Writing Courses

A Poetry Masterclass with Liv Torc

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I’m really excited about the poetry masterclass with Liv Torc later this month, on Sunday 27th November. This will be a fantastic opportunity to work with an inspiring poet, who will bring joy into your heart, who is very much part of my own writing “journey”.

To book your tickets, click here! Liv Torc: an evening workshop with a Hot Poet! Tickets, Sun 27 Nov 2022 at 19:30 | Eventbrite

Liv Torc Performing poems from her latest book, The Human Emergency.

I first came across Liv on a festival spoken word stage, performing her wonderfully cosy, laugh-out-loud poem about her family’s bed. Here’s a link to that poem, so you can see Liv in action (54) Liv Torc – The Family Bed – YouTube 

It was probably at the Hip Yak poetry stage at WOMAD, in 2018, taking a moment to sit in the shade of the arboretum to listen to poetry in between the music. Or perhaps at the poetry stage at Shambala festival, the Phantom Laundry, where some of the best poets and spoken word performers in the country have performed.

As a writer, I’ve always loved poetry, but as I was grounded in fiction and the challenges of writing novels, I always thought that poetry had to be about something grand. A poem about something as ordinary as a bed was something that really stuck with me. Just turning up, sitting down and listening to live poetry really influenced my poetry journey and inspired me to give poetry writing a go!

Then the Covid 19 pandemic struck and lockdown happened. Two major things also happened to keep me writing poetry. The first was our own Beverley Ward’s Keep Calm and Carry on Writing Facebook page, which she set up at the start of lockdown in 2020, providing people with a daily writing prompt. The daily discipline of writing something – anything – every day, helped to keep me sane that strange spring and summer! The second thing was the wonderful ZOOM poetry events, Yes We Cant, run by the Poets, Prattlers and Pandemonialists collective, which I discovered through following Emma Purshouse, a poet I’d first seen live at the Shambala festival poetry slam.

Yes We Cant is still running on Zoom on the first Sunday of every month, and on Sunday 6th November, the headline poet has strong links with Sheffield, Jonathan Kinsman.

Liv Torc was the headline poet at one of the first Yes We Cant nights I attended and she completely entranced me. For starters, every school day, Liv writes poems on bananas for her children’s lunchboxes! This has inspired a banana poem revolution. Banana Poems – Liv Torc . During lockdown, Liv coordinated the Haiflu project, using poetry (haiku of course!), music, photography and film to tell the story of the Covid 19 pandemic as it was happening.

I was also inspired by Liv Torc’s writing about climate change, especially as part of Hot Poets, an Arts Council funded project that brings poets together with partners working on solutions to climate change, for example, the RSPB and Forest Schools. The Hot Poets performed at COP 26 in Glasgow and they are also heading to COP 27 in Egypt to perform their vision of a better future.

This year, at the first WOMAD festival for three years, I virtually lived at the Hip Yak Poetry Shack, which Liv Torc produces and co-hosts. I got to hear some of the Hot Poets poems performed live, and I even entered the WOMAD poetry slam, which was very exciting. I even went to see poets perform under a giant model of the moon suspended in a woodland clearing.

I’m really excited (as you might be able to tell) about bringing Liv Torc to the Writers Workshop, albeit virtually, as she is based in Somerset with a young family (the recipients of those banana poems!). But that means that you can also participate from anywhere in the world. Hopefully Liv’s workshop will inspire you to write about your bed, on bananas, to document the world around you through words, and change the world for the better!

Here’s more information about all the events coming up at the Writers Workshop! Events — The Writers Workshop

The Hip Yak Poetry Shack, WOMAD, 2022

Writing and Publishing Distortion – Advice for writers

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I haven’t made a big song and dance about it…yet, but my second novel, Distortion, is now out as an e-book and a paperback. It’s been a long process, but my writing and editing skills have been sharpened by working with the inspiring clients I have worked with since 2013, when I set up my freelance editing business, Wild Rosemary Writing Services.

