Creative Writing 101 by the Queen of the Fairies

Liz Kessler – Book Reading, Saturday 30^th June, 1 - 2pm, MMU Geoffrey Manton building

Words and photographs by Sophie Bannister

There are small gasps from the young girls in the room as Liz Kessler, author of the successful Emily Windsnap and Philippa Fisher series, enters. I can see her books everywhere, sitting on the tables in front of their owners, ready to be signed at a moment’s notice. A hush descends, and every little girl’s face lights up and looks towards the front expectantly. There is a surreal air hanging about the beginning of this event. It is created by the strong feeling of excitement emitted by Liz’s fans and vaguely resembles what meeting the Queen must feel like. I – though arguably too old for Emily Windsnap’s adventures, sadly – begin to sense the bubbling feeling that comes from the mounting excitement. Perhaps I’m reverting back to childhood.

It isn’t much of a surprise that Liz is more popular with girls than boys; the majority of her books consist of adventures about mermaids and fairies, which, of course, most little girls aspire to be. Yet, Liz’s books have inspired all kinds of children from every walk of life. It’s not hard to see why. The scope of imagination that has gone into these books is impressive.

Liz begins the event by talking about her writing, and it soon begins to resemble a creative writing lecture. We learn about Liz’s habits as a writer and she describes some of her influences whilst incorporating events that led to the creation of her famous works. Of these, the story of how the Philippa Fisher books came about is one of the most entertaining. It was based on an experience a young Liz had when she picked a daisy one day. She immediately knew it was going to become a fairy at midnight. So she took it to her room, placed it in a jar on her windowsill and stayed up that night to wait and watch. As midnight crept closer, Liz began to grow fearful of what might happen. What if the fairy was bad? She couldn’t take it any longer. Liz flung open her window and threw the daisy out. She instantly regretted it. This was later to become the beginning of the first Philippa Fisher book, and it is just one example of how life experiences have shaped Liz’s work.

Liz confesses that when she writes, she is an obsessive planner. Her routine begins by scribbling ideas into beautiful notebooks with covers that inspire the imagination (‘if you love notebooks, you’re pretty much halfway to being a writer!’ she tells us). They then all get typed up, printed out, cut up and moved around until Liz is fairly happy with the order. Eventually, it is broken down into chapters then sent to the editor for approval. It’s a process that takes a painfully long time, yet for Liz, it is a necessary one in order to make her stories so inspiring.

It is entirely fascinating to listen to Liz’s enthusiasm. Her excited tone of voice highlights exactly how much she cares for her line of work and how desperate she is to help others to break into the world of writing. The audience is given lots of tips to help with problems like writer’s block and time management, which are eagerly absorbed by little brains.

The writing business is put aside for now, as Liz begins to read from her new Emily Windsnap book, Land of the Midnight Sun. The audience reclines into their seats and lets Liz’s words surround and transport them into the story. The whole event is over far too soon. Yet, the quality of the snippet read to us confirms one thing; if the authors of the future sit in this room today, they’ve been given a great head start with Liz’s advice.

Sophie Bannister has just completed her first year studying English Literature at Manchester Metropolitan University. She hopes to complete a Master’s degree after her time at MMU. MCBF has given her the boost she needed to start her own blog and showcase her work. You can view Sophie's blog here.

A Howling Good Time With Curtis Jobling

Curtis Jobling - Wereworld, Saturday 30th June, 2 - 3pm, MMU Geoffrey Manton Building


Words and photographs by Sophie Bannister

I catch up with Curtis Jobling as he signs a copy of his first book of the Wereworld series for 9-year-old Sasha Vellins. Not just a signature, in fact. The page is filled with doodles and messages, showing how he is more than happy to go that extra mile for his fans. He even gives her a signed poster. Sasha looks thrilled.

