Creativity is a cantankerous beast that still surprises me after all this time. I've been blocked for the last few months with no idea of how to get unblocked. In the first lockdown back in April / May, I did lots of hand crafts and felt really nourished and grounded.... Read more →

I'm wondering if the lack of external stimuli is having a detrimental impact on my creativity. Apat from going to the market, I'm pretty much at home day in day out at the moment. The girls have singing and piano lessons online and we see their teachers but that's it... Read more →

I've been wondering about the nature of creativity. When I've read articles or books on the subject they all emphasise the writer's routine. And when I say routine, I mean what they do every day, no matter what, to write. It's easy to get overwhelmed by the way Hemmingway or... Read more →

I often have half finished projects lying around the house. I start them with great enthusiasm and then for some reason or another (life gets busy or I get distracted by another exciting project) I don't get around to fishing them. Last year I was making hand-bound books using eco-dyed... Read more →

The end of the 2019 Poetry Challenge and a break from compiling the Poet's Express newsletter gave me some space and time to breathe life into an idea that had been lurking around in the back of my mind for a while now. For the last year or so I've... Read more →

I've been feeling disjointed and aimless. My cup was empty, in spite of doing things I loved - reading good books, writing poetry, going to open mics, playing board games with family and seeing friends. I didn't know what was missing. I didn't even know something was missing. I was... Read more →

I spent last week camping in the bush at Hawks Nest in New South Wales. I was there with my daughters to attend the Jon Young Music, Nature and Storytelling Workshop. Jon Young is a naturalist, tracker and mentor from North America. He's also an author (What the Robin Knows... Read more →

For most of this year I've been smitten with the poetry bug. Writing it, reading it, talking it. Dipping my toe into the beautiful world of spoken word and open mics. Having my first feature as a spoken word artist. Entering competitions and submitting to journals. It's been amazing and... Read more →

I'm submitting a poem to an anthology with my publisher, Ginninderra Press. I have no idea if this poem will fit the theme of the anthology or catch the selector's eye. In short, I don't know if it's going to meet someone else's standards, fit with their vision or be... Read more →

I'm having a moment of existential crisis and self doubt. I'm despairing of ever writing a poem that will get published in a literary magazine. The poems in literary journals are incredible. When I read the ones that have been accepted I feel so ordinary. It's my secret fear. Being... Read more →