Author | Academic
In all honesty, this review could just have been ‘I freaking loved this book’. But I loved it too much not to go into detail. It’s very much in my research wheelhouse and eloquently said a lot of really on point things.
You can read my review of ‘Science Fiction and Climate Change: A Sociological Approach’ by Andrew Milner and JR Burgmann in the journal Green Letters.
Some academic news today!
My review of Narrating the Mesh: Form and Story in the Anthropocene by Marco Caracciolo has been published in the ASLE’s journal Green Letters: Studies in Ecocriticism.
A thought-provoking read, which has really made me ponder new methodologies for my thesis! You can read the review here.
I’m delighted to have a haiku in ‘Temple: The British Haiku Society Anthology 2021’. This annual anthology is a wonderful read and it’s always such a treat to get through the post, what a pleasure to be published amongst so many fellow haiku enthusiasts. Many thanks to the whole British Haiku Society team and especially the editor Iliyana Stoyanova!
🚀 Totally unbelievably exciting news! My short story ‘Sand’, which was published on Tor.com in October, has been selected for their anthology ‘Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2021 Edition’.
❤️ I feel incredibly lucky to have been selected as one of the 22 short stories and novelettes in this collection – what a group of writers to be amongst, my gosh! Thank you Tor.com!
📕 The anthology will be published 25th January 2022 as a free eBook. You can find out more about it here. And don’t forget in the meantime, you can still read ‘Sand’ right here, also for free.
I had a little rebellion, and wrote a piece for Writers Rebel!
‘Lost landscapes and the grief of nature’s tessellations’ is all about grief, hope, and climate change, and it’s FREE to read on their website here.
Huge thanks to the folks at Writers Rebel for publishing this piece – and for all the work they do protecting our world.
Here’s to looking after the world, and the landscapes we love.
It’s been a busy and exciting fortnight since ‘Sand’ was published – a huge thank you to everyone for your kind words and comments about it, I’ve been really blown away! ❤️
You can also now buy Sand as an eBook for only 71p at your local digital bookseller – the link is on the Tor.com story page.
Excitingly, since the eBook launch, the story’s had a couple of reviews…
⭐ Long and Short Reviews gave it 4 stars, saying it was thoughtful and admirably compassionate.
🪐 Tangent called it bizarre, strange and ‘likely to split reader opinion’ (always an exciting thing to do!)
🚀 It’s also been listed on Rocket Stack Rank with Tor.com’s other October short stories, which is a long-time daydream of mine and feels really nice!
BUT WHAT DO YOU THINK? You can now review the book on GoodReads and on eBooks stores like Amazon. So, if you’ve found the story interesting, think about dropping it a star-rating or written review – it honestly helps the story have a longer, happier cyberspace life!
Thanks again for all the gorgeous feedback and encouragement – you’re the loveliest readers in the world! xXx
🚀 My new short story, ‘Sand’, has just been published on Tor.com. It’s ‘a heart-wrenching tale about generational trauma and healing’ – and you can read it here for FREE.
🪐 To say I’m excited about this is a huge understatement – this is a dream come true. Huge thanks to the Tor.com team and particularly my lovely editor Lee Harris. I’m over the moon and Saturn and Betelgeuse!
📕 Also a huge thanks to the illustrator Juan Bernabeu, who’s done such an incredible illustration for the story. If you would like to buy an eBook version for 99p with this s-t-u-n-n-i-n-g cover, you can by following the link.
❤️ Hope you enjoy reading! x
Some lovely poetry news arrived in my inbox this morning: I’m pleased to say I’ll be getting a haiku published in Temple: British Haiku Society Anthology 2021, coming out later this year.
I haven’t had any poetry published in a while, and it’s been such a joy diving back into the form in recent weeks. For any other haiku (or tanka, haibun, etc.) enthusiasts, I thoroughly recommend joining the British Haiku Society. It’s a safe, fun space in which to explore the form – and it’s a very, very rewarding form!
For fun, I’ve created a free weekly mailing list of stories from my Little Garden. It’s called Pond Tales. 🌺
If you’d like to read them subscribe now to get ‘Ch.1: Arrival of the Young Great Diving Beetle’ this coming Friday! 🐸🍃
The website also has sneak peeks of upcoming stories and ramblings about BBC Gardeners’ World!
I’m excited to be taking part in the CHASE Summer Readings series. The first event is tonight, Monday 19th July, chaired by myself and featuring readings from Petra McQueen from University of Essex, Caroline Millar from University of Kent, Kaja Knudsun from University of East Anglia and Susannah Dawes from University of Essex.
Then, next week on Monday 26th July, it’ll be my turn to read, along with Cat Conway from University of Goldsmiths, Gillian Laker from University of Kent, and Daniel C Jeffreys from University of Essex. We’ll be chaired by the lovely Ashley Barr.
These are private events for researchers at CHASE institutions – if you’re at one, tune in online from 7pm, the invite will be in your inbox!
I had a great time at the UEA LDC PGR Symposium today – what a way to end the academic year. Huge gratitude to all the amazing speakers, Rosalind Brown, Suzanne Solomon, John Steciuk, Karítas Hrundar Pálsdóttir and Kotryna Garanašvili – totally blown away by your presentations. Very proud and humbled to be an LDC postgrad right now.