The illustrator and animator has recently broken into the thorny field of novel writing – and he has truly excelled. The Wereworld series gains more and more momentum as the story continues, appealing to a large audience of pre-teens and young adults, so much so that the series has been increased from four books to six. And Curtis says he can write more; ‘I’ve only scratched the surface of what I can do here,’ he tells us. The world of Lyssia may be in for more adventures than originally planned.

MCBF’s own young reporters sit eagerly on the front row, winding Curtis up with endless questions and their cheeky comments. However, Curtis can give as good as he gets; he draws Spud, the scarecrow from Bob the Builder, as an example of his animation work, ignoring the boys’ cries of ‘You’ve missed his nose!’, until they threaten to deafen the rest of us. We all see the funny side though. This good-humoured rivalry continues throughout the session, yet the boys still seem spellbound by Curtis and his line of work. Maybe it’s because Curtis is still a big kid, shown by Bob’s later transformation into ‘Were-Bob’.

And so the topic changes to his current line of work, The Wereworld series. The books are set in the world of Lyssia, in which there are beings called ‘werelords’ who can shape-shift into an animal particular to that person. The first book follows Drew Ferran, the last of the werewolves and rightful King of Lyssia. This is most definitely not Twilight-esque. Curtis explains that since he was a small child, he has been fascinated with the Fantasy horror genre (‘big F, little h,’ says Curtis) and that this project was never going to stray far from his roots. His face lights up as he talks, and he is rather more animated than when he spoke about, well, animation. The Wereworld series is clearly close to his heart.

Curtis keeps it interactive by answering the audience’s questions, and playing a game called ‘Hairy Man or Wolf Man’. It involves looking at a zoomed-in image of either a wolf-man or a hairy-man and guessing which one it is. I am awful, but the children love it.

The extract Curtis reads from the first book emphasises that this is a series to spark the imagination, to take you away to a different world entirely, and wholly engage you while you’re there. There doesn’t seem to be any upper age limit with these books; they are accessible to almost everybody who enjoys Fantasy horror.

The book reading ends, Lyssia vanishes, and we come back down to earth with everybody feeling inspired. I, as a self-confessed Fantasy horror geek, feel compelled to go out and buy the Wereworld books pronto. It seems that this hour has quietly drawn us all into land of Lyssia, and I don’t think there’s any turning back.

Sophie Bannister has just completed her first year studying English Literature at Manchester Metropolitan University. She hopes to complete a Master’s degree after her time at MMU. MCBF has given her the boost she needed to start her own blog and showcase her work. You can Sophie's blog here.

Garen Ewing Comics Workshop

Waterstone's Deansgate Children's Party, Sunday 1st July, 1pm, Waterstone's


Words and photographs by Emma Reynolds

On Sunday the 1^st of July the Waterstones Deansgate Children's Party takes place in the afternoon. Garen Ewing, creator of the fantastic adventure comics series  The Rainbow Orchid, runs an engaging and interactive 'Comic Characters' workshop, as well as signing books for fans at the end of the event.

Garen starts off by introducing himself and his comics, and then dives straight in to asking the children to give him some examples of different facial expressions. The kids all have juice, raisins and plenty of pens and paper, ready to draw their own characters, starting with the faces. After showing how you can create different emotions by making adjustments to the shape of the character's eyes, mouth and eye brows – Garen moves on to starting with different shaped heads.

It is a great exercise because it's always tempting to start with a circle, but by beginning with a square, a triangle or any other shape, the characters become more original, individual and expressive, with the head shape helping to accentuate their personality. Once they draw a variety of heads, everyone adds bodies, hair, beards, hats, horns and other assorted accessories to their characters to make them their own!

Next, Garen asks the children to shout out some ideas for what a really nasty villain would be like. They come out with some fantastic and utterly foul ideas, which is brilliant to watch, including a 'Black Hole Gun', and 'Bugs in his teeth!' Garen then encourages them to start designing their own villain, while he sets to work visualising their super villain on his drawing board.

