Writing in Context

So long and an invitation

This will be my last blog on this website, perhaps forever.  It isn’t as dramatic as it sounds. After many years of thinking about what I would write about (i.e. procrastinating), feedback from you, and valued support from Arts Council England via a DYCP grant, I have finally become part of the Substack writing community.  

Weekly posts on Writing in Context will include one of my creative works and a passage about the social/political or literary context in which it was written, or a fallow or creative prompt. There will also be discounts on my private workshops and a gift for annual subscribers.

To show my appreciation for your readership and support over the years, I’d like to offer you a discounted subscription for the first year. Just click on this link to access your 15% discount. There is also a discount for early subscribers until 13^th January so please do share this with friends who you think might be interested.

I’m looking forward to sharing my work with people across the globe and to writing more non-fiction. I also hope that making a small regular income from my Substack will allow me to keep writing.

Don’t worry, posts will be free once a month so, if you have been following this blog for a while, you will receive more posts than you do currently.  

Top 10 Writing Highlights of 2025

It seems apt that my final blog on this site should come at the tail end of the year and feature, for the last time, my top 10 writing highlights (in no particular order). Thank you for being part of my 2025.

1. Having the space, time and support to work on my memoir thanks to an Arts Council England Developing your Creative Practice grant and mentorship from the incredibly talented and generous Kerri ní Dochartaigh.
2. Attending and having my mind and practice blown by Beyond Form courses Hermit Crabs as Queer Forms and Writing with Embodied Shape, and Corporeal Writing’s Write Now: The Narrative Braid.
3. Public feedback on my memoir-in-progress by professional editors at London Writers Salon.
4. Spitting Yarns – my first loopy attempt at sound poetry led by the very talented Carrieanne Vivianette whose unforgettable performance involved simulating the defecation of paper (!)  
5. Helping to organise a queer writing party, Reading, Writing, Revolution with Jess Wright and others.
6. Having three poems featured in the first issue of The Aftershock Review and five in the erbacce journal after being highly commended for the erbacce collection prize for the third time.
7. Being Writer-in-Residence as part of the meaningful and invigorating Everything is Connected exhibition with Imogen Joyce and Verity Smith for Bradford 2025 and The Methodist Modern Art Collection.
8. Having two short stories published – one in Scotland’s International Short Story Magazine, Postbox and the other in The Book of Bradford by Comma Press.
9. Being an exhibit in a museum with other writers (Literature in Leeds at Abbey House Museum) – well, artefacts associated with our writing processes anyway. You can catch this until September 2026.
10. Running a second Fallow at the Farm in which we started to move beyond how fallowness can reinvigorate our creativity to think about its potential social impacts.

Upcoming Workshops and Courses

I’ll leave you with news of some open sessions I’ll be running at the start of 2026.

Resting the Mindland, online course in partnership with The Poetry Pharmacy, Mondays 6.30-8.30 pm GMT from 2^nd February

This course is designed to explore how fallowness and activities that encourage soft fascination can help your poetry breathe and allow you to return to the world rejuvenated. Resting the Mindland includes an individual feedback session and a chance to share your work in Week 6. Further details and booking link here.

Rebraiding History: Creative Writing Workshop, Saturday 7^th March, 10-12 pm, Abbey House Musuem

This writing workshop draws on Victorian artifacts in the museum’s collection and the streets of Abbey Fold to tune into voices of characters who may have lived in 19^th Century Leeds, and find creative ways to weave their history with our present. Tea, coffee and cake provided.

Booking link here.

Sending seasons greetings and best wishes for 2026. I hope to see you at a workshop or over at Writing in Context on Substack soon.