So very saddened to hear that Polio is in the news again after decades of freedom from fear. I wish it wasn't necessary, but I'm very honoured The Times newspaper invited me to write about the impact of Polio on the family. You can read the full piece here.

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Thrilled to be leading A Life Written for The National Centre for Writing and in the beautiful Dragon Hall, Norwich no less! A six week Life Writing course for people of 70+. What a privilege to listen to the stories of people's lives and help them tell what they think is important.

Best news all year! PUSH: My Father, Polio, and Me has been shortlisted for the East Anglian Book Awards 2020, Memoir and Biography Category.

Lockdown reading needed? PUSH: My Father and Me is suddenly looking very relevant. The polio epidemic called The Summer Plague in 1952, isolation and recovery. Now available for e-readers and Kindle from Gatehouse Press.

My new course for people of 70+ A Life Written kicks off again at the end of this month in person at the National Centre of Writing. If they are half as lovely and talented as my last group, this will be a blast. Can't wait to meet them.

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Honoured to have been chosen as the judge for The Norwich Writers Circle Ivy Ferrari Cup short story competition 2020. Absolutely delighted to announce Jon Platten as a very worthy winner with his beautifully crafted Florence and the Machine. 

Not one, but three! poems in Obsessed With Pipework 91 poetry journal. And a poem in HCE magazine as well - read it here. I'm on a roll! 

New project, working towards a poetry collection. Couldn't be more delighted to have four - FOUR! - poems accepted by Indigo Dreams Publishing for a forthcoming issue of the beautiful journal Sarasvati. And you can read my poem The Machinist in Ink, Sweat and Tears right now - be warned, it's a departure... feel free to leave a comment. 

We will be launching the anthology of A Life Written - a collection of fabulous work produced by the talented group of writers from  last year's Life Writing course for people of 70+.  Can't wait to see them all again.

Stop Press! I've been invited to tutor a new six week course in the spring.

Lucky me! I've been invited to read at Lynn Woolacott's launch event of her excellent new collection 'Judy Out of the Box', published by Dempsey and Windle 18 November.

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Here's my episode of 30 Poets - The Cambridge Writing Retreat Podcast 'I Live With My Sourdough Mother'. This month I'm reading two poems on Jenny Pagdin's The Lockdown Stage It was live, but now available on YouTube. 

And here we are with PUSH making the Jarrolds Top Ten Reads of 2019! What an incredible accolade. I feel quite astounded.