I recently took advantage of a World of Books Buy 3 Get One Free offer on books under a fiver, and today they arrived – Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library, which sounded intriguing, two books by historical fiction writers (research for the blockbuster I’m writing!) and The Beauty, a poetry collection by Jane Hirshfield. AlthoughRead more ⟶
Category: Publishing
Faith, hope and podcasting
The sun is shining and I’m going to be gardening this afternoon. The weather is becoming less glacial and I may even be able to plant out the tomatoes. Hurray! I feel my mood lifting. The diary for May and June promises much, it looks like Nick will be working again after 15 months ofRead more ⟶
Small milestones
At the end of October it was my birthday, and over a boozy supper my dear husband suggested we do a ‘dry November’. I couldn’t think of a reason why not – no social events planned, Christmas to look forward to, and I certainly couldn’t face giving up alcohol for January, the most depressing monthRead more ⟶
The new ‘How to’ guide is finally done…
Things have been a bit quiet on this blog for the last month, mainly because I’ve been full-on with the new booklet which arrived from the printers today – hurrah! More about that below… a quick zip through other news: Workshops, readings etc Last month I went up to London for a Coffee-House Poetry workshopRead more ⟶
Poems coming out, new anthology, currently reading etc
Intro/bit of a rant etc (skip this if you’d rather go straight to The Poetry stuff) Where has the month gone? (Rhetorical question.) Why am I being besieged by companies/organisations telling me I must re-subscribe to their emails? (Non-rhetorical question, although I think I know the answer – *some people* are spreading panic about newRead more ⟶
Readings, and a Garsdale (re)treat booked
Well the submissions list was popular… I hope you managed to get some poems out before some of the deadlines. I’ve got a few things out now. Although sorry to report that YET AGAIN I didn’t win the National. Oh well! I’m hoping to be at the award ceremony on Wednesday (if my RSVP wasn’tRead more ⟶
Busy busy… pamphlet launch, Telltale Anthology latest
It seems to be a busy time of year, both for poetry and for music. I’ve been busy promoting our Lewes Singers concerts this coming weekend in Eastbourne and Ringmer, as well as learning the music of course… it took an hour this morning to sort out the seating plans, making sure tall people weren’tRead more ⟶
Foot Wear – a handmade mini-pamphlet
So there I was with a handful of poems from my ill-fated ‘Business Class’ collection that couldn’t find a home. What to do? I started thinking about the themes: workplace tensions, multicultural office environments, illicit relationships, anomie…and shoes! Why hadn’t I thought of it before? I was working in the sports shoe industry. And IRead more ⟶
Ty Newydd and the ‘retired hobbyists’ – a few thoughts
Members of the poetry world are aghast at a recently published ‘Independent Review of Support for Publishing and Literature in Wales’. It’s a long document (over 200 pages) but there’s one section in which Ty Newydd, the National Writing Centre of Wales, comes under fire for being allegedly out of touch with its market and being inRead more ⟶
‘The future of poetry’ – Coffee House Poetry at the Troubadour
So, to the Troubadour last night for poetry, discussions about poetry and the big bad world of digital – a ‘colloquy’ of five poets from diverse backgrounds. In the first half we had readings from Carrie Etter, Hannah Lowe, Gregory Leadbetter and Richard Price, and in the second they formed a round table chaired byRead more ⟶