writer
I'm just back from a week in southern Spain with my family. As well as swimwear and sundresses, I packed my notebooks, pens, draft poems and plenty of reading material, including these two books by Vicki Feaver. Vicki was kind enough to send two new poems from her forthcoming collection to my poetry blog, And… Continue reading Postcard from Spain.
It's been two weeks since I switched off my work emails and mobile phone and promised myself I'd focus on my forthcoming poetry pamphlet. I started the holiday in de-cluttering mode, paying particular attention to the oceans of multiple drafts of poems swimming through my house. I know that some poets never throw any of their… Continue reading Writing in between catching up with family.
You might remember that me and my family hosted two teenagers from Bethlehem last year, when we took part in a cultural exchange programme organised by Bradford-on-Avon Friends of Palestine. It was a wonderful experience for us to learn more about Palestinians and their culture and we've been watching recent events unfold in Gaza with… Continue reading Gaza: trying to do something other than cry
Tomorrow I will put on my poetry head so I can write poems. It will be so easy. My work colleagues have already snapped my working head inside a polypropylene wallet. No emails to be spat out until Monday. My children will sit on my mother head while they're doing their homework or being driven… Continue reading Putting on my poetry head.
One very good thing about your children growing older and developing their own interests is that they introduce you to things and lead you to places you wouldn't otherwise go. Recently, I've been taken to dance shows and events, both amateur and professional, that I probably wouldn't have known anything about if it wasn't for my… Continue reading Rambert
Sharing your poetry books with children. Children seem very open to writing, reading and talking about poetry. I've never heard a child say, as I've heard plenty of adults say, "Oh, I don't really get poetry." I've mentioned before that, since they were 11 and 12 (they're now 13 and 14), I've taken my own children… Continue reading Beyond the Ning Nang Nong.
This week's photo challenge from WordPress is 'Letters' and it's reminded me of a picture that my daughter, Kitty, created ten years ago when she was four years old. She hadn't long learned to write, you can tell from the careful way she formed these letters, some of them with a tiny curl or tail, in readiness… Continue reading Some where skys are blue
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… Continue reading Taking teenagers to poetry readings
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… Continue reading We read to remember who we are
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… Continue reading In memory of my mother
Josephine Corcoran 
You must be logged in to post a comment.