Now I have helped other people’s dreams of publication to come true, I felt that I knew the editing process well, I had great feedback from my friends who wee the “beta readers” of the book before it was published, and I had a wonderful cover designed by Susie Morley, which really makes the book eye-catching.

I started writing Distortion in 2010, shortly after finishing my writing MA, and it was wonderfully freeing to write something brand new, without any baggage or restrictions. Having new ideas and developing new characters was really exciting, and the second time around, I felt much more sure-footed when it came to plotting the novel.

Now I’ve written and self-published two novels, I can pass on some advice for aspiring novelists – I’d love to know what you think.

  1. Don’t work alone. Being part of a writing group is really useful. Find one that suits you, and if you can’t find one, form one yourself. I was one of the founding members of the Sheffield Novelists group, and now it’s been going since 2009, helping people through the creative process and bringing writers together. There are also many online writers’ groups, such as Scribophile. The ideal writers’ group will keep you going – e.g. help you to commit to writing a chapter per month, encourage you, but also discuss aspects of your work that could be improved.
  2. Keep going ! If you’re anything like me, you’ll have a million and one things in your life as well as writing a novel. Just keep going. Even if you can only commit half an hour in a day, or a few hours at weekends to your writing, keep up that commitment to yourself. This is something that you may keep needing to evaluate if you let yourself down, but that’s how I finished, and edited Distortion.
  3. Don’t hurry! In my opinion, a novel needs space and time to breathe and develop. You may find yourself being as influenced by your novel as much as you are creating it. For example, I thought that my music-obsessed teenage main character, Jason, might be really into the band Manic Street Preachers, so I started buying their albums, despite not being a big fan to start with. It had also been years since I had picked up a guitar. Along the way, I now have a “libraries gave us power” Manic Street Preachers tattoo (featured below), I’ve learned how to play the bass, and I’m now playing the guitar in a band. Your novel is part of you, so live and breathe it while you are writing. Obviously this would be a little worrying if you were writing a murder mystery though.
  4. Keep learning: go to writing workshops and spoken word nights whenever you can, read about and research the craft of writing, and meet fellow writers. Pop into your local library (hopefully you have one!), or search online for writing events near you. Often, there are events that are free or affordable, and there’s advice online. Go Teen Writers is one of my favourite blogs for advice on the nuts and bolts of writing, although it does tend to have a U.S. bias. This will also help you to build up a network of other writers and get great advice from published authors as well as people who are starting out.
  5. Edit as much as you can. Once you’ve finished the first complete draft, put it away for a few weeks at least and enjoy the freedom. Once your writing fingers start itching again, edit until your book is the best you can make it. There’s some good advice here about editing your book in layers.
  6. Once you’ve edited your book, you still need an external editor. This isn’t just a plug for my own editorial services! Whether this is someone that you pay, or a friend or relative you can trust to be eagle-eyed and even ruthless at times, you need someone to spot those silly mistakes (no matter how carefully you think you’ve checked your manuscript) or daft ideas that just didn’t work. Then go through the book again yourself, just in case anything stands out.
  7. Self publishing is difficult, but worth it. It’s great to get my words out in print and to know that people around the world can read them. The problem is publicity and marketing. I love my books, but I don’t want to feel like I’m blowing my own trumpet all the time and boring friends on social media and in real life to death by constantly reminding them to buy my book – and then to review it on Amazon. You’ve got to get the balance right. It’s a good idea to help out other authors too, particularly self-published ones. Give other writers good reviews and hopefully, they’ll do the same for you!

Please take a look at Distortion. If you fancy reading an exciting novel about secrets, lies and loud guitars, you’ll definitely enjoy it. It’s out as an e-book and also as a rather handsome paperback.

Here’s the blurb:

When teenager Jason Knight picks up a battered acoustic guitar in a charity shop, he just wants to form a band with his best friend Ben and stop being bullied by his nemesis, Bradley Smeed.

