My month ahead, I mean, not the Prime Minister. No, no, no. May is looking a bit crazy for me, but I’ll get through it. Scratch that. I’ll ENJOY it! (Thanks, Joolz, for the ‘be more dog’ tip!)

First up, on Wednesday 8th May, Joolz Sparkes and I are featured readers at Loose Muse, London’s Premiere Women’s Writers Night, upstairs at the Sun Pub, 21 Drury Lane, WC2B 5RH. We’ll be reading from our recently published collection London Undercurrents, and also reading from our individual work, poems and perhaps some short fiction. There are open mic spots for women writers (men are welcome in the audience), and it’s a very friendly and welcoming night. Doors open 7:30 for 8pm start. £6/£5 concessions.

Just over a week later, Joolz and I will be appearing at the lovey Ink@84 indie bookshop and café in Islington on Thursday 16th May from 7pm. It’s part of Feminist Book Fortnight, and we’ll be reading from and talking about London Undercurrents. The event is free to attend but please book in advance. And support indie bookshops by buying a book or two and/or a drink at the café on the night.

Hot on the heels of that reading, I’m first up at The Poetry Society’s Poem-A-Thon on Saturday 18th May at The Poetry Café. From midday until 10pm you can experience a fabulous line-up of sixty poets, donating our time and talent for free with the aim of raising much needed funds to support The Poetry Society’s amazing work. Entry by donation on the door and you can dip in and out as you please. You can also donate online here. Each poet is reading for 8 minutes. I’ve got the first slot so I’m thinking of reading poems about beginnings, early starts, coffee…

Rounding off my crazy May month, I’m leading a creative writing workshop on the theme of Endangered Species, as part of The Popsy Set’s Rarely Seen series of workshops. It’s on Sunday 26th May from 2pm for 2 hours, plus a 10 minute break, at the Art Hut in Thrive Main Garden, Battersea Park. We’ll explore some of the endangered flora and fauna of Britain and try different approaches to highlighting their plight, using short forms such as haiku and prose fragments. Cost is £30, and the workshop must be booked in advance. For enquiries and bookings please email: buy@popsyset.com

I’m enjoying researching and planning the workshop, and will write a bit more about this in another post.

I just realised I could have titled this post Three Readings and a Workshop. But I’ll stick with crazy May. Current mood, and all that.