There's that joke about January lasting hundreds of days and then the rest of the year whizzing by in the blink of an eye. That's definitely what I've been experiencing. I was just beginning to recover from my knee operation and then I somehow managed to contract viral pneumonia - so my January has definitely … Continue reading Slow January continues
This Christmas has mostly been about recovering from minor arthroscopic surgery to correct a torn meniscus in my left knee. My stitches came out on 19 December and I had hoped to do a lot of writing because, coincidentally, my husband and two grown-up children have been visiting a close family friend in Australia for … Continue reading Christmas Retreat
It's November and the weather is alternatively grey and grim or sunny and seriously cold, and the news is pretty dreadful these days, so I thought I'd cheer myself up by remembering a lovely bus journey I took on a beautiful day in October - when it was as warm as June. As part of … Continue reading Trowbridge to Avebury on the Number 49 Bus
Three years ago, I was lucky enough to be selected for the Aldeburgh Eight Advanced Poetry Seminar, organised by the now, very sadly, discontinued Poetry Trust. I had an amazing time as an Aldeburgh Eight Poet with a free festival pass - which, for me, felt like being a child allowed to run amok in … Continue reading My bags are packed for Poetry in Aldeburgh
I'm really enjoying writing poems for 'Frames of Reference', part of the public art programme for King's Gate, Amesbury, commissioned by Ginkgo Projects and funded by Bloor Homes. I'm one of six Wiltshire-based artists who've been given a Local Artist Bursary for this project. You can read about some of the other artists and see … Continue reading Circles and Wildflowers
A new poem of mine was commended in the Poetry Society's Stanza competition, a yearly event for people who are both members of the Poetry Society and a Stanza (poetry groups run voluntarily by Society members). As I've mentioned before, I organise the Trowbridge Stanza which meets on the first Saturday of every month at Drawing … Continue reading ‘To Bring Me Luck’ – new poem
A new poem of mine has been longlisted in Live Canon's International Poetry Competition. Naturally, I'm sad that it didn't make it to the shortlist and so won't be performed by the amazing Live Canon Ensemble at the Prizewinners' Show (which is always a gorgeous afternoon of poetry and camaraderie and really worth attending - … Continue reading The Circus of the Marvellously Menopausal Woman
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 am extremely grateful to writer and book blogger Jackie Law for writing about my poetry book, What Are You After? (Nine Arches Press) on her excellent blog. Jackie Law reviews a wide variety of books on her site and is Top 500 Reviewer on Amazon and a Top 1% Reviewer on Goodreads. In recognition of … Continue reading My poetry book What Are You After? reviewed at Never Imitate book blog
Huge thanks to the editors of the website Bookanista for featuring a poem from my book What Are You After? You can read 'Love in the time of hospital visits' a love poem for my husband, Andrew, and for the NHS, here.