Jason’s guitar playing stirs up memories for his mum Kaz. She’s been keeping her true identity secret: fourteen years ago, she ran away from cult stardom in the band Mission Control, traumatised by the death of her lover, troubled guitar genius Daz Lightning.

Will Jason Discover the truth and become a rock god?

Read a sample or buy the book below!

 

Be a Writer, See a Writer, Hear a Writer at Walkley Carnegie Library

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For the past three years, I’ve played a major part in organising an event for Off the Shelf, Sheffield’s literary festival, which runs for three weeks in Sheffield throughout the city. Two years ago, I ran my own memoir writing course, and last year, I led a storytelling walk for families in the beautiful Rivelin Valley on a beautiful autumnal day.

Over the past year, I’ve become involved as a volunteer for Walkley Carnegie Library, my local library. Due to council cuts, many libraries in Sheffield now rely on volunteers to keep running. Ironically, because the volunteers are so passionate about the library, the range of events and services available is wider than ever, from pre-school storytelling, to knitting clubs and book sales. In March, I helped out at the launch of local bestselling author Gavin Extence’s new novel, The Mirror World of Melody Black. That gave me an idea. What about an event that showcased the talents of Walkley’s writers?

Walkley is an underrated suburb of Sheffield, in my opinion. The houses are mostly small terraces, sliding downhill towards the Rivelin valley on one side and the tram tracks running towards Hillsborough on the other, but there are some much larger older houses with huge gardens. All sorts of people live here – those who’ve lived in Walkley for generations, young professionals, families and students who appreciate a quieter life than they’d get down the hill in Crookesmoor. Yet, in May, the doors of many Walkley houses, big and small, open at the beginning of May for the annual Open Up event. Lots of artists live here, working hard in attic bedrooms and studios. There are lots of writers too, which I’ve realised by gradually meeting and chatting to people. Walkley is a hotbed of quiet creativity. We need to connect with each other, and encourage the new writers of the future.

Working with volunteer events co-ordinator Annie Bore, we planned an Off the Shelf event with something to appeal to writers and readers of all ages, and put in our funding bid to Off the Shelf, to start us on our way. We called the event “Be a Writer, See a Writer, Hear a Writer”, as people would get the chance to do all three during the course of the day!

Our funding bid was successful, so I contacted local writers and started planning the publicity. I’ve spent the last few weeks madly pinning up posters, tweeting, posting the event on Facebook and emailing everyone I know who is interested in creative writing. Back at the library, ticket sales looked slow. Late last week, I was panicking slightly. What if no one came? Would the writers I’d involved in the event be upset if no one turned up? Would the other library volunteers think I hadn’t planned the event well? In the end, the only thing to do was to keep spreading the word about the event, through word of mouth, emails, posters, and social media.

I woke up on Saturday morning feeling very nervous. I’d dropped the Usborne books for the book stall off the day before, along with my typewriter and decorations for the library, which made things easier, but as soon as we’d set up, the rain started pouring down outside. Throughout the course of the morning, only a few families visited the library. However, I did use my typewriter to write some lovely stories with children: one about a little girl helping some butterflies to fly home safely in the rain under her umbrella; and the other about an evil Spiderman battling Captain America and the Hulk. We also played giant scrabble and painted sparkly letters to be hung on a washing line around the children’s library. Young Adult author Sarah Dalton also joined us for the morning, and donated some books to the library.

The writing workshops went well, although I had been a bit worried about numbers. This gave me an excuse to join in with them, which was no problem for me! We had some amazing young writers from local schools, and a special mention must be made to a friend from Oxfam stewarding, who joined us all the way from Worcester for the day. Daniel Blythe gave us a masterclass in developing stories by using settings, and inventing characters using photographs and a “character map” to help us to plan. Creative writing is something that everyone should be able to do – not necessarily for a living! But it’s great to flex your imagination and develop new ideas. Daniel works regularly in schools to prove just that. In a world where some children think that the most important thing a story needs to start with is a capital letter, imagination can be a rare commodity.

