I'm not sure if this strange time had a proper beginning and I certainly can't see its end. This week I haven't wanted to be online much even though there has been an explosion of people offering online workshops, readings and classes. I've been slightly ill and still feel under the weather but I'm sure … Continue reading Corona Diary: Possibly Week 3 – but are you counting?
Things I've done this week for the first time in my life: attended a webinar about what older women want to read (unfortunately I kept losing my internet connection). went to my writing fiction class via Zoom (never heard of it before). Overheard comments: "I should've worn make-up!" "I'm not switching my camera on because … Continue reading Corona Diary: One Week In
Hello out there, dear readers. I thought I'd share with you how I'm getting used to living in the new normal of a global pandemic. As yet, our household of four adults isn't showing any signs of having the virus - no continuous coughing or high temperatures. Our daughter is a student at Oxford University … Continue reading Corona Diary – Day One
Happy New Year to you all. A very low-key New Year's Eve for me, a tiny amount of alcohol drunk, some good food, perfect company in the form of my husband, A., and - for him - a lot of taxi driving for our two young adult children who he ferried around through the night … Continue reading Belatedly, Happy New Year
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
Last week I mentioned that the Poetry Society had a callout for poems that take note, in some way, of 99 of the mostly commonly used words used in 40 years of the National Poetry Competition. I wasn't going to write anything for this because I thought it was too much of a distraction from … Continue reading A few poetry notes
It's been really helpful to read these posts by poets writing about how they find their way into poems: "Writing" Towards Writing by Pam Thompson and fearless creating by Julie Mellor. As well as containing useful and practical advice, the posts are a comforting reminder that I'm not alone in finding writing hard going at … Continue reading Finding your way into a poem
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
New Year was extremely quiet - very much like Christmas. I'm still recovering from (minor) knee surgery and 'cycling' on my static bike every most days. At the moment, I'm listening to The Leopard described on BBC iPlayer as "Giuseppe Di Lampedusa's gorgeous masterpiece of European political fiction, translated by Archibald Colquhoun, abridged by Sara … Continue reading A very quiet start to the year
