Wendy Cope has been entertaining Brit readers ever since her early days as a primary school teacher in London.

What makes Wendy Cope one of the nation’s most loved poets? Many things: her unpretentious, accessible style; her sense of humour; her hard-won wisdom; and the fact that, running beneath these poems ...

The pursuit of a community or crowd is perhaps the central queer origin myth. When you’ve found said crowd you could become the cool kids, the in crowd – you belong and are finally afforded some ...

My father must have bought it second-hand, Inscribed “To RS Elwyn” – who was he? Published 1890, leather-bound, In 1961 passed on to me. November 6th. How old was I? Sixteen. Doing A level in English ...

In her introduction, Wendy Cope focuses on Herbert’s poetic ingenuity. In “The Altar” the poem is shaped like an altar; “Easter Wings” is shaped like wings. Like many of us, I suspect, Wendy Cope ...