Poet Rob Hindle inspired us to bring historical characters and events alive in poetry. We started off by imagining historical characters who didn’t quite make it, such as Shakespeare’s frustrated actor brother, who ended up as an “extra” in William’s plays, and the wife of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who didn’t like tall hats. We read a selection of poems by Martin Espada and Eevan Boland that dealt with historical themes and characters before starting some of our own.

We each picked a photograph or painting from a historical scene, and Rob asked us a series of questions about the picture. We had to write descriptions of what was happening, details we didn’t notice at first; what sounds could be heard. Then we used our answers to construct a poem. It was a great idea, and we all came out with an interesting, dramatic first draft of a poem.

There was time for a quick trip home to eat, before heading out again for the evening event. The other library volunteers had organised everything really well – refreshments and room arrangements were all in place, and the only thing I needed to do was to help carry a few more chairs, as people kept arriving, and shortly after 7pm, the library looked like a real literary soiree!

The open mic slot was fully booked, and we were treated to short excerpts of everything from humorous haiku, novel extracts, short stories, to poems about the black hole under the cooker where everything disappeared. Next, Fay Musselwhite, Chris Jones and other poets from Longbarrow Press enthralled us with poems about families, landscape and long journeys.

Folk musician Patrick Rose had the audience absolutely captivated with his songs – drawing on the folk traditions of the Childe ballads, and his own compositions, particularly ‘Paradise Square’, about a forgotten piece of Sheffield history. Patrick sang on his own and accompanied by his beautiful guitar playing, and we were spell-bound.

Finally, novelist Gavin Extence gave us an exciting exclusive extract from his third novel – the first time he’s shared any of it in public. We really enjoyed it, and when it’s a bestselling novel, like his previous books, The Universe Versus Alex Woods and the Mirror World of Melody Black, we’ll be able to say that we heard it first!

At the end of the evening, I was pleased and relieved that I’d pulled it off – I had organised a miniature literary festival! People really enjoyed it, and it gave a wide variety of writers a chance to perform their work. The experience of putting on an event is always nerve-wracking, but it’s also addictive. We’re already starting to think about other literary events that Walkley Carnegie Library could host, so watch this space!

 

Rivelin Story Walk- Saturday 18th October – part of Off the Shelf

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Come to the Rivelin Story Walk and explore a magical valley!

Come to the Rivelin Story Walk and explore a magical valley!

As part of Sheffield’s Off the Shelf festival of words, I’m excited to be leading an event – a story walk through the magical Rivelin Valley for children and adults.

Explore the Rivelin Valley and follow a trail of fairy hide-outs, goblin thrones, troll bridges and fast-flowing water.

Use your imagination and write amazing stories about your adventures afterwards in the cafe. 

Meet at 11am at the Rivelin Park cafe in the Rivelin Park, S6 5GE. Free parking is available nearby. We will return to the cafe after the walk for a drink and a snack.

To book a place, call me on 07815966784.

The walk is suitable for children aged 6-12. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Cost: £3 adults / £2 children, including a drink and a cake. Hot and cold food is available at the cafe.

Please come dressed for the great outdoors and bring notebooks, cameras, and bags for collecting treasure on the way.

I’ve been on the radio!

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This August, I’ve had two visits to BBC Radio Sheffield.

A couple of weeks ago, I accompanied Dave Cherry when he was interviewed on the Rony Robinson show about his life and times, and about his novel, The Woodhead Diaries, which I helped to edit and publish.

To my surprise, Rony’s producer asked if I would also like to be interviewed. My hard work seems to be paying off – I’ve now helped several people to be published, and I’ve even produced a poetry anthology of the work I’ve done so far with patients at Newholme Hospital in Bakewell, Dales Tales.

This week, suffering from the effects of a late summer cold, I talked about my life and my experiences that led me to start writing and set up my own business. Here it is. I hope you enjoy it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUS7Cn3JCEw&feature=youtu.be

And many thanks to Dave Cherry for recording the interview for posterity and making it into a short film.

