The Power of Words
Each time I’ve moved in the last five years, my writing desk has always gone next to a window. In four different houses, in four different boroughs of London, I’ve looked out over the street for inspiration, a quiet moment, or sometimes just to be nosey. I did try having it in another room in […]
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The Bailey’s Prize this year was recently won by the brilliant Naomi Alderman, with her book The Power (you can read my thoughts on that wonderful novel here). So I thought it was about time I caught up on last year’s winner, The Glorious Heresies, by Lisa McInerney. Everything about this book demands attention. The […]
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The only thing that’s sure at the moment in UK politics, despite claims to the contrary, is that it’s an incredibly uncertain time. Managing that feeling, embracing it even, is something you will have to get used to if you want to continue to write. Perhaps, something you’ll need to embrace in many aspects of […]
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Thick green canopy that stretches away, an endless carpet folded over the slump and rise of mountains. Underneath, we trudge through sinewy grasses. They slap and swoosh, fondling our legs and leaving seeds as mementos. Down now, the air earthy, ground beneath sinking under the pressure of our feet. Fingers of sunlight tease their way […]
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Here it is at last. A stretch of weather we can revel in. Sunny afternoons, barbecue smoke drifting over fences, parks littered with bodies half-dressed. And all that time in the evening. So how do you make it productive? Every year I get excited about how much free time I’ll have. You’d think, after ten […]
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The train arrives at that stop. The one where you used to live. With him. Evenings spent spreadeagled underneath him on the blue sofa, the rumble of the Underground passing below. Something felt rather than heard – a vibration in your skin. Social media clicks find him at stations, in fields, eating and drinking things, […]
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For many, The Guilty Feminist is not ‘new’ news. With over thirteen thousand followers on Twitter and almost fifty episodes, it’s fair to say that a lot of people are already onto it. It’s covered everything from activism to ethical clothing, using humour to discuss wide-ranging and often thorny feminist issues. Having found out about […]
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How Memory Can Help Your Writing