Write I mean! On trains and buses, boats and rooftops, beaches, balconies and the bottom of the sea, we writers will do it anywhere (get your minds out of the gutter please!) I'm sure you know what it's like to have the Muse (or just the need to flex those writing muscles) strike at an... Continue Reading →
Poetry – The Gate
There was a gate, that stood without walls, alone and patient, in the middle of the forest. It was not beautiful, with twisting filigree, and tingling gold, and cold, stone heads. It had been green, but now it's skin peeled, and rust in bloody patches, patterned each line and rod. If people ventured into the waving... Continue Reading →
Poetry – The Torch is not the Only Guide
If the darkness has found you, fear not. If it caresses your ears with cold, velvet words, you may listen without tremor. If it clasps and twists your body, you can move with it unbound. If it blackens your vision, close your eyes and make it blacker still. The darkness knows one path, so pull... Continue Reading →
Are you a Digital Hoarder?
When I was younger, I was a bit of a hoarder. In my tiny bedroom, I kept a number of collections, from the usual (stamps, boxes, dolls) to the slightly weirder (sugar cubes from our family holidays). Everything was organised but there was still a lot of it and not all of it was really... Continue Reading →
Poetry – Still
If I breathe everything will break. I capture the moment through half closed lashes. The grass, neat as plastic, trimmed by endless sheep. The azure ozone dusted with clouds topped by a golden globe. A flotilla of geese wafts across the sunglass tinted water. Green spires stretch higher and higher till my eyes go numb.... Continue Reading →
Books That Get Under Our Skin – Literary Tattoos
The classic horror aficionados amongst you will recognise the quote above from Bram Stoker's "Dracula". The tattoo and the arm it sits on belong to my friend Kasi. This is her favourite line from her favourite book, and it's now permanently embossed on her skin. Literary tattoos are hugely popular. There are plenty of websites... Continue Reading →
New Year, New Writing Resolutions – How to Avoid Failure
I'm a little late here, but I want to just talk about New Year’s Resolutions. We make ‘em, we break 'em – that’s true for me and I expect it’s true for a lot of other people as well. Every year we make ourselves all sorts of promises – to loose weight, get fitter, get... Continue Reading →
Finding Sanctuary in Libraries
English: The main reading romm of Graz University Library (19th century) on 2 Sep 2003. Picture taken and uploaded by Dr. Marcus Gossler. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) For a large part of my life, libraries were my sanctuary. My parents were regular visitors and would take my brother and I in every few weeks. My child’s... Continue Reading →
Prose – Draomen
Her wings hurt. Fear had pushed her to fly further than she should have. It was exhaustion that finally made her land. Now she sat on a grey tooth rock, chilled by a wind off a wide, grey lake. There was no sign of civilisation. And that was good. Her wings itched. They were dry... Continue Reading →
Take a trip to Zozoville
"A platform for freaks, misfits, and the occasional well balanced individual." This is Zozoville. Zozoville is a collaboration between Johan Potma and Mateo Dineen. I encountered their work on a trip to Berlin where they and the Zozoville Gallery are based. Walking through a small craft market in the museum district, I noticed a stall... Continue Reading →
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