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Robert Frost said 'Poetry is a fresh look and a fresh listen', by which he meant, of course, a fresh look at the world around us, and a fresh listen to the language people are using. Over the weekend you will be looking at poems that do this, and taking your cue from them, writing in a way that might surprise you. 'If you surprise yourself,' Frost said, 'You just might surprise your reader.'

Matthew Sweeney is from Donegal and now lives in Cork. He has published numerous collection of poetry, written children's fiction, and edited three anthologies, Beyond Bedlam (with Ken Smith), Emergency Kit (with Jo Shapcott) and the New Faber Book of Children's Verse. He also wrote the handbook Writing Poetry (with John Hartley Williams). His recent collections from Cape include A Smell of Fish, Selected Poems, Sanctuary and Black Moon. A new collection of selected poems, The Night Post, is due from Salt in September.