Tuesday

Postcard from Persephone
And so I knew death then and its comforting,
but I had to come back for his sake,
though I brought with me no Spring, that
or any other year.
Woodend Creative Industry Centre in Scarborough now has a fabulous new website showing the Sitwell Library in all its glory. And lurking in the corner is my installation Words in My Head. Of course, you don't get the full effect without the poetry and music, but take a look:

http://www.woodendcreative.co.uk/meeting-rooms.html
Coastival's Rather Splendid Day Out on Saturday (http://www.coastival.com/) was an inspiring mix of art, drama and music.

I particularly enjoyed Slung Low's production Converging Paths (http://www.convergingpaths.co.uk/) an hour chock full of lyrical words, intriguing images and music. It was performed in the Spa Sun Court and sunny it was not, I was particularly concerned for the actress playing Helen who appeared in a white cotton nightie and must have been in danger of hypothermia.

We, the audience, were seated inside, watching through glass windows, the audio brought to us by our own personal head-sets. It was an intimate experience. There was a lot to watch: live actors; back projection; some steaming fish tanks and fire effects. However, I spent some of the time with my eyes closed, being drawn in by the poetic language of the narrative. My companion, who had focused on the visual, said he had lost track of the story. Which was a shame because it was beautifully told and, to quote from the performance:



To listen to someone else’s story –
well, it’s the most compassionate thing a human being can do…
transformative, shape shifting. It’s nothing short of a miracle.

Wednesday

I am very excited to announce that I have a publishing contract. It is with Sense Publishers (www.sensepublishers.com) and it is for a book exploring writing blocks for people working within the academic environment.

I have found myself wholly enthralled by the process, writing around 3000 words a week and doing the attendant research and reading. What has been particularly satisfying is that I have been discovering as I've been writing, through the act of writing. Initially I was concerned that I had a collection of ideas which (a) wouldn't gel and (b) would only amount to a 1500 word article. So far this has not been proved the case. As I write and read, the ideas, the scintillas of insight, which I thought I had, have begun to expand, take on a life of their own and glow.