On World Book Day, I'm remembering one of my most mortifying school experiences. It was my first year in secondary school, Melbourne, the winter term, 1975. There was a day excursion, though to where I can't now remember, and we didn't have to wear school uniform. For some reason I decided I was going to …
Category: writing
Twelfth Night afterglow
The Battersea Society would normally host a Twelfth Night supper at a local restaurant on the sixth of January. But these are not normal times. Instead, the Society's events committee invited me to give a poetry reading on Zoom at 6pm for about half an hour. I was delighted to have been asked, but also …
a poem for the new year
seven wishes more unplugged hoursand deeper sleep air so crispit scintillates your lungs birdsong decoratingevery street a stranger’s nodwhen needed most the clock wound backon climate change a wilder lawnfrom scattered seeds in kitchens far and neara good breakfast to start each day
towards dawn
. . . and here it is - the advent window Luke Walker and I have created for the Nine Elms Advent Window Trail. Our window officially 'opened' at 5pm today and I'm very excited to share it. Please enjoy a virtual chocolate 🍫 in celebration. You can read more about the background to this …
windows (& some words) lit large
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Hilaire 