All Blogposts

  • Taking teenagers to poetry readings

    Taking teenagers to poetry readings

    I don’t know if it will make them loathe or love poetry more than the next person but my teenage children sometimes come with me to poetry readings. It helps if the venue is as comfortable, relaxed and welcoming as The Boston Tea Party on Park Street in Bristol where I went with my 13… Read more

  • How about reading workshops as well as writing workshops?

    How about reading workshops as well as writing workshops?

    People keep telling me how much they enjoy coming to the Library Memory Groups I facilitate for The Reader Organisation in libraries in Wiltshire. They sound surprised, as if they didn’t know or had forgotten that reading could give them pleasure. These groups are weekly, read aloud, shared reading groups for people with dementia or… Read more

  • Poems to inspire you for #napowrimo!

    Poems to inspire you for #napowrimo!

    April is almost here and if you’re one of the many, many people whose inkwell is full to the brim in readiness for NaPoWriMo there are over 300 poems on my poetry site, And Other Poems, to inspire you.   If ekphrasis is your thing, I’ve gathered poems inspired by art onto my scoop.it page… Read more

  • We read to remember who we are

    We read to remember who we are

    I’m very grateful for the generous response I received for my previous post about my mother.  Thank you to everyone who read, liked or commented on my words and thank you to those of you who got in touch by email or through social media with your kind messages and thoughts about bereavement, families and… Read more

  • In memory of my mother

    In memory of my mother

    This year, I’ve been trying to write here at least once a week.  Today, 16th March 2014, I can only write about one subject, my mother, Joyce Corcoran (née MacDougall), born 16th March 1924.  Today would have been her 90th birthday.  The last time I saw her alive was on her 50th birthday, 16th March… Read more

  • Breaking out of a routine and feeding your notebooks

    Breaking out of a routine and feeding your notebooks

    This week I’ve been thinking about routines and making changes to my daily life.  As it’s the first week of Lent, several people posted on Facebook that they were giving it up (Facebook, that is) for 40 days.  I was tempted to do this myself as, of all places online, it’s Facebook that seems to suck… Read more