I’ll tell you something surprising. Three years ago I didn’t know a single novelist – now I reckon I know about thirty. And only a couple of those are people I’ve met at readings and other events, most of them are real-life, down-to-earth, working writers, whom I’ve come into contact with at workshops or through […]
Kendal part 2 You remember a few days ago I was saying how performance made me so nervous that I would hardly sleep the night before? Well, this is the outcome of that nerve-wracking period. Tell Tales performed on Friday, to an audience of venue promoters, managers and live literature bookers. Quite a tough crowd […]
Lit Up (part one) This is the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, where I spent Thursday and Friday exploring issues relating to performance poetry, literature and spoken word. This showcase was devoted to promoting live literature to arts professionals and on Thursday evening I was part of a panel that explored what live literature meant to […]
The art of the illustrator I’ve worked with quite a few illustrators now, and always been fascinated by the process that turns my words into a picture – possibly because I’ve spent the past two years working with an artist and a large part of that time has been looking at her paintings and waiting […]
Funny – or not? Humour is a difficult thing. We’ve all sat through the cringingly embarrassing Best Man’s speech; the long, complicated joke recounted by our boss, that isn’t funny when we get to the punchline; the borderline offensive story told by our elderly uncle … ouch! And yet, humour done well is an absolute […]
Writing, Editing and Submitting Fiction I’ve come to some, by no means final, conclusions about why this debate stirs so much passion in me – and in some others! To me, although these three areas of the writing life require separate and separated skills, they knit together to make up a holistic practice for the […]
Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness Has emerged in my garden as a sudden outbreak of Tigridia – and my new digital camera has done a pretty good job of capturing the unlikely beauty of this particular flower. Working with a camera, as a fiction writer, is an odd process. People look at you strangely […]
One for the kids …(… as long as they’re Canadian or American!) 2007 Burack Award A writing contest for full-time college students. The award is made in memory of Sylvia K. Burack, longtime editor-in-chief and publisher of The Writer, who was known for her dedication to helping writers and editors. To enter you must be […]
Still thinking … And fascinated and informed by people’s responses. My own instincts on this are becoming clearer and I’ll post again once I’ve thought a little longer. Thank you to all contributors for helping explore a fascinating topic Meantime I am focused on Kendal, where I shall be performing on 22 September. I’ve been […]
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