To counter the super villain, next of course comes the super hero! And what a dashing fellow he was too – handsome, hilarious and with an afro that people can get stuck in! After everyone had finished their heroes, Garen winds down the workshop by showing them some of his concept drawings for his characters, and explains how he changed and developed his characters until he was happy with them, encouraging the children to do the same.

Garen drawing his main character from his comic series: Historical-research assistant, Julius Chancer

It is fascinating hearing about Garen's attention to detail and in-depth research into the 1920's time period, explaining to the group how the Natural History Museum used to look, and how he wanted to make sure his portrayal of Ancient Greek was accurate. Garen also tells us the story behind the Breguet 280T aircraft featured in the comic - 0nly twenty one were ever made in real life - so after carefully tracking down some blue prints, he was able to ask a friend who builds model aeroplanes to make him one so that he could draw it from any angle he needed for the story.

A huge thank you to Garen Ewing and Waterstones Deansgate for hosting the event!

You can find out more about The Rainbow Orchid series over on Garen's website here. You can also keep up to date with his news on his blog and follow him on @garenewing 

Emma is a freelance illustrator from Manchester, with a passion for narrative story telling, creating characters and producing original and whimsical illustrations. She is currently working on her book 'Reynard the Detective'. You can follow Emma on her blog at Emma Reynolds Illustration, on twitter @emmaillustrate and on Facebook. And to see her portfolio you can visit her website too, here.

Pullman Makes an Impact

Philip Pullman – Meet the Author – ‘Big questions are important’ – 5^th July 2012, Geoffrey Manton

Words by Laura Griffiths and photographs by Kevin Danson

Philip Pullman, one of this generation’s most treasured authors, visits Manchester Children’s Book Festival where he talks about his inspiration, beliefs and most importantly, the importance of storytelling.

The room fills quickly and it’s a real testament to Pullman’s work to see just how diverse his fan base has become. Children, teens and adults alike, eagerly await amongst the rows decorated with copies of his best-loved works, ready to unleash their questions. The writer, who says he; ‘would like an audience as big as possible’, has certainly got his wish this evening.

There’s a very honest presence about the author, whose most notable work is the ever-successful children’s fantasy piece Northern Lights. He sits casually in front of the lecture theatre crowd in a modest Q&A manner with fellow children’s author, Sherry Ashworth, who directs the evening.

It becomes clear from the first few questions about children’s literature as a genre, just how strongly Pullman feels about speaking to his younger audience. This is evident in his answers. He is not afraid to be honest in front of the young crowd and voices his beliefs on religion, a widely discussed aspect of his work, with great candidacy, dismissing the stereotype that children’s authors are selective about what they choose to speak about.

There is a unanimous gasp of excitement when Sherry moves on to the topic of the book everybody wants to hear about, Northern Lights. The fantasy novel, which focuses on the journey of two children, Lyra and Will, won Pullman much critical acclaim upon publication—and it is not difficult to see why the audience shares such admiration for the book. When asked about Lyra, Pullman assures us that the character is not an unusual girl. He feels there are ‘Lyra’s everywhere in our world’, but the one thing that does make her stand out, is her ability to love, a universal trait that speaks to the entire audience.

Countless hands shoot up, as it is the audience’s turn to ask the questions. The listeners are keen to learn of Pullman’s writing processes, his answers to the ‘big questions’ and of course, when is the next book to the series coming out? The room lights-up when the prospect of a His Dark Materials sequel is raised. He assures us that he never follows the fashions of fiction and simply writes what he wants to write. He says, ‘I am the boss. I kill people, I bring them back to life, I do exactly what I want and I like it’.

An exciting announcement about the possibility of one of his old comic strips hitting the big screen sends the crowd buzzing. Pullman is keen to use ‘as few pixels as possible’, to avoid the feeling surrounding his last cinematic translation, which he does not shy away from sharing his disappointment in. James Bond portraying one of your characters has got to be a good thing though!

