Wandsworth Council’s Brighter Living Fair takes place throughout October, and aims to encourage older people to stay active and try new activities with a series of free events. As part of this month-long celebration of ageing well, I’m pleased to have received a micro grant to lead two walks and poetry workshops. Starting at …
Category: London
Engelchen – my mid-year highlight
Joolz Sparkes and I were thrilled to be part of Alison Cotton's Engelchen event at this year's Wandsworth Arts Fringe - a real highlight of my year so far. https://londonundercurrents.wordpress.com/2024/06/29/refugee-angels-celebrated-in-music-poetry-and-letters-home/?page_id=2781
Charlotte Despard gets a plaque
There was a fantastic turnout for the unveiling of a plaque honouring Charlotte Despard on Wednesday, in the heart of Embassy Gardens, Nine Elms. Despard, known as 'the Mother of Battersea', lived in a house on Currie Street from the early 1890s until she moved to Ireland in 1921. Her house was in the middle …
two Festivals and a Fringe
June is shaping up to be a jam-packed month for me. The Wandsworth Heritage Festival is already underway and runs until 9th June. I've managed to get to one event so far, the launch of new public artworks by the railway arches that adjoin the new Prince of Wales Drive development. The weather did not …
where did it all begin?
Recently I was thinking about writing goals (not something I often do, actually), and thought how cool it would be to have one of my poems read on radio. Poetry Please, where listeners request poems on a theme, is perhaps the pinnacle, but I'd be just as thrilled to have one of my poems broadcast …
following the star to create new art
When the Rev. Betsy Blatchley, Pioneer Minister for the Arts in Nine Elms, asked if I would be interested in taking part in the Nine Elms Arts Ministry's Artist Studio Christmas residency at art'otel London Battersea Power Station, I jumped at the opportunity.* Italian artist Adalberto Lonardi has created a gorgeous mural in the hotel's art'beat …
a Twixtmas walk in Nine Elms
I've missed walking around the Nine Elms area, checking out the latest pieces of the huge redevelopment jigsaw slowly being pieced together. So I've decided to lead my Open Spaces in Nine Elms walk one last time this year, and what better time than Twixtmas, that quiet(ish) period betwixt Christmas and New Year. I took …
banging the literary drum for Battersea
On Wednesday evening a brand new literary journal landed in south London. The Battersea Anthology, founded and edited by writer and Battersea resident Priscilla Yeung, was launched at Battersea Bookshop inside Battersea Power Station. What more fitting venue could there be? As well as poetry, short stories and creative non-fiction by writers with a connection …
three magical workshops
I had the pleasure of leading three magical poetry workshops for young adults earlier this month, as part of the Heritage Open Days Festival. These were held at 575 Wandsworth Road, a beautiful and unusual National Trust property. The building is a Georgian terraced house, which was bought by Khadambi Asalache, a Kenyan-born poet, novelist …
Hilaire 