All Blogposts

  • Poetry blogs and blogs by poets, etc.

    Poetry blogs and blogs by poets, etc.

    It’s that eerie time between Christmas and New Year when all the clocks and calendars seem bewitched.  There might be a plate of Stollen and a cup of eggnog at your elbow, another mince pie and a mug of liquorice tea nestling against your mouse.  You might be thinking about poetry blogs: starting one, finding some Read more

  • Best wishes for Christmas

    Best wishes for Christmas

    I’m writing at speed on Christmas Eve to wish you all a Happy Christmas. There have been times in my life when I’ve been completely alone on Christmas Day, times when I’ve been with friends, times with family, and twice when I was working (as a Nanny) in a foreign country with someone else’s family. Read more

  • Christmas stories and poems to read aloud

    Christmas stories and poems to read aloud

    I thought I’d let you know about some of the stories and poems I’ve read recently in my weekly read aloud groups for people who have dementia and memory loss. With Christmas fast approaching, you won’t be surprised that there’s  been a seasonal flavour to our choice of literature.  Whether or not you’re living with Read more

  • My birthday week with a pamphlet launch thrown in

    My birthday week with a pamphlet launch thrown in

    In between present-buying and present-wrapping, Christmas tree-watering, bauble re-arranging, household chores, working for The Reader Organisation, driving to hospitals (for my husband, Andrew, nine weeks in to a snapped Achilles’ tendon injury) and driving down Wiltshire lanes at midnight (to pick up my teenage daughter from another Christmassy party), I’ve launched ‘The Misplaced House’, my Read more

  • On Setting Yourself Goals

    On Setting Yourself Goals

    There’s been a lot on my mind this week. I found out that I hadn’t taken all of my owed leave (for my job with The Reader Organisation) so I hastily arranged cover for my read aloud reading groups, tied up a few loose ends and sorted out some days off. Very handy they’ll be Read more

  • Reading at The Poetry Café, Monday 8th December 7.30pm

    Reading at The Poetry Café, Monday 8th December 7.30pm

    Only 21 days to Christmas……….but before that I’ll be reading from my new pamphlet ‘The Misplaced House’ at The Poetry Café, Betterton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9BX, on Monday, 8th December, 7.30pm.  There will also be readings by Matt Haw, Joe Duggan and Jo Bell, and tall-lighthouse Editor, Gareth Lewis, will be reading from Read more