Have you got a story you want to tell to the world? I can help…

What’s Your Story? A new memoir writing course, starting on 28th April 2014

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What’s your story? An introduction to memoir writing.

Memoir Writing Course at Gladys Buxton Dronfield

 I’m excited to be running a new memoir writing course – this time, it’s in my guise as a Derbyshire Adult Education tutor.

The course will run on Monday evenings for 5 weeks, from 6.30-8.30pm at the beautiful Gladys Buxton Centre in Dronfield, S18 2EJ (it’s just over the border in Derbyshire, but very close to Sheffield.) The course runs for five weeks, with a break on the Bank Holiday Monday 26th May, to give you more opportunity to do some writing!

If you’ve always fancied writing a memoir, but aren’t sure how to get started, this course is for you. I’ll take you through from exploring memories using creative techniques, structuring and planning your memoir, bringing memories alive through dialogue and description, exploring alternative formats such as blogging or poetry, and looking at successful memoirs and autobiographies such as Jennifer Worth’s ‘Call the Midwife’. What makes them so vivid and compelling?

The course will also be a great opportunity to share experiences and the mutual support of other writers. The course is suitable for anyone from any background, young or old! You just need to want to tell your story.

Contact me for more information about the course via email or on 07815966784, or call the Gladys Buxton Centre on 01246 413631 to book a place.

You are not alone! A weekend of writing and exploring!

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I spent last weekend in Coventry, catching up with friends and exploring the city.

But the reason I was there in the first place was to attend a workshop for writers, organised by the National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE). I joined NAWE as soon as I became a freelance writer, and I enjoy reading the association’s magazine, which inspires me to try new things in my workshops and teaching. This was the first time I had actually met other writers doing the same sort of thing I’m doing, and I was a little nervous, but definitely excited!

Rockin' in Whitefriars

Rockin’ in Whitefriars

I’d spent the Friday evening in the Whitefriars Olde Ale House, in the centre of Coventry, drinking real ale with my friends Fraser and Louise, who I first met eight years ago at Wychwood festival, the first time I volunteered at a festival alone. I wasn’t alone for very long! On Friday night, we caught up with each other in the pub, which is a half-timbered fourteenth century building, with wonky floors, low beams and an open fireplace, which we huddled near. It’s actually been a pub for about fourteen years, but obviously the building goes back much further. It’s a rare survival of such an old building in Coventry. The city is now famous for the Blitz, on the night of 14th November 1940 (tying in with my last post!), when thousands of incendiary bombs rained down on the medieval city centre. The cathedral was destroyed, but became a memorial of international reconciliation and peace, with the  beautiful modern cathedral, which was finished in 1962, by its side. Back to the Whitefriars, one of Fraser’s favourite pubs! It’s also a rock pub, so our real ale heaven was accompanied by the Mission, the Cure, Hawkwind and Motorhead. If I could design my ideal pub….

Fraser’s parents were very kindly putting Louise and I up for the weekend and we walked home in the rain, chatting and trying not to get blown away!

The day of the “Working as a Writer in Community Settings” workshop started sunny and deceptively spring-like, but I should have known not to wear a short black dress that flared out, creating a Marilyn Monroe – type effect whenever the wind blew! I walked into the centre of Coventry. Fraser pointed me in the right direction and challenged me to find anything interesting on the long, straight road into town. Everything looked good in the bright sunlight, so I challenged myself to write a poem in my head as I was walking along. I can remember:

The van of a heating engineer called Warmington.

People queuing up to wash their dirty cars.

A broken advertising hoarding.

Fairy tale tangles of briars and bramble.

A train flashing past.

A section of fence painted like an England flag.

A large dog barking in a back garden.

I was soon in the city centre, and found the university building, the George Elliot building with ease. The university is in the city centre, and the mixture of modern and medieval buildings contrasted against the joyfully blue sky. The name of the building reminded me that I have never managed to get through the whole of Elliot’s novel ‘Middlemarch’. I cheated last year, and listened to it on CD. More exciting nineteenth century novels are available! George Elliot (her real name was Mary Anne Evans, but she wrote under a male name in order to be taken seriously) lived in Coventry for much of her early life. When it comes to nineteenth century literature, I’m more of a Thomas Hardy and Bronte sisters fan. Much more drama and passion!

