Steve Griffin's Blog, page 12

Guest Interview with US Author Hoang Chi Truong

I first connected with Hoang Chi Truong, the author of Tigerfish, on social media. We quickly built up a rapport. I read Tigerfish and thought it was a beautifully told, often harrowing, memoir of Chi’s escape with her family from the Vietnam war to America. You can read my full review . Chi interviewed me in the summer on her website and now I’m very pleased to return the favour. In this interview Chi tells me about her life as a refugee and how she came to write and independently publi...

My Top Ten Books for Children and Young Adults in 2018

So, I’ve already told you my best reads for adults in 2018 here. Now it’s time for my Top Ten books for Children and Young Adults that I’ve read this year.

A quick note. I have two boys aged 7 and 9 and this collection includes several I’ve read to them at bedtime. When we finish I discuss the story with them and ask them to rate it out of 5. I then give my own rating and we average it for Goodreads.

La Belle Sauvage (The Book of Dust #1) , Philip Pullman

How great was it for those of us who...

My Top Ten Books of 2018: Grown-ups

It’s getting to that time again when we like to think back over what we’ve done in the past year. Or, in the case of us bibliophiles, what we’ve read. So, once again here’s my Top Ten Books for Grown-ups that I’ve read in 2018, each a perfect gift for the Yuletide season!

The Top Ten for Children and Young Adults will be along shortly…

Troubles, J.G. Farrell

Troubles is probably my favourite book that I’ve read this year. It’s about a traumatised British soldier (‘The Major’) who goes to Ire...

Three Reasons to Love Wordsworth

I’ve been really pleased by the reception of my first poetry book, Up in the Air, which reached the top ten in Amazon’s ‘Inspirational Poetry’ bestsellers category.

I wrote a post about how I started writing poems here. I mentioned it was climbing Scottish mountains and reading William Wordsworth that kickstarted my love for poetry. But citing Wordsworth as an inspiration is hardly hip these days. So I thought I’d tell you why I like him. Then, hopefully, you will too.

There are three reason...

UP IN THE AIR poetry book out now!

My new poetry book, Up in the Air, is out now!

It brings together 50 poems that I’ve written over the last 25 years, some published, others new. If you want to read how I came to write poetry in the first place, there’s a post about it here.

I hope you’ll consider buying and reading it. I would be over the moon if you could also write a short review for Amazon (one line will do!). And remember, nothing makes a better Christmas present than some poetry…

Here’s the link, available all over th...

Up in the Air – new poetry book out soon!

My new poetry book, Up in the Air, will be out later this month. I am sooo excited!

This book brings together 50 poems I’ve written over the past 25 years. I got into poetry properly in my twenties when studying an MSc in Environmental Management at Stirling University in Scotland.

I love the big outdoors, and it wasn’t long before I began climbing some of the legendary Scottish mountains. Ben Lomond was the first, done in thick snow and cloud after a late night out on the tiles. It was a st...

It’s National Poetry Day! To celebrate, here’s a poem…

A big pastime for old men in Hong Kong is keeping songbirds. There’s a large garden in Kowloon, where many go to feed birds in return for songs. I wrote this poem about that garden when I visited it in 2001.

The poem was first published in Poetry File by the Belmont Arts Centre, for teaching in Secondary Schools in Shropshire. It will feature in my forthcoming poetry book, Up in the Air (out later this month). I’m posting it today because it’s National Poetry Day.

Isn’t it great we have a...

The Touch of Birds

Here’s The Touch of Birds, one of the poems from my forthcoming poetry book:

The post The Touch of Birds appeared first on Steve Griffin.

New-look Newsletter

Just a quick post to say I’ve updated the format of my newsletter. It’s got a lot more information about what I’ve been up to, including what I’ve been reading, watching and listening to – and especially more on what I’ve been writing.

Don’t miss out – use the form on the side of the page to sign up now if you haven’t already!

Happy reading…

The post New-look Newsletter appeared first on Steve Griffin.

Interview by US Author Hoang Chi Truong

I have had the privilege of being interviewed by US writer Hoang Chi Truong – author of an incredible memoir, Tigerfish.

Check out the full interview here:

https://www.chibeingchi.com/…/author-interview-with-steve-g…

 

 

The post Interview by US Author Hoang Chi Truong appeared first on Steve Griffin.