Sheenagh Pugh's Blog, page 48

Interview with Ruth Lacey

It's a prose writer this time, or mainly so, though her luminous, lyrical prose makes many poets look prosy to me. Ruth Lacey was born in 1962 in Sydney where she grew up. She earned her law degree from the University of Melbourne, and an M.Phil in writing from the University of Glamorgan in Wales, in 2006. For the last two decades, Ruth has been living in a small kibbutz in the Galilee region of Israel, and has worked as a legal adviser, community manager, freelance journalist, magazine edit...

All shall have prizes, but only if they can pay to enter

There's a certain amount of chat going on at the moment about book prizes. Elizabeth Baines' blog FictionBitch details how the Guardian's First Book Award will now cost £150 to enter - there'll never be another poet shortlisted, that's for sure. Poetry collections by first-time authors are lucky if they make £150 in profits.

As Elizabeth points out, "this has always been an expensive prize for small presses to enter, as publishers of shortlisted books are required to provide 100 copies free f...

Interview with Rosie Shepperd

I'm hoping to do a series of interviews with writers, chosen for no better reason than that I like them, and this is the first.

After 15 years in the financial markets, Rosie Shepperd studied Creative Writing at Birkbeck College, University of London, and is currently working on an MPhil in Poetry at the University of Glamorgan. She has had poems published in magazines such as Magma and The Rialto and won the 2007 Writer's Inc. Bursary. She also made the shortlist for the Manchester Poetry Pr...

Been on the road again

Went south to visit family and also did a couple of gigs. The first was a reading at the Michaelhouse in Cambridge, a venue which isn't quite as ecclesiastical as it looks from the photos. This was very enjoyable as it was organised by Anne Berkeley, who apart from being a fine poet and noted performer with the Joy of Six group, is a friend of mine. It also featured the very interesting Daniel Hardisty, who is one of the very few male poets I have ever met who claims always to wear a tie - mo...

Man with a project

If you're into aca-discussion of slash and RPS, have a look at achille_heal's user info here. It's all about historical statues:
"In 1822 at Hyde Park Corner, London, the sheet was tugged off a 32-foot high, naked male figure topped by the distinctive head of Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington. The monument dedicated to the great war-hero was the first fully nude male public sculpture in Britain.

It was controversial object. Responses ranged from mirth to widely reported outrage. The ...

Come to a poetry reading? You know you want to...

Anyone at a loose end in Cambridge tomorrow Tuesday 11 May? I'm reading at Michaelhouse, Trinity Street. Event starts at 8 pm (doors open 7.30). Support reader is Daniel Hardisty and there will be a brief open mike (get there early to sign up: preference is given to those who haven't read here before). Entry fee is £5/£3, and there is a licensed café serving snacks.

Just this, really....

Crown of Acorns: Catherine Fisher

Crown of Acorns , Catherine Fisher's latest, has three separate strands, taking place in three time zones. In prehistory, Bladud the leprous king is cured by the sacred spring of Sulis, but the circles he builds to her honour in his gratitude come to imprison him. In the 18th century, Zachariah Stoke works as apprentice to Jonathan Forrest, who dreams of building a perfect circle of houses. And in the present day, a girl of 17, calling herself Sulis, arrives in Bath, with a false identity prov...

Children on the book beach

I'll go with most of what Michael Norris says about encouraging children to read. But re his "5 points", viz:

■ Don't make reading a chore; it is not "good" behaviour.

■ Let your child choose their own reading from a handful of selected books.

■ Don't edit their choice by the age range on the back: see what they fancy.

■ Don't tell them what you enjoyed when you were their age.

■ Stand back and let your child talk directly to the librarian or bookseller

I have to scream very loudly at no 2 - what's...

Prof versus student

- well, that happens all the time but not usually in a big literary competition. Philip was my colleague but Mike was my student so I'll have to back him; anyway his novel Pocket Notebook is such a cracker...

Getting your first novel published and on to prize longlists before you've so much as graduated from the masters degree in question is pretty good going, both for Mike and the degree. This is a list I idly compiled of publications and achievements by University of Glamorgan Masters in Wri...