Anyway, the NAWE conference was well signposted, and tutors from the creative writing degree at Coventry University were waiting on the ground floor to escort me, and another participant, to the room where the workshop would take place. I felt very warmly welcomed. I was fairly early, and as the other participants arrived, I realised that people had travelled from far and wide, including Scotland, to attend the workshop. As we introduced each other, it dawned on me that these are my colleagues. That the path I’ve chosen, as a freelance editor, writer and tutor, is actually a career, and not just some weird thing I’ve made up! Other poets, novelists, essayists and journalists are making their living teaching creative writing, being writers in residence and using their writing skills to help other people to tell their stories and make their voices heard. It was so exciting, that I was probably a bit too chatty – but I felt that I was in my element!

I was really keen to meet workshop leader River Wolton again. A former Derbyshire Poet Laureate, she lives in Grindleford in the Peak District and has worked with many communities in Sheffield. She remembered meeting me before, in my old job in the diverse area of Burngreave in Sheffield, when I helped her to design a poetry booklet! River talked us through two really inspiring community projects she’s been involved with: “Allowed Out“, a project discovering stories of LGBT activism and the history of the gay community in Sheffield; and a project with refugees and asylum seekers who have finally found a safe home in Sheffield, and who are now writing about their experiences and the precious things in their life. We discussed setting up our own projects, our excitement about the possibilities of working in the community and our worries and concerns. Led by River Wolton and Anne Caldwell  from NAWE, we discussed the practicalities and inspiration for running projects in different community settings. The diverse case studies included older people in a library, primary school children, asylum seekers and refugee communities. The definition of community settings is wide-ranging, and could even include an internet-based community of people with a shared interest. Writing projects can be multi-media, including visual art and music.

We went for lunch in the nearby Herbert Gallery (where my friend Fraser works!) and I enjoyed talking to the other participants, finding out about Here Comes Everyone Magazine, the brainchild of Adam Steiner, a poet attending the course. The magazine is a social enterprise, open to everyone to contribute. Why don’t you have a go yourself?

After lunch, we worked in pairs to set short and long-term goals for ourselves! I realised that I need to commit more time to my own writing. I’m working towards the end of the first draft of my second novel, and I need to keep going, and set myself targets. I love balancing a hectic workload of editing and teaching, but I mustn’t devalue my own writing! My first novel Outside Inside is available on the Amazon Kindle – one of the things I must do is to bring out a paperback issue – there, I said it, and I must do it. It’s so easy to put things off!

Our confidence boosted, we discussed funding options with Anne Caldwell and Jonathan Davidson from Writing West Midlands, and I was excited to find out that the creative writing project I’m working on with patients at Newholme Hospital in Bakewell could be eligible for Arts Council funding. The next step is to put a proposal together and put a bid in. Exciting times! I just need to put the work in now.

The NAWE workshop left me buzzing, and with lots of new ideas and a new group of like-minded contacts. All that remains is for me to get on with it and do the work. That’s the only way anything gets done. It’s no good just dreaming. You’ve got to take action too! Well, it’s worked so far….

After the workshop, I drafted a new section of my novel in Coventry’s other great institution, Browns, a pub/cafe, a modern building with lots of wooden furniture and a distinctive curved roof. Then Fraser and Louise rejoined me after an exciting trip to Birmingham and Wolverhampton, where they had bought me some charity shop birthday presents. We met more friends, some of them from the world of festival stewarding, and so many Coventry friends of Fraser’s, it felt like I was in the middle of a social whirl. It was lovely to talk to so many people, and I had a lovely vegan moussaka for only £6, as well as a few pints of Thatcher’s Gold cider. Finally, we were spilled out into another windy, rainy night.

