Mentoring with arm-bands…

Last week I mentored at a private two-day retreat whose eleven attendees were all academics from a renowned UK university. Needless to say, I had been a little nervous in advance..! Firstly we were talking about hosting / steering / having 1-2-1s with proven intellectual heavyweights. Secondly, I knew very little about any of their … Continue reading Mentoring with arm-bands… →

When you’re only half-way through…

After far too long I have finally completed the first draft of a long sonnet sequence which has been rumbling along, largely as a background task, since March 2019. If not before. Having consciously given the project a degree of focus over the last few months, I have been able to cover the last of … Continue reading When you’re only half-way through… →

In the Library

The library is one large first floor open-plan space. At this end of it, in the reference section, six tables: four uniquely shaped allow pairing to make two octagonals; the other two - rectangles - form a square). Purple chairs surround all three arrangements. Purple is the theme here: chairs (soft and hard), shelf signs, … Continue reading In the Library →

Sometimes someone says something…

In the last week I have been struck by two almost throw-away comments made to me by friends. The first, in discussing the role of a writer - particularly when it comes to things like readings and Open Mics - was the statement that "our job is to entertain". I confess I've always struggled a … Continue reading Sometimes someone says something… →

Write-on Ripon: Found Poetry workshop

I'm looking forward to running a Found Poetry workshop tomorrow afternoon at our weekly 'Write-on Ripon' session. The workshop will be based on one I have already successfully run on writers' retreats. The challenge this time will be that we'll be writing found poems in real time! The session will cover: What is Found Poetry? … Continue reading Write-on Ripon: Found Poetry workshop →

“Snow Country”

I liked Sebastian Faulks' "Snow Country". That's the simple summary. It was all you would expect it to be: well-written, well-paced, interesting and complex characters and plot... However, now you expect there's a 'but' coming... But I thought the ending was far too neat and predictable. You could see what was coming from some way … Continue reading “Snow Country” →

Does our writing need a regular service?

Driving home the other day, unbeknownst to me the front passenger-side suspension spring broke on my car. I only realised the extent of the damage once I'd got home, when I saw the virtual zero clearance between tyre and wheel arch. Without doubt something nasty could have happened during those last few miles home... The … Continue reading Does our writing need a regular service? →

when death comes knocking

when death comes knocking is it better to be prepared have an appointment so you can be packed and ready watch him as he saunters self-assured up the garden path or be taken by surprise the sudden rap at the door like an unexpected delivery you assume is a scam