The Nine Elms Advent Calendar launches today, an initiative organised by the Nine Elms Arts Ministry, following on from their inaugural Advent Window trail last year. Back then, when we could all huddle together outside sipping mulled wine and singing carols, there was a grand unveiling each evening of a new window over the 24 …
Author: Hilaire
I am a writer of poetry and prose. I was born and brought up in Melbourne but have lived in London most of my adult life.
the story of a story
I am delighted to welcome into the world my short story The Red Suitcase, published as a beautiful limited-edition chapbook by Nightjar Press. I keep track of my submissions on index cards (I know, it's old school). I first sent the story out in March 2012. I kept trying off and on, so many times …
elusive equilibrium
Yesterday was not a good day. The weather in my hometown Melbourne can be so changeable we say it has 'four seasons in one day'. My mood is often like this too, but yesterday it was relentless cold drizzle with a major storm brewing. Anxiety that I could not shift until early evening when I …
Our National Poetry Library could be axed – please sign the petition — Robin Houghton
Please don't ignore this! What the Southbank Centre's management are proposing amounts to cultural vandalism in my book. This is no exaggeration. There doesn’t to be much hope for the National Poetry Library on London’s Southbank, since the Chief Exec is apparently determined to move the library out of the building “in order to monetise …
in – out – in Mslexia
I've subscribed to Mslexia - the magazine for women who write - for many years. It's packed full of interesting articles and useful tips, and showcases new writing by women. The magazine also pays contributors - not huge sums, but an important recognition of the value of the writer's words. And probably for about as …
afternoon dip
Not the swimming kind of dip unfortunately. I quite often feel low, veering towards anxious, after lunch. Even after a good morning at my desk. So I am trying to develop the habit of sitting quietly on the bed after lunch, and reading for half an hour or so. I'm not a napper - if …
getting ‘indoors looking out’ out there
It's a month since Stephen Graham and I took delivery of our booklet indoors looking out. I'm delighted that I've already sold enough copies to be able to donate £25 to Refuge. Wandsworth Heritage Service interviewed us - remotely - for their Archives from Home blog. Emma the Archivist emailed me some questions and I texted …
indoors looking out – out now!
Fanfare!! Here it is, the fruit of my collaboration with the artist Stephen Graham, an A5 booklet of haiku and tanka written under lockdown. The poems draw on observations from my second-floor window of minute changes and fleeting interactions. Stephen has created a new script inspired by a book of St Cuthbert's held in the British …
Archives at home, part 15 — Wandsworth Heritage Service
When Wandsworth Heritage Service's Archivist asked if I would answer a few questions about the community garden I'm involved with, as part of a series of 'Archives at home' blog posts, I was happy to oblige. Read on to find out my favourite, and least favourite, gardening tasks... This fortnight would have been the Wandsworth …
Continue reading Archives at home, part 15 — Wandsworth Heritage Service
meet my teapot
May I introduce you to my teapot? I made this teapot when I was a teenager, still living at home in Melbourne. In fact, the date I inscribed on the bottom of the pot tells me it was on the eve of my 18th birthday that I crafted this rather lovely object. I have very …
Hilaire 