Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson is a memoir told through free verse poetry that recounts her sexual assault at age thirteen and the repercussions of that experience throughout the rest of her teenage years and adulthood. Anderson also writes about living in a household affected by trauma, in particular, her father’s PTSD as a World War Two…
Fiona Wright is one of my favourite writers (as I’ve said before). Insightful, yet accessible, Domestic Interior is a poetry collection that celebrates the experiences of domestic life. These experiences might be mundane or exciting, warm or upsetting, and together they elevate the text’s impact. You feel these poems and are spurred to consider your own life in…
I would like to begin this month’s reading recap with The World Was Whole by Fiona Wright, her latest book which proves again why she’s one of the country’s most accomplished writers. It examines themes I’ve explored in my own work – returning to home and self, and how the two are not always in sync; of keeping an intrepid,…
This month I’m going to begin by talking about the book I’m currently reading – Imperfect by Lee Kofman. We’ve just returned from a two week holiday in Vietnam, half of which time was spent beachside at Hoi An. Before I left I was looking forward to this prime opportunity to read a book (or four);…
I have nothing but praise for Becoming by Michelle Obama. It is an intelligent, layered, comprehensive and fascinating biography, about which I’ll go into more detail in a moment. What I first want to mention is that this was also my first Audible audiobook. As I’ve been training for Oxfam and spending long hours out walking, I…
Read / February 25th, 2019
Two things stood out about this first title when I first saw it on the bookstore shelf before Christmas. First the title – Hell Ship – in that evocative block font and the author, Michael Veitch, who I’d known best from 80s and 90s sketch comedies. This book is a well-done and thoroughly researched account of the…
Read / January 28th, 2019
Normal People by Sally Rooney was the second book I received for Christmas. It is the 2018 Man Booker Prize longlisted international sensation, so much so that British booksellers are keeping stashes behind their counters. I was curious (like many people!) to find out what the fuss was about, especially considering I haven’t read her other novel Conversations…
Read / December 29th, 2018
Before I begin I would like to extend my belated good wishes for the holiday season. I hope it was spent in your favoured ways surrounded by your favourite people. As I have been a writer-in-residence at Montsalvat for a good chunk of this month, you might have noticed that my activity here on the…
Read / November 29th, 2018
I picked up Why Will No-One Publish My Novel? A Handbook For The Rejected Writer by Fay Weldon from the library because I love a writing ‘how to’/guidebook (I wrote one!) and this one is an adorable (almost) pocket-size. That was another reason why it stood out among the shelves. (Penguin has a range of Pocket…
