Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus!

Given that Wordsworth was visiting Whitestone in July 1798, he may well not have seen these daffodils trembling in a very chilly breeze as we did this morning! But we were on the Wordsworth Walk near Llandogo where he penned his famous "Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey", that great celebration of nature and its ability to calm the soul (and don't we all need some of that at the moment?). The walk up to the Cleddon Falls has been a favourite of mine for decades now and each year I look out for the three clumps of daffodils just below the viewpoint at the top of the track. And today, for St. David's Day, they seemed especially appropriate.

Works and a workshop

Quite a gap since the last post, with life a little out of hand! But after weeks of noise and disruption with work being done on our house, normality has slowly returned. I really wish that I had some people's ability to work through whatever chaos they find themselves in; I find writing well nigh impossible with a lot going on around me. I don't work well in coffee shops or wherever either, so it's an enormous relief to be back in the peace and quiet of my writing room, catching up and moving forwards with the current projects.

On Monday evening I sat in on a great workshop run by the author Poppy O'Neill on cultivating a compassionate inner voice. As writers I think many of us have not infrequent tussles with our inner critics, and fall prey to "imposter syndrome" every now and again, regardless of the objective successes we may have achieved. Poppy, who has written extensively on this, came up with some very useful strategies and in a very engaging manner. An interesting evening.

New Year, resurrected project

Winter evening and morning skies - my saving grace at this time of year. I'm not in the least a winter person but the fantastic skies we get on clear days cheer me no end. On Friday morning I was visiting a local seaside, doing some research for a particular project; the sea was pounding at the promenade walls. hail was coming down almost horizontally, the dog (coming along for the walk) was like a drowned rat. But by the time I drove home in the evening ...

Another positive last week was the long-awaited publication of the 1921 Census. A biography begun a couple of years ago had to go on the back burner when everything shut down during lockdown - all the archives I needed to visit closed their doors, it wasn't possible to visit people to interview them. Slowly over the last few months those problems have eased but quite a bit of information was still lacking or unauthenticated; the Census has certainly opened more doors there. So it's full steam ahead with that now. In other areas of my life I'm not one for resolutions but it's good to start the New Year with a clear focus on the writing at least! 

Nadolig Llawen i chi!

From a wet and windy South Wales on a Christmas Eve afternoon, I wish you all Nadolig Llawen, a Happy Christmas  - wherever you are, whatever you may be doing over the festive period. It's been another year of problems and uncertainty for so many of us, but perhaps there's a glimmer of hope now that 2022 could see a less stressful, happier and healthier path ahead. 

Back on track

Radio silence for a month further to Covid, I'm afraid. But how thankful I am that both my husband and I were fully vaccinated and escaped lightly. I've been left with some lingering after effects but overall we're both back in the land of the living and have much for which to be grateful. Needless to say, I'm way behind with projects and deadlines, but it's a case of "make haste slowly" at the moment I think

Last week saw the publication of Cheltenham Poetry Society's latest anthology "Inspired By Music" (Eithon Bridge Publications) in which I'm delighted to have three poems. There are contributions from seventeen poets and the anthology has had a couple of excellent reviews, one of which describes it as "an eclectic mixtape from a friend. Tosca gives way to Tool, Mahler to Mama Cass, each track taking you by surprise, stirring memory with a little bit of magic ..." (Oz Hardwick, Professor of English, Leeds Trinity). I always enjoy being involved in joint projects and, with poetry and music having so much in common, this was a fascinating one to take part in. 

Poets and poems

And it certainly was better late than never! A thoroughly enjoyable evening, made special by sharing it with Susannah White, our guest poets Rona Laycock and Derek Healy and such an appreciative audience. Many thanks too to Somewhere Else for hosting us - a really good venue with helpful staff and a great atmosphere.

And talking of accomplished poets - I was delighted to get my copy of Belinda Rimmer's new pamphlet today, Holding On (New Walk Editions). It's been such a pleasure to work with Belinda over the last few years in our Women Aloud group. I look forward every month to her contribution to our meetings. The poems in Holding On are about the experience of being female; they encompass not only Belinda's own experiences but those of other women in other times and of "the damaged and the defiant" too as one reviewer puts it. They certainly make for compelling reading. 

Better late than never!

When my collection "Waymarks" came out last December I wrote that there would be a proper launch as soon as restrictions were lifted and life was a little more back to normal. Well, eleven months later it's actually happening! My colleague Susannah White is joining me, launching her collection "Suncatcher", at Somewhere Else in Castle Street in Cirencester at 19.30 next Wednesday, November 10th. The event will be hosted by Derek Healey of Graffiti Books and he and Rona Laycock will also be reading as our guests. Do join us if you're free that evening - it would be lovely to see you there.