Bashabi Fraser misses her grandson; Bill Kirton gets lost and found in France; Cynthia Rogerson discovers the joys of gardening.
'The writing usually begins with an intuition of structure and rhythm, rather than the words themselves. Even workaday pieces, like book reviews, have this primary rhythmic identity.'
'There will be a lot to cope with. If you knew how much you might jump off the windowsill, but you don't, and you won't. Instead you'll keep on writing stories.'
As a poet and novelist, Katherine Stansfield has become used to managing different creative identities. Then she decided to start writing detective fiction under a pseudonym, and things got even more complicated…
Playwright Fraser Grace makes a late reconnection with poetry — and finds that it is more essential than ever.
'If I'd known finishing the book would have necessitated processing my brother's death I probably wouldn't have started it; a fine example of the idea that we write books for own benefit.'
'Years later, back in England, you will begin living with your children as a single parent, and your writing will reflect all these experiences. '
'I write fluidly, imaginatively and with great certainty late at night, and in the morning, with caution, trying to unpick my thought processes.'
23-04-2020
Stephen Romer wrestles with a writing workshop, and the surprising worldview of his young participants, at a time of turbulence in his own writing life.
Over his long career as an art critic, Brian McAvera has compiled a collection of catalogues of Irish art exhibitions, offering a unique overview of twentieth and twenty-first century literary, artistic, and political life.
Running creative writing workshops for a variety of different groups, ranging from people in care homes to firefighters, has been a challenging, but also enriching, experience for Anna Woodford. Here, she describes some of her best and worst moments.
13-02-2020
Claire Harman speaks with Caroline Sanderson about the painstaking, and sometimes obsessive art of literary biography, and how careful detective work can bring new insights into even the most written-about lives.