I invite to unlock the door to The Interpreter’s House no. 83. In one corner of this mansion, you will find two short poems of mine, “Of the Wounds” and “The Changes”. I have a particular affection for these two wee pieces. They do something I really needed them to do at the time I wrote them and still need to them to do. Nonetheless, with things the way they are for trans people, they feel rather different to me now from how they felt when I wrote them and even when they were accepted for publication.

I hope you enjoy them, and wandering round the rooms and corridors of this House, such as Kate Hendry’s three vivid “Scaredy Kate” poems, Bethany Jarmul’s startling “mad libs” or Kari Pindoria’s hilarious, absurd and poignant “In defence of the laugh track”.

It’s been a good year for publications so far. There will be a wee break now, but I’m cock-a-hoop to say that New Writing Scotland has accepted “14.6” for publication in this year’s volume, which is due out in August. It’s a more than 20 years since I was first (and last) in NWS so a “second life” poem seems a suitable vehicle for re-entry …