Do you like editing? Or Wordsworth's poetry? Well, I love editing but I've never really enjoyed Wordsworth. At least, not until this university project. I was (hypothetically) commissioned to edit the poem 'Simon Lee, The Old Huntsman' to represent Wordsworth in an anthology of Romanticism, aimed at first-year undergraduates. The brief allocated 2000 words (excluding … Continue reading William Wordsworth: A Research and Editing Project
A snapshot of a Tuesday morning in Plymouth (UK) in 1941. Elizabeth's recollections are stitched together with reams of fear, but a moment of calm between a storm of moments has given her time to reflect on the terrifying events of the night before. Despite her fear, or perhaps because of it, she still has … Continue reading In the Eye of the Storm
Have you ever come across a piece of art or writing that you did years ago, buried in the back of some long forgotten sketchpad or journal? Well this is one of mine that I rediscovered recently! It inspired my poem that I posted yesterday (the post can be viewed here). Finding it during these … Continue reading Inspiring Sketches: The Picture Behind the Poem
I must confess, I've always been extraordinarily dense when it comes to interpreting poetry. It was a genuine surprise, then, when this piece revealed itself! I had the first two lines rattling around for a few days (inspired by a sketch that I did - I'll upload it tomorrow so check back here then!) but … Continue reading ‘If I Were a Bird’: A Poem by Lydia
Artwork, editing, design and layout by me, for a university project in publishing only, using Adobe Photoshop and InDesign. The brief was to produce book covers for two series, one by Charles Dickens and the other any two books from the Beat generation. Each series had to be visually identifiable as a series, and had … Continue reading Book Cover Designs: The Beat Generation
Photography, editing, design and layout by me, for a university project in publishing only, using Adobe Photoshop and InDesign. The brief was to produce book covers for two series, one by Charles Dickens and the other any two books from the Beat generation. Each series had to be visually identifiable as a series, and had … Continue reading Book Cover Designs: Charles Dickens
The last time I stopped at this wooden bench in Central Park was with my dad and Stephen, eighteen months ago. Stephen and I had just relocated to our first flat in Plymouth and my thoughts were a whirl of cardboard boxes and contracts. While the move itself is a coffee fuelled blur, I can … Continue reading Park Your Fears
“But rabbits are so boring!” exclaimed Mum. I was after all, speaking to a woman who was sticking strands of my waist length hair up the cat’s nose while cradling its whale like proportions in her lap. I looked at her aghast anyway, although at a recent house party I had also argued that cats … Continue reading Prey
A toddler waves his chubby fists at the English Channel like a tiny fisherman’s wife while his mum sits neatly on a craggy chunk of granite, electric blue tassels swaying cheerfully from her ears. Behind the tassels, a girl with hair that glows like the moribund embers of a forest fire picks her way across … Continue reading L’appel du Vide
I find myself inexplicably drawn to the little chest sandwiched between a battered copy of Treasure Island and a hard cover edition of a Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, its paper wrapping long ago discarded. Pens and pencils rattling, I remove the art deco stationery holder that has been rudely balanced on top of it. Running … Continue reading Little Box of Memories
