Posts

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Have I run out of Words?

There are many things I’ve been very quiet on recently. Believe it or not, save for the odd blog, I haven’t created any of my own writing over the past year, hugely enjoying instead enabling others to write through various courses and workshops.…
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A History of Understanding in Nine and a Half Steps

Last night I read a poem at Kimberley Moore's mid-week Music & Words event in Norwich which I was invited along to. I love the magic that Kimberley weaves at these events - it's a beautiful, intimate pottery studio with fairy lights and…

My piece 'Mother' - performed at Norwich Writers Rebel Open Mic

I run Norwich Writers Rebel and every year we hold on an open mic in the Quakers Meeting House. Every time, I go through the customary panic of worrying that not enough people will come (they always do) or that they won't enjoy it (never the…

Upon being told I will burn in hell

A couple of weeks ago I re-posted on both my Instagram and Facebook stories something shared by Jewish Voice for Peace. It stated that Israel had responded to the initial ceasefire agreement by killing another 85 people (this number was a conservative…
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Friendship, Reading & WhatsApp

This blog post is dedicated to wonderful friend & reader Réne Petersen Back in 2019, I wrote on this blog about a good friend who had just finished reading me a book in chapter instalments on WhatsApp. Fast forward five years, and…
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Publication of poems in Dodging the Rain

A couple of weeks ago I had two poems published in an online literary journal, Dodging the Rain. I'd like to say a few words about both of these poems to give you some background. The first poem, Milk, is a true memory from my childhood.…
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Lessons in Weariness

LESSONS IN WEARINESS As I lie on my back at the edge of Parliament Square, I stare up at the canopy of plane tree leaves above me and the clouds grazing the sky, and I don’t feel fear or anger or any of those things I’ve…

In Defence of Life and Love

IN DEFENCE OF LIFE AND LOVE. A CONTEMPLATION WRITTEN IN HAIKU Morning I leave and wildflower meadow grounds me: cornflower, sainfoin. This is why I go. I will march for this beauty; this wildness roots…
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Rejection and Acceptance

This is a photo of me back in 2005, when I was twenty-seven years old. I had finished writing my first book, The Poet's Wife (which I called In the Shade of the Orange Tree - this was later changed by the publisher) and my then-boyfriend-now-husband,…
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Publication of new book: The Sky Within - A Memoir of Sleep

My fourth book (and first non-fiction offering), winner of the Backlash Press prize for non-fiction, has been published! It's not very easy to describe how it makes me feel to finally see this book in print. I've been working on it physically…