My review of Matthew Stewart’s new collection Whatever you do, just don’t HappenStance Press is now in London Grip. Read it here: https://londongrip.co.uk/2023/11/london-grip-poetry-revview-matthew-stewart/

The Year of Two Winters review by Carole Bromley. Read it here: https://thehighwindowpress.com/2023/10/29/the-high-window-reviews-15/

Leeds Lieder Festival 2023 It was very exciting to hear the song we had written for the Leeds Songbook performed by Georgie Malcolm and Ed Campbell Rowntree at the Lieder Festival in June. The composer was Tomos Owen Jones, a postgraduate student at Cardiff College of Music. I wrote the words in a series of haiku celebrating my Keep Fit instructor Michelle who kept us all going during lockdown with classes on Zoom. It was well reviewed in the Guardian newspaper and we got an individual mention! You can read it here: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jun/15/leeds-lieder-festival-review-from-inner-city-to-international-world-class-music-making

And another review of the Leeds Songbook in Gramophone:

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/review/article/veronique-gens-recital-a-leeds-songbook-at-leeds-lieder-festival-live-review

The Year of Two Winters will be published on Monday 24th July by Indigo Dreams.

It’s over a year since Offcumdens was published but we are continuing with local events to promote the book and several of independent bookshops have ordered copies on a sale or return basis. So far we have appeared at The Little Bookshop in Chapel Allerton, Cleckheaton Library, Kirklees College, and The Purple Room in Ilkley. On Thursday 11th May we will be at The Book Corner at the Piece Hall in Halifax.

Exciting news! Our book Offcumdens, a collection of 41 black and white photographs of Yorkshire by Bob Hamilton paired with my poems, was published by Fair Acre Press on 17th March 2022. Read more about our project here:

We had a splendid book launch at The Leeds Library on Thursday 17th March. James Nash made Bob and I feel at ease and Helen Mort Zoomed in to read some of her latest work as sadly she was unable to come in person. We had an appreciative audience of over 60 people who bought both the paperback and hardback editions of Offcumdens. Many thanks to all of you for your enthusiasm.

The exhibition of Bob’s photographs from Offcumdens paired with my poems was at the Western Gallery, Manor House Museum, Ilkley on Sat 26th -Sun 27th March 2022. We had a good audience for the poetry event hosted by James Nash (again) with readings by myself and the Wharfedale Poets. Thanks very much to all who came and particularly to James who has been so supportive and enthusiastic as well as a brilliant interviewer.

You can watch a recording of our launch event here.

Just heard that two of my poems ‘Six Week Check’ and ‘Repeat Prescription’ have been accepted for this new NHS Anthology edited by Dr Katie Amiel and Deborah Alma and judged by Michael Rosen. It will be published in March 2020.