The Giants were losing
I've just returned from my first baseball game and my mouth is saturated in garlic from the garlic fries I've consumed(a least half a bucket full). The San Francisco Giants were losing to the San Diego team. We left before the final outcome, bleached and tired from three hours of sitting looking at the Bay, the yachts, the turquoise water and occasionally the game.
It's still blue outside at 6.45pm and thank god there's PG tips to drink. You can buy most things in America now, except decent wholemeal bread and cheese pasties. There's an Eritrean restaurant on every other street corner but as yet no sign of Greggs. The world will one day be a perfect place but until that time, I'll have to make do with tacos.
Queer Lit . There's a lot of it here. Armistead Maupin. The Castro, Different Light Bookstore and myriads of readings, open mics and performances. Let alone all the counter culture stuff that exists.
I've had to be discriminating, otherwise I'd end up going to a least one event a day that was experimental, low budget and very possibly bad.
On Thursday night I went to a reading with Lisa Moore (Degrees of Nakedness) and Karen X. Tulchinsky ( The Five Books of Moses Lapinksky) It was gratifying to experience the intimate nature of a bookshop reading. Of the four people in the audience when I arrived, I'd already met one of them. Then I was introduced to Elena Dykewoman - a writer whose name I remember from the late 80s. The atmosphere was friendly and welcoming, the writers interesting. I got away early to eat a quick Taco before getting the BART train over to Oakland before it got too dark.
Garibaldi gets his legs
Well, it's finally arrived - the launch date for my new poetry collection Garibaldi's Legs, published by Iron Press. It will be at the Lit and Phil, Newcastle on Monday 27th June at 7pm - and I have legs on the cover, which has made me very happy. According to Pete Mortimer, this has been one of the longest hauls, getting my cover, but I love the colours and the design. Thank you all involved!
I've also been discovering my own legs, well the underused muscles anyway, as I've been "training" for the 5km Race for Life in aid of Cancer Research UK. I am running in memory and celebration of Julia Darling and I have a sponsor page if you would like to add to it just click that link. Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me already. I don't think I will be making running a regular habit, because my right knee is objecting to me pounding the streets. One of those tube bandages is keeping it going, but I don't want to risk major damage, so it will be back to the gym and hopefully some swimming after the race.
It feels strange writing this blog, because it's the first I've done since Julia died and it just struck me that I won't be getting one of her lovely encouraging emails, telling me what she liked or what made her laugh in my diary.
Now that Garibaldi is published, I have been concentrating on short stories again. Comma Press asked me to write around six stories for a series of books they are publishing which each feature three writers. They are supposed to have a theme or connection, and mine is so slight, but I do feel the stories belong together. Sent them off at the weekend, so waiting to hear back...
Next week I am off to London with work for three days (nothing like a couple of nights in a single hotel room to open up your writing time!) and then back home for a day before heading up to Montrose for a long weekend. I am doing a chapbook for Sand with my sister, Kirsten, who is an artist, so this will give us some time together before she heads off for America and I go to South Africa. The deadline will be with us before we know it.
We have the provisional title of Angus Palette and the poems will be about places in that county. I am hoping that the weather will be good when I'm in Scotland. We will be visiting old haunts and top of our list will be Edzell, a little village at the foot of Glen Esk. These are both magical places for us, especially the river with the Shakkin Brig - a suspension bridge that was our equivalent of Alton Towers when we were kids (it probably still is!)
Away with the Fairies
The prodigal returns to her blog. When I was a kid and didn't turn up to school because I was off buying clothes in Croydon, we called it playing the wag, so maybe now as a big grown up and I'm renaging on my diary duties, I'm wagging the blog...or something like that. A lot has happened in the last six months. For me professionally, I'm nearly half way through a writing residency with Age Concern Newcastle which is going really well. I love working with older people. They inhabit a different, slower and in some ways, kinder culture than mine. Biscuits and soft cushions become very important and a smile and a good drop of gravy seem to work wonders. They are generally a charming bunch and I come away feeling privileged to work with a group where there seems to be a high level of contentment.
Also proudWORDS continues to occupy my time to the extent that my own writng has dissipated somewhat. But for now that feels OK. I'm happy with my work and that's good. Maybe my new found contentment results from working with the over 80s. Big news is though that I'm off to the States next week to attend the Saints and Sinners Literarture festival in New Orleans then I'll be spending two weeks in San Francisco, networking with lesbian and gay writers, writer groups and venues. I'll be garnering ideas for the October 2006 festival and generally soaking up the vibe and a little bit of sun, along with catching up with my novel ( writing rather than reading!) I'll probaby return with another wooden musical tram car that plays " I left my heart ....etc" at half speed and of course in California I can stock up on clothing accessories for the dog... baseball caps, rainwear coats, doggy sunglasses...
[Archives] [Home page] [Previous page]
Site designed and maintained by Cornwell Internet
This template last updated 19th February 2007