Sunday was mostly bright again, but freezing, and we explored Coventry City Centre before I headed back to Sheffield, refreshed and determined to put my creative plans into action.

Open Your Memory Box – thanks to everyone who took part!

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On a grey, rainy day, ten people (including me), had a fantastic time at Bank Street arts, writing and exploring on my Open Your Memory Box course. I wrote about it in a guest post for Writing Yorkshire – one of the first posts on their blog on their brand-new website! It’s very exciting. Over the next few weeks, I’ll upload some of the brilliant writing that was created in my workshop.

I was very proud to be contributing towards Sheffield’s Off the Shelf Festival of Words with my own course…for the very first time!

Open Your Memory Box Participants, hard at work!

Open Your Memory Box Participants, hard at work!

It was an action-packed day. We also watched a miniature theatre performance, the Ice Book, and attended the launch of Writing Yorkshire.

To read the blog post, follow the link below – and while you’re at it, sign up to the Writing Yorkshire Newsletter, which is always packed with information. Writing Yorkshire, previously known as Signposts, helped me to launch my writing business, and they continue to support me as my experience and expertise grows.

http://writingyorkshire.org/blog/

Have fun writing!

If you need help, get in touch with me about bespoke writing and editing work.

I’m also available to run writing workshops, specialising in memoir and personal writing.

 

Open Your Memory Box – and write!

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Enrol on the course and start writing!

Enrol on the course and start writing!

I’m running a writing workshop as part of Sheffield’s Off the Shelf literary festival. The aim of the workshop is for participants to produce their own pieces of memoir, poetry and fiction, using their own memories as a starting point.

Since my last workshops in May, I’ve been very busy honing my skills and developing new ideas. I’ve started a longer reminiscence course at Newholme Hospital in Bakewell. Last week, we used the theme of school days. I wrote a poem for the session, using memories of being stuck the most boring primary school assemblies ever at Portway Junior School in Derby.

Nowadays, assemblies are short and snappy, and led by children who have prepared something special based on a topic they have been learning about. My junior school days were only thirty years ago, but things have really changed. We had to sing never ending hymns with droning verses and choruses, terrible recorder recitals. The hymn books were covered in peeling blue plastic. When another teacher dared to suggest a hymn that was more fun to sing, the head-teacher used to rant in front of everyone. Her assemblies were usually diatribes against something she didn’t agree with. She used to make vegetarians sit on their own in the library to eat lunch. I would have preferred that, compared to the bullying lunch monitors and hideous luncheon meat that we had to force down!

To write the poem, I used memories from all five senses: the elaborate displays of work in the hall and the blue hymn books, the smell of warm rubber and those hated school dinners; the taste of blood from a scabby knee; the drone of the headteacher’s voice as I day-dreamed; and the feel of the cold parquet floor.

It was useful to remember, and a good exercise for my memory!

Assembly

An aroma of warm rubber rises from my plimsolls.
Sitting cross-legged, picking a scabby knee.
The new skin is sore and red but satisfying in its smoothness.
The scab bleeds a little at the edge and I lick my finger,
Metallic-tasting blood fizzing on my tongue.

The parquet floor is dusty, cold on bare legs.
A faint tang of floor polish and the ghosts of school dinners:
Khaki mushy peas and sweaty baked beans.
The headmistress rants about keeping up standards
Her voice becomes a monotone drone.

My legs turns twitchy, staving off numbness.
The teachers cast hawkish eyes up and down the rows,
Keeping watch for fidgets, whispers, pushes and shoves,
Sharp tugs on long plaits, bogies wiped on jumpers.
I dream, staring at a wall displaying a tree with paper leaves.

The monkeys swing and jump in the humid forest air.
The leaves rustle; wind in the branches. I open my eyes.
The others are standing, opening the scuffed blue books.
I’ve missed the hymn number. Fumbling the tissue-thin paper,
The dirge starts, heavy and tuneless to a pounding piano.

