All Blogposts

  • WWI Centenary Projects

    WWI Centenary Projects

    What are your ideas for commemorating the centenary of the start of the First World War which will, of course, take place next year? I went to a meeting last night organised by heritage and arts organisations in Wiltshire and there were some interesting proposals emerging. As well as telling the stories of those who… Read more

  • ‘Whistle’ by Martin Figura

    Just wanted to say what a deeply moving and uplifting experience it was to see Martin Figura‘s show, ‘Whistle‘, based on his award-winning 2010 poetry collection of the same name which tells the story of  the events leading up to and following the killing of Martin’s mother, June, at the hands of his father. I saw… Read more

  • Read/Write South West and the joy of libraries

    Read/Write South West and the joy of libraries

    I said I’d post again before the daffodils came out in my garden, I looked away for one moment and there they were, and looking pretty weary after two days of brutal March winds. We are experiencing a cold snap in the UK, no snow where I live, in the south west of England, but… Read more

  • Keeping a reading journal, owning a poem, crocuses

    Keeping a reading journal, owning a poem, crocuses

    I’ve got into the habit of keeping a pen and notebook handy when I’m reading a book or magazine.  Sometimes I simply copy lines of poetry I like into my journal, other times I might have a go at trying to put into words what it is about a phrase or word that has hi-jacked… Read more

  • The gift of an empty room

    The gift of an empty room

    Had a weird experience yesterday when I ran a writing workshop and only one person turned up – and she was 40 minutes late!  I’m quite accomplished at promoting my own writing events and I usually manage to drum up enough interest to make my workshops viable but, in this instance, I wasn’t responsible for… Read more

  • The Page as Open Field with Carrie Etter

    The Page as Open Field with Carrie Etter

    A post about another enjoyable and interesting poetry workshop devised and delivered by Carrie Etter, made possible by Hilda Sheehan and Bluegate Poets, at The Richard Jeffries Musuem, near Swindon. In The Page as Open Field we read and discussed six poems which use the page in a non-linear, unconventional way, with text not necessarily… Read more