Literary festival return

I was delighted to be invited back to this year’s Arundel Literary Festival which took place on the 7th - 9th March 2024, with a ‘promotion’ this time around, taking part in two different poetry events. This year the festival ran for three days with Louis de Bernieres as the Saturday ‘headliner’. The publicity gave me a mention in the same breath. (I’ll take what I can.)

Firstly, I was asked to lead an introduction to poetry workshop:

I received the loveliest evaluation from the workshop from one of the participants:

I attended a poetry workshop with Theresa Gooda on Saturday morning and it was fabulous. She is an excellent tutor and made the session so engaging and interesting. I’ve been to a few creative writing workshops elsewhere and hers was by far the best. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

I thoroughly enjoyed it, too.

Secondly, I was invited to share some of my poems on the theme of childhood alongside Pratibha Castle, Claudia Court and Janice and Dónall Dempsey. Although I have read poems at open mike events with West Sussex Writers and Horsham Writers Circle, this was my first real poetry ‘gig’. I selected eight poems to read, most of which have been published in different anthologies.

Here is an excerpt from the recording, which includes the poems, The Softness of sisters, I’m here, Whimsy, The difference between boys and girls and A child tiptoes into a restaurant kitchen.