systems will fail, and there won't be a backup when they do. The fingerprint and facial recognitions on my phone have never worked. I waited months to bypass the computer and reach a human when getting compensation for my delayed train. And I can't authenticate my Barclaycard on Amazon
January 15, 2025 at 12:44 PM
#AI - the systems will fail, and there won't be a backup when they do. The fingerprint and facial recognitions on my phone have never worked. I waited months to bypass the computer and reach a human when getting compensation for my delayed train. And I can't authenticate my Barclaycard on Amazon
I can see how #AI might improve productivity. The AIs can hold strategy meetings with each other and give each other 97-point action plans, while the humans get on with the work.
January 13, 2025 at 11:00 AM
I can see how #AI might improve productivity. The AIs can hold strategy meetings with each other and give each other 97-point action plans, while the humans get on with the work.
I once told a class that if you have one solid rhyming word and one slightly dubious one, put the dubious one first so that it looks as if you wanted it all along and then found the perfect rhyme for it. I caught one of my students giving me a look that said, you have no shame, have you?
January 10, 2025 at 12:51 PM
I once told a class that if you have one solid rhyming word and one slightly dubious one, put the dubious one first so that it looks as if you wanted it all along and then found the perfect rhyme for it. I caught one of my students giving me a look that said, you have no shame, have you?
I sat down to write a new novel this morning. Then a quick preliminary search revealed that someone had already written it. Back to my endless epic poem.
December 31, 2024 at 3:44 PM
I sat down to write a new novel this morning. Then a quick preliminary search revealed that someone had already written it. Back to my endless epic poem.
I've got into a fierce debate on Facebook about the correct pronunciation of "quietus". Most dictionaries say "kwy-ee-tus", which has come as a shock to those who say "kwy-ay-tus". Hamlet will never be the same again!
December 30, 2024 at 1:21 PM
I've got into a fierce debate on Facebook about the correct pronunciation of "quietus". Most dictionaries say "kwy-ee-tus", which has come as a shock to those who say "kwy-ay-tus". Hamlet will never be the same again!