My Writing Life.
Every Tuesday I go to sing with my local women’s acapella choir, Dot Crochets and the raging Harmonies, ( It’s been going for over 20 years) and a couple of weeks ago one of the members of the choir came up to me for a chat and told me that she read my blog. I felt dead chuffed! Sometimes when I write these things I wonder if any one reads them… and I hope that I am not writing into a void. Occasionally people post a comment and I know I have some faithful friends who read, and it is very nice when they do. So thank you to all of you out there..and read on.
Writing life has been busy recently as I spent March working on my pamphlet entry for the Cinnamon Press competition. It felt like a marathon task to get it all together in time even though it was only 21 poems. Also in March two readings popped up for me; the first at Words by the Water at Keswick where I joined contributors to the anthology Write to be Counted. The second was at the most recent Poem and a Pint at Greenodd village hall where I read on the floor spot at a reading by Jacob Polley. In case some readers don’t know Greenodd is a little village in the South Lakes, just this side of Ulverston.
Since the beginning of this year I have been convening a writing practice group once a month at a local cafe to write to prompts offered by the Writers’ Book of Days. These have been very informal sessions with just two or three of us, but they have kept me writing… which is always good.
March also saw the Lancaster Litfest and poetry day was excellent with a wide range of poets to enjoy. The Litfest this year focused on Indie publishers, talking about their businesses and showcasing their poets, and I found that both very useful and fascinating.
The next few months will, I hope be a relatively quiet time when I can just write and write without too many deadlines and challenges. I am sure I am not the only writer to long for such times.
My Reading Life
Well, I finished the marathon reading of Sapiens, mentioned last time and since then have enjoyed some good fiction including Tracey Chevalier’s The Last Runaway and Joanna Cannon’s Three Things about Elsie. I am almost ready to embark on the sequel to sapiens, Homo Deus. I’ll let you know how I get on.
Hare in the Headlights
Quite distant headlights this time; I’ll be doing another workshop in Ambleside this coming July in the newly refurbished library. Look for details on my website nearer the time and in September I’ll be reading at the 3rd Kendal Poetry Festival at Afternoon tea with the Brewery Poets. Look out on their website for further details.
Poem of the month for May is coming soon. I missed April, I’m afraid. It will be Bosnian Coffee as I am not long returned from a holiday in Sarajevo.