Full of words like:
Perseverance
Salvation
Cometh
Alleluia
Blood
Unclean
Eternal – just like this assembly – going on forever with no end in sight.

Anne Grange

Psychedelic cows and proper chips – memory and food

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I wrote the first draft of this piece in the memoir writing taster course which I held on Thursday 23rd May at the Quaker Meeting House, Sheffield. It was a privilege to meet the amazing ladies who participated and the writing exercises definitely helped people (including me) to delve into their most precious memories. The course has also enabled me to build links with bereavement charity Your Good Mourning, which has a shop here in Walkley, Sheffield.

There’s still room on the second “Open Your Memory Box” taster course, on Thursday 30th May, from 1-4pm at the Quaker Meeting House. Email me at anne.grange77@googlemail.com or call 07815966874 for more details!

Nanny and Gardan - with a very little me!

Nanny and Gardan – with a very little me!

Psychedelic cows and proper chips

My mum wouldn’t allow fancy biscuits in the house. Just plain digestives, to be nibbled with a glass of milk in the evening or spread with margarine and jam for a special treat. Mum knew that any other kind of biscuit would get instantly demolished by my dad – and me, given half a chance. She wasn’t mean – mum was constantly cooking and baking, but as a 1970s wholefood enthusiast, mum distrusted foods that were ready made. This was long before it was fashionable to make your own cakes, smoothies and pizzas. When I went round to other people’s houses for tea, I was invariably served the standard kids’ diet of the time – rubbery burgers, instant mash, baked beans and fish fingers. Mum’s cooking was always delicious and cooked from scratch, unless we were camping and got to have stewing steak in cans, tinned green beans and canned carrots – my favourite! Mum took cookery classes and learned to cook vegetarian meals, exotic curries and stir-fries and was well ahead of the times in terms of food, encouraging me to help out in the kitchen.

In a memory probably shared with lots of people from my generation with slightly alternative parents, I remember helping mum to drag big bags of lentils and kidney beans back from the wholefood cooperative in Kendal in a tartan shopping trolley.

When I went to visit my maternal grandparents, I had the opportunity to gorge myself on sweets, chocolate and slabs of jaw-breaking toffee that my Gardan (our family name for Grandad!) broke up with a hammer in the kitchen. Visiting Nanny and Gardan in Nottingham was always an occasion for a feast. Nanny was also a great cook and her baking was feather-light, even her rock-cakes. Their house was always warm and comfortable; a place where you could curl up on the sofa next to the cat, with the comforting smell of pipe tobacco and freshly cooked chips. The chips were cut by hand and cooked in a proper chip pan to perfect crispness – something else we weren’t allowed at home – we were only allowed oven chips. Nanny and Gardan both grew up in slum conditions in the 1920s; in large families where TB was rife and the kids had no shoes. But together, they were determined to give their own children the best possible chances in life, encouraging reading and learning. A big part of the comfort they provided came from food. Gardan’s vegetable patch in the back garden yielded potatoes, Brussells sprouts and in August, a seemingly unending supply of plump, juicy blackberries for pies and crumbles.

The cooking was very traditional – garlic was “foreign muck”, even though they eventually ventured on holiday to France and Spain. At Nanny and Gardan’s, I was allowed to eat white bread, delicious with melted butter, dipped in the bright yellow yolk of a boiled egg.

The year after Nanny died, I went to university in Sheffield. Gardan gave me plates, cutlery and various kitchen appliances to take with me. I loved the steak plates (although I was a vegetarian by this stage) with psychedelic cows on them and the floral tea plates. It was like taking a piece of that comforting home with me as I embarked on my new, independent life. Eighteen years later, a few of these items have survived, but they are dwindling. I was gutted to chip one of the floral plates the other day. The ancient Moulinex whisk valiantly mixed my first Christmas cake two years ago, then died in a puff of acrid smoke, just as I was lining the tin. Gardan died in 2001, so these everyday objects and a few other items, are all I have to remind me of my wonderful grandparents. At least I can conjure them up with memories and words.