Blog Posts

  • Small Gifts

    I wrote this poem, which was published in Coast to Coast to Coast Poetry in Aldeburgh 2019, last year. The question raised in the poem haunted me. What gifts do you have and can you bear what it takes to give them?  I had already begun to make changes in my life that I hoped,…

    Read more

  • LITERARY LEEDS

    The end of last week saw me greedily turning over the pages of the Leeds Lit Fest programme, which I’d been waiting to savour since the incredible festival launch at Leeds Minster. This fantastic addition to the Leeds cultural calendar begins on Wednesday, taking place at various venues around Leeds. What a programme! Divided into…

    Read more

  • Becky performing

    The Battered Heart Still Beats

    And no, I’m not talking politics this time. New year’s resolutions have a bad reputation – those who make them are bound to renege on them and bounce back to bad habits with a lower self-esteem because they have failed. Not always. This year my resolutions have given me focus and allowed some rainbows to…

    Read more

  • Red Roses for a birthday

    During the Labour leadership elections of 2015 I was asked to contribute a poem for the Poets For Corbyn anthology. After looking at his voting record, I did so. This doesn’t mean I am comfortable with what the media and others have termed the Corbyn cult. I am not a fan of hero worship and…

    Read more