“There is no better air than here for work” John Maynard Keynes I’ve managed to line myself up two writing courses for this autumn. Last weekend was the Tilton House retreat led by Vanessa Gebbie. At the end of October I’m off to North Wales (again) for a whole week of writing with Cinnamon Press…
A little Historical research
Malta Convoys 1940-43 by Richard Woodman has been my heavyweight summer reading. It is the definitive history of the ships that supplied Malta and I’ve come to regard it as a sort of bible when it comes to finding out all the details. Unlike some of my other Malta reading it offers tantalising glimpses of…
The Sugar Mile by Glyn Maxwell
I came across references to The Sugar Mile in a book about the first day of the Blitz, written by Peter Stansky, an American historian. This was on the shelf in the village library and even though I have plenty still to read about Malta I borrowed it in the interests of widening my reading.…
Distinction
Just before going away on holiday I received the result for A363 and to my astonishment discovered I’d been awarded a distinction. I suppose I should have had more confidence in the Malta poems’ ability to stand on their own two feet and take on the world but… being on the inside of how tough…
Publications and Successes
It still feels as if I’m in catch-up mode with this blog as I have some publication successes from earlier in the year to report. My poem At Sea received an Honorary Mention in the 2011 Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Competition and was published on-line in Southword 19A. Two of the poems from the Malta…
Catching up
Although I haven’t been writing on this blog I have been doing plenty of writing since last summer. This includes a treasure filled week in North Wales in March with Jan Fortune and Pete Marshall on one of the Cinnamon Press regular writing weeks– http://www.cinnamonpress.com/writers-services/ The project which has been preoccupying me for most of…
Thinner than a Hair Giveaway
I have one copy of Thinner than a hair to give to a lucky reader of this blog. All you have to do is post a comment telling me why you’d like it. On 21st July I’ve chose a winner. Meanwhile the blog tour continues on Clare Dudman’s blog.
Thinner than a Hair Blog tour
Today I’d like to give a warm welcome to Adnan Mahmutovic, Bosnian author of the prize winning novel Thinner than a Hair, which is available from Cinnamon Press, together with Refuge(e) a collection of short stories and poems. Thinner than a Hair is told in the first person by Fatima, who is growing up in…
Winners and Sucesses
National Poetry Month seems a long time ago now. The winners of the two books I was giving away were Evelyn and Valerie. I’m about to have a poem published in Orbis and another of my poems was awarded highly commended in a recent competition.
Poetry Book Giveaway for National Poetry Month
National Poetry Month is fast approaching and Kelli Russell Agodon has come up with a great way to celebrate – participating bloggers will give away two books — the first can be your own and the second a favourite book by another author. If you would like to know more on how to participate click…