Blog Posts

  • Photo by Jonathan Turner @jonturner on Instagram of extract of artwork Left: On gridded paper printed on grey cloth part of a poem with phrases separated by back slashes and spaces: …nonising to lasses\ \Addle us enough\ \eye-to-eye\ \if we’re sick Right and centre: Patchwork of hexagons in different materials and muted colours interspersed by patches of ephemera e.g., a patch that includes a label with the following text: The WIRA Fineness Meter and Made at the Wool Industries Research Association Leeds and another with: I was set to spinning and doing jobs; any work that wanted doing. My knees are bent inward, ligaments relaxed. I can scarcely abide to walk up and down the room. Sometimes I am bad and am forced to go home. Blue stitches cross the gridded paper and some of the patchwork.

    No commissions for years, then several come at once

    Collaborative writing projects have always been among the most enjoyable aspects of my work. This summer, Leeds 2023 commissions have provided me with several exciting opportunities to write with others, which I wanted to share with you. In July and August, I paid two visits to Get Together in Gildersome, a group of older adults,…

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  • Interview with a travelling writer

    In this blog, I interview Marg Greenwood, who I mentored while she worked on her travel memoir, Return to Muck, about her solo travels to the Outer Hebrides after retirement.

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  • Readings, cake and an array of talent at Ikley Literature Festival Fringe

    Runcible Spoon reading with cake I will be doing my first guest spot for a while on Tuesday 13th September alongside Chaucer Cameron and Kathleen Jones at Runcible Spoon Open Mic at The Carriers Arms in one of my favourite old haunts, Morley. This has an early evening start of 6 pm. You can sign…

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  • Words Hanging off Trees

    If it was possible to encapsulate ten years’ work, to show how two groups of young writers and their writing developed over a decade, then this anthology, released by Ilkley Literature Festival to celebrate young writers in Ilkley and Bradford, would be that encapsulation. It has been one of the finest privileges of my working…

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