There is so much of my life that has been tied up with the Two Brewers, in Rochester, that it’s difficult to know where I should begin. The obvious answer is, “At the beginning”, and so let me take you back to 1978. It’s quite early in January. Sitting on a stool near the front … Continue reading
Latest Entries
Courses for 2017-18 at Medway Adult Education
Here’s a list of courses so far confirmed that I’ll be teaching through Medway Adult Education, in the 2017-18 academic year. These details are in the annual course directory, obviously, but there should be enough information right here if you want to enrol. I will try to put a bit more detail about each course … Continue reading
12. A folktale overheard in the street
“Even rust can be beautiful”. This is what the princess affirmed to herself every time she looked into her mirror. She had been made by her father, the King, when he had realised that he could not bear children. But he was a clumsy engineer at the best of times, and indifferent in his choice of … Continue reading
11. A love letter
They secreted your trust in the darkest corner of the house, and there it lay undiscovered for a further three hundred years, until it was at last uncovered by the burrowing of voles. There it was, an aged parchment rolled up tight and tied with a length of dirty string. There was a guest at … Continue reading
The Birth of Constance
A vixen’s scream, my mother. And my father, the stone, the moonlight pouring in, bramble and aconite. I crawl out, fully fledged, from that hole in your earth, and will not be put back down. I am your daughter now, the burden on your back, my elements yet unknown. Continue reading
Medway / Poems / Visual art
Bluebell Hill
1. Spring Sundays, and the dogwalkers come in pairs and threes, wrapped up against the mist pervading root, and branch, and thorn. Small dogs, that yap and snap at the cold air, trot behind them on the leash. A hiker, pausing in his long walk from Over There to Somewhere Else, unwraps his sandwiches. An … Continue reading
New creative writing courses
Creative Writing 2 This is the next Creative Writing course that I’ll be teaching for Medway Adult Education. It’s a 10-week course for writers with at least a little experience (getting through Creative Writing 1 is enough!). Monday evenings, 7-9pm, and it starts on 23rd May; so there is still time to enrol. The MACLS … Continue reading
