Going home to Zimbabwe Because of the unexpected changes in Zimbabwe last week I am posting two poems – one from 1980 when I returned to my father’s farm, and another from 1961 my last year at school. Ford Laser speeds up the dual highway. (Commercial break) Camera pans back to parents. Airport to homecoming – half an hour and […]
Parisot Literary Festival – writers, readers, books, stories – a weekend of pleasure and good company
Good company and pleasure at Parisot 82 What better company can there be? A delightful French village called Parisot, the well-organised Parisot literary festival with good companions, excellent food and wine – and BOOKS!! John and I enjoyed ourselves so much that I failed to get photos of the people I met and so you’ll have to do mostly with […]
Book clubs and choices, likes and dislikes, readers and reviewers
What do writers want? What do writers want? They want readers. They want money and recognition of course, but they want readers most. How do they get readers? Well – they need sales. How do writers get sales? Writers need an agent, a publisher, a good deal of luck and a huge amount of energy so they can do the […]
Pascale Petit’s art and poetry: The Survival of the Artist and of our World
What connections are there between art, song, poetry, dance and all of us? Pascale Petit has generously agreed to let me put her video about her art on my post. I was moved by what she says in it and I found many thought-provoking links and connections in it to my own feelings and experiences of art, poetry and the […]
Why English writers choose to live in France
That’s why it’s so hard for me to speak French I love living in France and I enjoy learning French but I also love hiding away in my study and writing in English. It’s hard to get better at spoken French when my creative world is so concentrated on English – that’s what I tell myself. What about you? Are […]