For Pullman, writing and reading go hand in hand. He prefers to write his novels quietly in his garden shed and doesn’t stop until he believes they are good enough, reminding us that what he chooses to pen down is ‘none of the reader’s business’, during the writing stages. Reading is a personal experience, it is about the reader’s imagination and he praises this idea that language can be interchangeable. Pullman, whose interest in reading came from reading Noddy books and The Moomins, sees words and illustrations of equal importance and says his beloved comic books are to thank for his appreciation of the two.

The legacy that Pullman has created through his writing shows the sheer power of literature to transcend boundaries and speak to everyone. There’s a message to be heard tonight about reading and writing: There is no right and wrong when reading. How you read a book is how it was intended to be read, there is no fixed agenda, just good tales of a world where truth can exist and ‘everyone is welcome’.

Laura Griffiths is a recent MMU English graduate with several writing outlets, working towards a career in music journalism. Check out her blog here, and follow her on twitter @leanaura

  

Praise The Pictures

Picture Consequences, 30th June, 10 - 4pm, MMU Geoffrey Manton Building


Words and Photographs by Emma Reynolds

On Saturday the 30th of June at the MCBF Family Fun Day, I ran a Picture Consequences workshop where people came along and made their own unique characters. For those who have not played before, two or more people each start by drawing the head. Next, everyone folds their drawing over and passes it along to the next person to draw the body, and again  for the legs, and lastly the feet. The best part is unfolding it at the end and watching your unique combinations come to life as a character!

'Burger King' has to the be my favourite character created from the day. He has cheese slices for ears, a pickle mouth, a veggie burger orb and chips for legs! Best thing ever; he made me laugh so much.

I had an absolutely fantastic day running the workshop, it was truly inspiring to see what the kids (and adults!) came up with, and I met some lovely new people too. The feedback's been great and I'm really happy that everyone had so much fun creating their brilliant, wacky and completely hilarious characters. Thank you so much to all who came, there was laughter and smiles all day - I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

Emma is a freelance illustrator from Manchester, with a passion for narrative story telling, creating characters and producing original and whimsical illustrations. She is currently working on her book Reynard the Detective. You can follow Emma on her blog at Emma Reynolds Illustruation, on twitter @emmaillustrate and on Facebook. And to see her portfolio you can visit her website too, here.

McMillan and Goss: Boss

Ian McMillan and Luke Carver Goss: Flipchart and Squeezebox Musical Comedy Show, Wednesday 4th July, 6-7:30pm Royal Northern College of Music

Words and photographs by Caroline Greenwood.

Having only a passing familiarity with Ian McMillan’s work, I am more than a little intrigued as to what awaits me at his mysteriously named; ‘Flipchart and Squeezebox Musical Show.’ How on earth could large pieces of paper and an accordion make a ‘hilarious’ night out? In the quest to find out, I pulled on my boots and braved the typically seasonal Manchester weather, as I headed towards the Royal Northern College of Music, for an evening of entertainment…

Entering the RNCM Theatre, there is an excited hum of chatter coming from the gathering crowd, as groups of children and parents all scramble to their seats, ready for the show to begin. Alongside them, in equally high spirits, is also a good selection of people from the non-parent-child demographic, who - presumably familiar with McMillan’s Radio 3 show, The Verb - have also braved the elements to watch the star in action.

Equipped with only the bare essentials (two chairs, a table, an accordion and a flip chart), McMillan keeps his set simple, with a clear focus on the two objects featured in the show’s title (An Accordion and a Flipchart). However, this simplicity proves to be all that is required, as McMillan’s performance and stage presence is more than enough to brighten up the theatre.

