Pitstop Portfolio

Words and writing are my craft, art and colour are my play. Entwined, they both make up my working day.

My artwork is emblazoned across this site, so to focus on my words, here is a random selection of examples and where to find them:

For an ad hoc, quixotic collection of thoughts, poems, essays and occasional rants, have a perusal of my blog. For a peek into my love affair with a London market when I was a Londoner, here’s a hearty feature. For a glimpse into the barest bones of my soul, here are some audio recordings of some poems. Here’s an excerpt from my love song to sea swimming. And for a slight gear change, some of my past environmental feature writing / journalism.

In terms of my poetry and creative writing in general, I’m often asked if I’ve published a book - the short answer is no and in truth, I’ve never actively pursued that. Time is short, so is life - the priority for me has always been to just well, use precious time to write what I want to write.

Still, occasionally - very - I impulsively decide to enter a competition (usually once every 2yrs or something!) and I’ve been lucky to win some awards along the way.

For collected works, these include a New Writers Award from Literature Wales, as well as a much coveted place on the inaugural Poetry Academy course run by the publishers Faber & Faber.

In the individual poetry prize stakes, I received a Special Mention in the Welsh Poetry Awards for ‘Keeping House’ and made it to the top 10 shortlist in the Plaza International Poetry awards with a poem called, ‘Six Days Without Blinking’.

However, in general, the best place to hear/see/’read’ my poems is via a sporadic live performance or reading… the magical alchemy for me, has always nestled in that nexus of the writing and then the performing of my poetry.

In My Own Words (a lengthier elaboration of the above!)

Writing helps me to pause, to better understand the world and ultimately to breathe more easily again - and I’ve been writing in earnest since the age of about 12.

Back then, I used to sit on my self-coined Poetry Rock by the big waterfall, penning turgid verse and grief-stricken elegies to dead pets. 31 years later - I’m still writing, but have far fewer pets.

For many years, I performed my poems too - on land and at sea, in various stages and enclaves dotted around the world.

When I gave birth to my son 11years ago, I cast my spangly performer’s hat aside a while, to prioritise bringing him up.

Beyond poetry, my writing range has been quite broad over the years - spanning everything from freelance journalism, to feature writing, essays and website copy. My style is varied, eclectic. At times earnest, heartfelt; others - jocular, irreverent, inane. Sometimes zany and surreal, other times acid, acerbic; sarky and satirical.

In general, I rarely send my work off for a publisher’s perusal or a judge’s scrutiny. But in moments of caution-throwing, I have been lucky to win a few awards along the way, including a New Writer’s Award from Literature Wales and somewhat astoundingly, a much coveted place on the inaugural Becoming a Poet course run by the publishers Faber & Faber.

Still, the magic for me is in the act of writing - and having been a time-short single parent for the best part of 11yrs, time to write is better spent actually writing than submitting applications or manuscripts.

These days I write creatively through compulsion, rarely on command or to order. Instead I follow the inspiration as it comes - invariably unannounced, often inconvenient (whilst driving or washing up etc!).

Through my poems, you will see the barest bones of my soul; in my thought meanders and essays - my incline towards incisiveness over decisiveness. I tend to have more questions than answers. Occasionally a beseeching or wrath-driven rant might break out too.

Writing helps me to catch my breath. It liberates thoughts orbiting in circles in my head and re-organises them into a scatter of something closer to a galaxy or a starlit night sky.

Ultimately my work as a whole, offers an unfiltered vantage on the great riddling parcel of a person that is me. But through that, there is always the greater and over-arching ambition, that the particulars of my words, resonate with something of the great riddling mix of what it means to be human to you too. 

Workshops with Words

Words are central to my work.

Over the last five years, I have project managed a number of Arts Council projects in schools and am now branching into facilitating writing/poetry workshops at festivals and other events.

As of Spring 2024, I’ll also be running writing workshops from my studio here in Mid Wales. I am still developing the workshop plan - but will post an update here when I have it more finalised.

Here’s a teaser…

Writing workshops - let’s be honest, get a very bad rap. And probably not entirely undue.

So with my workshops, I’m on a mission to overturn all dusty, fusty, threadbare and out of date associations.

To debunk all notions of earnest, tweedy, chin-scratching, intellectual, oblique, opaque abstraction and furrowed-brow whispering.

Instead, I’ll be aiming for a more unorthodox approach - replete with colour, fun, candour, a touch of surreality and lashings of fresh, experimental new approaches to getting words - and creative ideas - fizz-popping out of your brain.

Ultimately, my aim will be to send you home at the end of the day feeling refreshed, with a spring in your step and some inspired new ways and means of expressing the things you personally, hanker to get up and out into words. Even if you didn’t know you wanted to!

(Psst! …often the key to inspiring people to write, is not to make them write anything at all…controversial eh?!)

My workshops will be aimed at everyone and anyone - the more mixed my demographic, the merrier they will be!

Watch this space for updates or get in touch here if you’d like to register your interest.