It isn't always easy to be open to criticism, in fact it's something I've learned to do over the years. When I first started showing my writing to other people, I felt vulnerable and exposed. Praise bolstered my confidence but criticism could really upset me and make me feel defeated, as if it wasn't worth … Continue reading Being open to criticism
In this strange time of lockdown, I was excited to see that WordPress has resumed its Daily Post Writing Prompts series - inviting bloggers to respond to a writing prompt every day - and I'm going to have a go at taking part. After all, there isn't much to be excited about these days when … Continue reading It’s no joke
I dreamt I won a poetry competition I hadn't entered I wrote in my diary this morning and all at once it was November, month of daily blog posting, National Blog Posting Month or #NaBloPoMo. So I am writing a blog post while the dream carries on glowing inside my mattress even though it is … Continue reading I dreamt I won a poetry competition I hadn’t entered
Like Julie Mellor and many others in the Poetry Blogging Network, I try to put something up on this blog each week. Like Julie, I don't always manage it but, also like Julie, I thought I'd try again this week. I don't always have something to say so I wonder if it's worth blogging. At … Continue reading Notes from a Cluttered Desk
I've been quiet on the blogging front recently. I've done a few readings and events this year, all noted on my Diary/News page. My review of Filigree: Contemporary Black British Poetry (Peepal Tree Press, 2018) has been published in the current issue of Under the Radar magazine. I'm currently reading new collections published by Pavilion … Continue reading A quick update
I haven't written much about my everyday life recently so I thought I'd do an update. My once a week job in a school ended in July and very quickly after that I was awarded a small bursary to write new poems about the heritage, history and landscape of the area in and around Amesbury. … Continue reading Reading, writing, planning, etc.
I like this contemplative post by Charlotte Gann about the reasons she's drawn to Stevie Smith's poem 'Not Waving but Drowning'. The poem ‘Not Waving but Drowning’ by Stevie Smith is only twelve lines long. Yet, the first time I read it, it created in my mind, for evermore, a whole world – and life story. Not … Continue reading Posts from poetry blogs I’ve enjoyed reading this week
I'm a pretty regular blogger but I have let things slip a bit recently, mostly because I've been busy doing other kinds of writing. In a bid to up my game, I've been kindly added to this list of poet bloggers who are trying to blog weekly in 2018. You can also add yourself to … Continue reading Poet Bloggers 2018 Revival Tour
I was about to tweet a happy tweet and post a happy post about my happy year, when our washing machine broke down and our boiler stopped working. It was eerily uncanny, as if the Fairy who stops you feeling too smug had flown into my house and sprinkled some of her glum magic over … Continue reading New Year’s Eve Musings
Dear Readers, Wherever you are, whoever you are, whatever you're doing, whoever you're with or not with, I'd like to send you my warmest thanks for visiting my blog, for reading what I write, for commenting or not commenting, for liking or ignoring my posts, both are appreciated, whenever it is or isn't. I know … Continue reading Best wishes to you at Christmas
