I have just added readings of a few selected poems from my collection First-Time Visions of Earth from Space to my podcast "Walking Thru Fire". You can find this episode - and many others! - on Buzzsprout, and it should find its way onto other podcast platforms - such as Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music etc. … Continue reading New Podcast Episode
Category: Blog
“The Field”
Often the challenge with 'portmanteau' novels such as Robert Seethaler's "The Field" is one of maintaining a cohesive narrative thread throughout the work in order to prevent it from fragmenting into discrete and inadequately connected portraits. The premise behind "The Field" - the deceased, all buried in the same graveyard in a small European town, … Continue reading “The Field”
the old life – a poem
the old life in almost every kind of light his forearms mimic the skin of a snake about to slough or a paper-bag used too many times wrinkle-thin about to crack wide open yet it teases at a capacity for something else as if waiting to be filled with what all that’s left are memories … Continue reading the old life – a poem
Allotment Project update: it’s amazing what you can achieve in 6 months or so!
Please check-out the latest update on our allotment project.
Whatever you measure, make sure it’s the right thing…
Three months ago I wrote a post describing how I used a tracker to measure my artistic endeavours - and how I used the log as a way to justify that I was working hard, making progress, being productive. All the numbers looked good. Clever me. The metrics were based on the number of projects … Continue reading Whatever you measure, make sure it’s the right thing…
“The Angels of L19”
It is difficult to like Jonathan Walker's "The Angels of L19" - in the sense of the novel giving you a warm, comfortable, fuzzy feeling - but impossible not to admire it. Without doubt it is a real pressure-cooker of a book: intense, unrelenting, dark, ominous, ambiguous, challenging. Perhaps the latter most of all. Not … Continue reading “The Angels of L19”
To advance, Retreat..! – Part 2
Four-and-a-half years ago I attended my first Writers' Retreat: best part of a week at the Garsdale Retreat in the Yorkshire Dales and on the edge of the Pennines. It proved to be a rewarding and productive experience, and one which - in many ways - succeeded in being something of a launchpad in terms … Continue reading To advance, Retreat..! – Part 2
Imposter Syndrome – the worst possible thing for a Writer?
For as long as I can remember, when it comes to my writing I have always found myself desperate for positive endorsement - both my own and from others. In the first instance we're talking about self-esteem; in the second, about reviews, comments, feedback, sales. Actually in my case it's about more than just endorsement; … Continue reading Imposter Syndrome – the worst possible thing for a Writer?
Mid-June Writers’ Retreat
A small number of places remain on Writers' Retreat UK's June retreat in Lincolnshire. Having been on a number of retreats now, I know just how stimulating and rewarding - and productive! - such retreats can be. You can find details of the retreat here.
“In the Night Wood”
You know those TV programmes that are naturally about 45 minutes long but which, in order to fit them into a schedule, are padded out to fill an hour? Well, Dale Bailey's "In the Night Wood" struck me as a little bit like that: it would perhaps have benefitted from being a little shorter, losing … Continue reading “In the Night Wood”
Ian Gouge - Writer 