Published in Writers in the Dark London·Apr 4Pathetic Fallacy is Real: Our April 1st Writing in the Dark ExerciseThe first day of April in London was like the last day in March: a blindingly bright blue sky crossed with suddenly dark clouds, snow flurries that blurred the air and then vanished. The wind swirled snowflakes and blossoms together. As Patricia Lockwood says in Priestdaddy, “pathetic fallacy is real”…Writing4 min read
Published in Writers in the Dark London·Feb 18Zuihitsu: text that drifts like a cloudOutside the window the sky a fast-changing sequence of cloud, dark and light, and bright, blue sky. The wind swishes the tall underwater grasses of bare trees; a sparrow hawk lands in my garden, huddles on a fig arm, lifts off. Last night before the storm, my daughter left her…Storms3 min read
Published in Writers in the Dark London·Dec 17, 2021A New Kind of Family PhotographI am going through the photographs, trying to find images to post to my husband’s office calendar. This year, he did not go into the office at all, so the collection of pictures that I have been making for him since our children were small, to carry family stories into…Family3 min read
Published in Writers in the Dark London·Dec 10, 2021Writing in the Dark of DecemberWe are a group of artists, writers and creatives from around the world who live in London and meet regularly for “writing in the dark” sessions. What comes out is often inspired by shared prompts, happenstance and the group energy. We sometimes put the results here on our Writers in…Creativity5 min read
Jun 29, 2021What is Writing for?Walking and Writing around the Woodbury Wetlands For years, I have belonged to a writing group I started with my friend Lucy, a playwright. We started the group we called “Writers in the Dark” because we both felt estranged from our writing and we wanted to create a space where we gave ourselves permission to write wildly…Writing5 min read
Published in Writers in the Dark London·Jun 29, 2021Writing at Woodberry WetlandsOn 25th of June, 2021, four of us met for the first time since the lockdown — for a walk and a writing session at the Woodberry Wetlands reservoir in Stamford Hill, London. Here are our quick impressions, offered as a way to share the intense pleasure we all felt…Writing4 min read
Published in Writers in the Dark London·Jan 8, 2021An Exquisite CorpseExquisite corpses? Wild writing? Exquisite corpse is the term for a method of collaborative working whereby a number of artists or writers sequentially contribute to a story or a drawing. Supposedly invented by Andre Breton and his surrealist friends in Paris in the aftermath of the first war, the idea…26 min read
Dec 24, 2020December 24 Advent GratitudeToday we went out to the Chilterns for a wintery socially distanced Tier4 walk: me, husband and son. The younger one stayed gone to walk with her friend- at this age more vital than anything else. I was so grateful for the English wi yet sky, the light, the colours…Christmas1 min read
Dec 24, 2020December 23 Advent GratitudeIn California where my sister lives it is still December 23rd. In London, it is morning, still dark, everyone in my house asleep. I have been writing these advent gratitudes into the dark of this winter. Sometimes someone else will read them and send a clap or a like. Mostly…Sisters3 min read
Dec 23, 2020December 22 Advent GratitudeToday I went for a walk with my friend. She was the first friend I made in England; we met because our boyfriends were friends from university. I liked her warmth and spirit; from the very beginning she made me laugh. Later those boyfriends became husbands. We ended up living…Gratitude Advent1 min read