“You don’t get this with Carol Ann Duffy”

McMillan’s style is one which fuses together both music and poetry, whilst actively encouraging audience participation through a selection of musical refrains and choreographed movements, designed to accompany his words. When watching him perform, his craftsmanship is apparent, offering something for everyone in his crowd-pleasing, double-edged-pantomime style jokes and slapstick comedy. Also typically northern in its roots, Ian’s comedy frequently makes use of the northern ‘lingo‘, as he gently probes the classes, softly mocking southern sensibilities and northern ways to great effect. Particular highlights of the show include his poems about Dinner Ladies, Derek the train spotter and Postman Pat’s three brothers, which all have the audience in hysterics.

 The main thematic focus of the show however, is placed upon schools and teaching. McMillan explores the classroom, entertaining us with poems about his own school experiences (Hole in the Hall - A poem about…well… a hole in the Hall!) and ‘Creaking Head Teacher Mr. Moore!’ These references prove to be particularly relevant for the younger members of the audience (and especially a boisterous scout group) who take great pleasure in acting out the poems, cheekily challenging McMillan at any given opportunity.

The evening’s music (on the Accordion) is provided by Luke Carver Goss, who like McMillan, has an exceptional ability for improvisation, which he demonstrates throughout the show by making up tunes to compliment the poets work. Both men are clearly comfortable with each other’s style and work well together to achieve an effective collaboration.

 The show’s big finale comes in the form of a poem constructed entirely from audience suggestions on the ’Lyreco Flipchart’, accompanied by Goss on Accordion - An exercise which proves very interesting, with the end result being as follows;

Midnight at the RNCM

Midnight at the RNCM (x3)

Oooooo

There’s an owl

With a scowl

He’s called Powell

In a cowl

And he’s carrying a piece of cake

And he’s carrying a quite long snake

It’s not a real one it’s a fake

Coz it’s a slug

                        It’s a what?

It’s a slug

                        What did you say then?

It’s a slug.

He’s here with the fake snake

Looks like a tie to me from M&S

Where is your hat?

Where did you buy it?

The invisible tie maker

Is sneaking up behind him

With a cravat (x3)

The children in particular, enjoy this part of the show, singing along with great gusto to Goss’ accordion. MCBF’s own James Draper is then coaxed up on stage to perform the role of the snake carrying bird (Kudos go to James, who made a truly exceptional Owl!)

 After all the excitement, the show ends somewhat abruptly, with McMillan and Goss vacating the stage at the end of this performance, denying the audience a revival of ’Adios Mama, Adios Papa’, promised earlier in the show. However, McMillan does compensate with a book signing in the foyer, which I’m sure, for his fans, more than made up for the lack of an encore!

As I got back in the car and reflected on the evening’s experience, I again asked myself the question. Was what I had just witnessed a ’hilarious’ night not to be missed?

- You bet!

Caroline Greenwood is a recent English graduate from MMU. After enjoying her first degree at the university, she hopes to begin a Master’s in Gothic Literature this coming September. A keen writer, she currently runs two blogs; carolinecupcakes and theafternoonteaclub (co-run with fellow MCBF blogger Laura Griffiths)

You can find Caroline on twitter at @FromCaroline

Spy Dog Lara Wins More Fans

Andy Cope: Spy Dog Roller Coaster, Monday 2nd July, 6 - 7:30pm, Waterstone's Deansgate.

Words and Photographs by Joanne Carrington

It is a grey and rainy evening in Manchester. However, myself and about 30 other children and parents are dry and warm on the top floor of Waterstones, eagerly awaiting the start of the Andy Cope: Spy Dog Roller Coaster Event.

Wandering around the room and graciously accepting the adoration of her eager fans is (a rather muddy) Lara the dog, affectionately described as: ‘The cutest dog in the world’ by one young girl. Lara is the star and inspiration behind Andy Cope’s ‘Spy Dog’ series, in which Lara is a highly trained special agent dog working for the government.