Organising this was my last hurrah as LDC PGR Rep. It’s been an amazing and connective experience during the past two years – thanks to LDC and the Grad School for making room for our voices and listening to us so well during the pandemic. Sending out the University of East Anglia love!
Dialling back in a time a bit to share this one!
A few weeks ago I was on the ‘Writing the Anthropocene’ panel at the UEA CW50 EACWP Conference. As part of that I wrote (and painted!) a little thing about my dear study at home for the Journey Around Our Rooms project with the University of Kent. Here’s a little extract:
“I spent the autumn and winter building a nest, plaiting moss and twigs to my shape. I still can’t believe it stays together when the once-sea winds pelt across the Norfolk flats.
“My study was the first room I finished, two days after moving, just in time for term to kick back in. The painting makes it look bigger than real life. But the things that make us free are always larger in our mind’s eye. Six years freelance, with my job sharing the same psychic space as my bed, but I’ve finally built a border between work and life. That unassuming door makes a hang of a difference – and just in time. Since I moved in, my whole world’s been on this desk: social life; paralegal, editing and teaching work; research; writing… I built a border, but that doesn’t mean I can balance it. The pandemic didn’t help, collapsing the geographical telescope. Still, I was lucky it locked me down in here…”
You can read on for free right here.
Between 11:30-12:30 on Thursday 24th June, I’m thrilled and honoured to be chairing Hallie Rubenhold’s keynote at the CHASE Virtual Encounters conference 2021 .
Historian Hallie Rubenhold is the author of three works of non-fiction and two novels, of which two, The Covent Garden Ladies and Lady Worsley’s Whim, have inspired television dramas – Harlots (Hulu/Amazon) and The Scandalous Lady W (BBC2). Her debut book, The Covent Garden Ladies, captured the imagination of millions when it brought to public attention the history of the Harris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies, an infamous 18th century guidebook to sex workers. Alongside her writing, her extensive experience extends to presenting TV documentaries, advising on period dramas, teaching, lecturing and curatorial work. You can find out more about her here.
Hallie will be talking about her book The Five, research methodology, and history as something live and relevant, incorporating the conference themes of ‘futures’ and ‘community’.
For more information about the conference, and to register, click here.
I had so much fun running Authorship Conference 2021 for UEA LDC yesterday. It’s the third year running & the conference is going from strength to strength!
Huge gratitude to our generous sponsors HW Fisher and to the fantastic and insightful speakers from ALCS and Society of Authors as well as authors Paul Howarth, Ben Pester, Tiffany Atkinson, Ben Musgrave, Siân Evans, Helen Smith & Andrew Cowan.
Attendee numbers were through the roof this year – we got over one hundred bookings! Big thanks to everyone who came – see you at next year’s conference…
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More international news from the self-help sphere – Boost is now available in Arabic! Here it is next to its brother and sister copies in other languages.
It’s been published by the Jarir Bookstore. This is the first book I’ve ever had translated into a language where the books read from right to left and it was extra fun to unwrap and flick through – as you can see form this video!
So, if you’re reading in Arabic, go ahead and give yourself a Boost – you can buy the book right here!
Yes, this is really happening – and I still can’t believe it! My short story ‘Sand’ is going to be published on the amazing sci-fi and fantasy website Tor.com this autumn. It will be edited by the wonderful Lee Harris, and will be free to read.
In their announcement of its upcoming publication, Tor.com described ‘Sand’ as a ‘heart-wrenching tale about generational trauma and healing.’ It’s a very special story to me personally, and I couldn’t be more thrilled that it’s found such a wonderful home.
In the meantime, there’s a tonne of awesome stuff on the Tor.com website – it really is the go-to place for all things genre – so be sure to head over there and nose around if you haven’t already! ✨
I’m presenting ‘Shards of Ourselves: Exploring the role boundaries of teacher, editor and therapist in the age of anxiety’ at the CW50 & EACWP Futures for Creative Writing Online Conference, 21st-22nd May 2021:
Celebrating 50 years of Creative Writing at UEA, join UEA and the European Association of Creative Writing Programmes (EACWP) for 2 days of online workshops, panels, lectures and discussions.
This online conference seeks to bring together PhD research students, Creative Writing tutors and graduates, writers and scholars to explore the varieties of practice in our discipline now, the points of convergence and contention, and, crucially, the opportunities for future development and the forces that may shape the nature of writing in the academy over the next several years.
Central to the conference will be an acknowledgement of the importance of literature and drama in helping us navigate challenging moments in history.
I’m really excited to go as an attendee as well as a speaker – particularly for the keynotes from Bernardine Evaristo, Carolyn Forché, John Yorke and (one of my PhD supervisors and total legend) Andrew Cowan.
The whole thing will be happening online, so you can attend from anywhere in the world! Pick up your tickets here.
I’m having a very happy academic moment today: I’ve had my first academic book review published in the ASLE’s journal Green Letters: Studies in Ecocriticism!
‘Fragments from the history of loss: the nature industry and the postcolony’ by Louise Green was a totally fascinating read – constellations of detail are my new favourite thing. You can read the full review here.
Fancy becoming an editor?
I got quoted on my journey to becoming an editor in an article on the fabulous Reedsy blog: ‘How to Become a Copy Editor: 5 Steps to Start Polishing Manuscripts’. Read the full article here for free!
If you’re interested in working with me as an editor or writing mentor, then check out my editing and mentorship page, and get in touch!