Let's play Paradise!

A few upcoming gigs - plus a poem for paid subscribers

If you’ve been following this Substack for a while, you’ll know that I’ve just launched a new pamphlet with Southword Press, at Cork International Poetry Festival in Ireland - and that I had the absolute best time doing it!

As a writer, I go through peaks and troughs of doing book events. Sometimes, this depends on how recently I have a book out. Sometimes, it’s to do with ‘festival season’ - or something less tangible. Often, one event will lead to another flurry of them.

The busiest time - as you might expect - tends to be in the immediate aftermath of a book coming out.

After reading in Cork last weekend, I have another poetry event coming up, to celebrate the launch of Playing Paradise, alongside a more belated celebration of my cross-genre pamphlet, Slipped Skin, which came out in January with Broken Sleep.

I also have a couple of prose events coming up, too, and a short story workshop.

So if you fancy coming along to hear me read or chat, or to write with me, here are three places you can do it over the next couple of months:

• Friday 12 June: talking about The Edge of Solitude, in conversation with Nick Cox at the Lake District Book Festival

• Thursday 25 June: poetry reading at The Farmer’s Arms, Lowick Green

• Friday 10 July: Short Story workshop, The Reading Room, Ulverston (contact Zosia Wand for details)

I’m really excited about all of these events - and about the variety they represent. It would be lovely to see you at one, or all!

In the meantime, I’ve been leafing through the beautiful copies of Playing Paradise, with their gorgeous greenish covers. So I wanted to celebrate its publication by sharing the title poem from the pamphlet: