Soft Launch High Wire Step

On the 16th of December, Flying Island Books held a wonderful Poet’s Picnic in which several books from the new Pocket Poets series were launched.  I’m very honoured that my new book High Wire Step was part of the launch, along with Toby Fitch’s ILL LIT POP and Danny Gentile’s The Icicle Tree. My husband very kindly read out the launch speech that Beth Spencer, who had last minute car trouble, wrote.  Beth’s speech was rich and moving, and will hopefully be printed in full at some point. Here’s a tiny excerpt: 

"This is a history … not in the sense of it being always faithfully corresponding to events and facts, but in the sense of it being true. True to a way of experiencing the world. I love the way the leaps create space that allows us to weave into it our own stories.. and our own emotions…or something beyond that… something beyond the culturally scripted response that is emotion  to something like a colour or a sensation, a burning.”

The book (and more info) is now available for sale here: High Wire Step and will also be (hard) launched in Newcastle at the Newcastle Writers’ Festival in April. 

CR Newsletter for Dec

Hi everyone, Compulsive Reader news for Dec is now out.  This month’s issue features a great new giveaway for subscribers, interviews with Ber Carroll, Tom Maremaa, and Imogen Edward-Jones, as well as a bunch of new reviews for books such as my heart crumples like a coke can by Ali Whitelock, The Usual Story by Libby Sommer, All The Answers by Michael Kupperman, Writing a Novel by Faber Academy’s Richard Skinner and many others as well as our roundup of literary news for the month.  If you haven’t gotten yours, you can grab a copy from the archive here: Compulsive Reader Archive and if you’re not a subscriber, sign up here: http://www.compulsivereader.com.  Happy reading!