I've just got back from one of the most fantastic weeks I've ever had. My new show 'Shetland Boy' is about halfway done and I've been exploring Unst, the most Northern island in Great Britain to finish it off. What a surreal (and beautiful!) experience!

Well, it's been a busy month with 'Dead Poets' doing a tour of The East of England. Of all three nights, Norwich was certainly the highlight. The audience was packed and we had a lot of Creative Writing students along who were really laughing along with the show. It was also great to catch up old friends at the gigs and hear about the amazing projects that other writers are up to.

So, it's cold. Again. On the train. Again. And I'm typing, ag... oh. Actually. That's a bit of a change. I feel like I haven't written in AGES. Normally I'd be playing on my DS, or looking at everybody and wondering whether I look as tired as they do.

Well, hello again! How are things with you? I've had a busy week (or two) of writing and performing, which is exactly what I needed! September was pretty quiet - I seemed to spend most of the month jogging and trying to get over the Edinburgh post-show blues. That daily combo of performance and Jaeger bomb-fuelled celebration of said performance was pretty difficult to leave behind.

Well, hello there! My name's Mark and I'm a poet. A performance poet, in fact. Most of my material is designed to be heard, or seen, rather than read and so I'm hoping that you'll bear with me as I post up my rantings over the coming months. I'm really chuffed to be working as the Forward Press Poet in Residence and I'm looking forward to sharing the highs (and no doubt lows) of my current career.

Forward Press is delighted to announce its first ever Poet in Residence!

Mark Grist takes up the post of Forward Press' Poet in Residence from the 1st October 2010. Mark will be writing regular blogs, attending poetry events and writing poems for us during his residency.