30 years ago today, the Spice Girls were at No.1 in the UK singles charts with Wannabe, having knocked Gary Barlow's Forever Love from the summit. They celebrated reaching the top spot with a raucous night on the Tokyo tiles. The party culminated at a karaoke bar...

🆕️ This week's edition of '30 Years of Hurt' features more Spice Mania, with 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘦 now at No.1! There's also drama both on and off the track at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, an emotional message to the fans in the new Manics single, and a few landmark court cases that ruffled a lot of feathers.

🆕️ This week's edition of '30 Years of Hurt' features Spice Girls fever sweeping around the globe, Newcastle United agreeing a colossal £15m fee for Alan Shearer, the Summer Olympics launching in Atlanta, and the New York premiere of 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 30yearsofhurt.substack.com/p/spice-girl...

This week's edition of 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐉𝐨𝐛 is a celebration of the Poetry By Heart competition. On Monday, I was part of the judging team at the Grand Final. If you work in a school or college in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and think this sounds like a great idea, register for free 🎤 mattabbottpoet.substack.com/p/in-praise-...

🆕️ This week's edition of 𝟑𝟎 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭 features the meteoric arrival of the Spice Girls (yes, it's 30 years today since 'Wannabe' was released), a state visit from Nelson Mandela, the Drumcree crisis, and a hugely influential rave on the M41. 30yearsofhurt.substack.com/p/the-spice-... 📰🎶⚽️

🆕 𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗨𝗕𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗞 This week's edition of 𝟑𝟎 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭 features the historic birth of Dolly the Sheep, a landmark London Pride, the Stone of Destiny's return home, and an exciting new signing on Teesside. Check it out 🎶📰⚽️ 30yearsofhurt.substack.com/p/the-sheep-...

🆕 𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗨𝗕𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗞 This week's edition of 𝟑𝟎 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭 features England's semi-final heartbreak, plus the unsavoury scenes that followed at Trafalgar Square. Elsewhere in the week commencing 24 June 1996... 30yearsofhurt.substack.com/p/penalty-he... 🎶📰⚽️

🆕️ 𝟑𝟎 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭 This week's edition features some Major Beef, England's masterclass over the Dutch, and a seismic divorce settlement in Windsor! 30yearsofhurt.substack.com/p/major-beef...

This week's edition of 𝟑𝟎 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭 features multiple scandals, a Royal divorce, the long-awaited return of The Doctor, and mismatched fortunes for the Foxes and the Eagles. Read it now and subscribe at 👇🏻 30yearsofhurt.substack.com/p/the-doctor...

A pair of lush Sunday morning writing workshops coming up from @mlferg.bsky.social, with all proceeds donated to Papyrus — a young person's suicide prevention charity. £12.50 each or both for £20. They'll sell fast! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-fo...

Me and Dad at the football on Sunday. #lufc's final home game of the season, and what felt like the end of an era, with redevelopment already underway. The more time that passes, the more this place means to us. If it were merely sport, none of us would bother. Where you come to truly feel alive 🤍🦚

Eyup! I recorded this for TikTok, but I thought I'd may as well share it on here. This is one of my favourite poetry writing exercises. It's targeted at teens upwards. If you have a go, I'd love to see some of your favourite lines in the comments ✍️🏻

A massive bag full of books at New Pudsey station can only mean one thing... school visit in London!! 🚇➡️ Wimbledon Park Primary School

Huge thanks to @magmapoetry.bsky.social for publishing this poem in their latest issue — 'Magma 94: The Remix'. I've been submitting to lit mags, journals, etc., since the beginning of autumn 2023, and this was my first acceptance.

Performing my poem 'Lost, Somewhere Between' at Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds back in February. 🎥 by Natasha Dobson (NJD Photography)

Off to see @bunnymen.com in Leeds for my old man's 65th! I fell in love with these through Donnie Darko, way back in 6th Form. Can't wait 🎶

𝟮𝟬𝟬 subscribers to 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗝𝗼𝗯 📧 If you're a new or emerging poet and you haven't come across my newsletter yet, have a butcher's! mattabbottpoet.substack.com

What a truly phenomenal team 🏆 The Lionesses have brought me such a huge amount of joy over the last 10 years or so. I feel totally invested in them as people as well as players. And tbh, I find the experience of watching women's international tournaments overall much more enjoyable than the men's.

Sending virtual hugs to everyone else who received a DYCP rejection today. It's always a stinger, but then you can only ever count successes as a massive bonus anyway! Keep scribbling away and it'll come…

Colossal thanks to all my paid subscribers 🙏🏻 mattabbottpoet.substack.com

Are any other #LUFC fans irritated by this, considering we never once wore that shirt in Europe 🤦🏻‍♂️

This is fine, though - yeah?

I was over the moon to find that my début novel was shortlisted for this year's Sid Chaplin Award. I've been working on the project on or off since 2019, and it's difficult to maintain confidence in something after a while - particularly in a new form.

𝟭𝟱𝟬 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 🥳 Another little milestone reached! Remember, there's a 20% discount available on the paid plan until the end of June... mattabbottpoet.substack.com/4pounds

One of the benefits of having ADHD is that self-care time this week has involved totally redesigning my website. 💅🏻 mattabbottpoet.com

This book is out today! 'Space: The Royal Observatory Greenwich Poetry Book' features poems selected by Gaby Morgan. It's published by Macmillan, targeted at ages 8-11. And as it's #IndependentBookshopWeek, support your local indie or buy it from @bookshop.org 📚 uk.bookshop.org/p/books/spac...

I've created a 20% discount for the remainder of June. If I get a handful of new paid subscribers, then I'll reduce the price from £5 to £4 permanently… mattabbottpoet.substack.com/4pounds

8.30 radio news bulletin. Thunberg "claims" she's been abducted - it's on film! In LA, only the mention of 3 officers being injured and protestors setting off fireworks. Not that Trump deployed troops illegally, who've since been filmed shooting rubber bullets at reporters. Whole thing is warped.

Hey, teachers! I thought it'd be cool to offer some visits based on writing some Year 6 leaving poems. This could be solo poems, group poems, or a mix. If you think this could be great for your school, feel free to slide into my DMs or email me at eyup@mattabbottpoet.com ✌🏻

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