We are introduced to Lara and how she inspired Andy Cope to write his first Spy Dog book after asking ‘what if?’, when watching James Bond with Lara by his side. Cope catches the attention of his audience with humorous anecdotes about Lara and an adorable slideshow of photos of her as a puppy (she is now 11, nearly 77 in dog years!), which promoted a chorus of ‘awwwwww’ from the audience. He encourages the children to think of what their own pets could be if we asked ‘what if?’, and soon everyone is talking about Marvin the girl guinea pig. Could she be a spy guinea pig? No one knows what pets do when we aren’t watching!

From the start of the event Andy Cope quickly engages and entertains the audience with games such as ‘Say The Colour Not The Word’ (Blue, Red, Yellow...), which is definitely not as easy as it seems! He then asks us to vote whether Lara is ugly, beautiful, cute or unusual? As you can imagine, the vote was almost unanimous on Lara being cute and my hand was definitely the first to go up. The room erupts into giggles as he tells funny anecdotes about ‘boring Melanie’ from school, and how no one wants to become the boring one! His message throughout is clear; make the right choices to be interesting, brilliant and determined and everyone will get the right things out of life. Reading is fun and much more rewarding than watching television all day.

After questions from the audience about how long it takes to write the Spy Dog books, which varies from two weeks to almost a year, it is time for the children to write their own stories. There is a rush to the back of the room for everyone to get pens and paper and then the room is silent. Everyone is busy writing away (and Lara is happily napping on her back, legs in the air, in the middle of the room).

The under 10s are asked to write a short story featuring a gorilla and the older children have to write a story with the line: ‘Oh my goodness Mrs Jones, your toenails are melting!’ Ten minutes (and lots of creativity) later, the stories are done. The results being an array of imaginative short stories from a clearly inspired and captivated group of children featuring characters such as Captain Underpants and Marshmallow the gorilla, to huge explosions capable of melting toenails. Even a Gorilla in tights! You can’t get much more varied than that.

Overall, Andy and Lara have engaged and entertained the audience, promoting the idea of the ‘sausage machine of life’—we have to put good things in to life to get good things out. His talk was certainly inspirational (especially to a recent graduate) and I am happy to say the children all seemed suitably inspired as they left with arms piled of signed Spy Dog books, ready to go home to perform random acts of kindness that Cope has encouraged.

Meanwhile, Lara has woken up just in time to appreciate some more affection from her adoring fans (and I am definitely one of them). 

Joanne has just graduated from MMU with a degree in English with Social History

Start and Continue with Kate Fox

Kate Fox: The Starting Line, Tuesday 3rd July, 1-2pm, Powerhouse Library


Words and Photographs by Rebecca Audra Smith

At Moss Side Powerhouse Library we wait for the whistle to announce the start of Kate Fox’s show. This show is a promising mix of interactive activities and technology, the Bike of Power is mentioned and I’m already wondering how the event is going to play out. As people arrive, each audience member gets a keypad with which they will become a contestant on ‘The Starting Line Quiz’. 

The Starting Line is being held in a gym hall; the wall is lined with basketball hoops and the floor has the traditional squares and lines. The perfect venue for combining poetry and exercise! Kate Fox introduces a bit of the project behind the event, known as the starting point. She was poet in residence for the Great North Run, and chose to take part in the run, both physically and poetically. This event has its own narrative, which sprung from her residency. Just like a swimmer jumps from a springboard, ‘The Starting Line’ jumped from the poem she composed on her run. 

In welcoming us, Kate begins her performance of the poem, which shall guide us through the next hour. We join in with the chorus chant:

Flow like a river

Flow like a line

Flow like an expert

Flow like time

Then we begin the warm-up exercises. Lady Gaga’s, Born This Way, booms out as Kate and her electronic friends conduct us through warm up stretches to Gaga’s classic ‘Monster’ poses. Having warmed up, it’s time to introduce the Great North Run and we watch a video footage of Kate getting ready. She tells us of her plan to finish the run and recite a poem that she had composed while on the run! Doubled motivational skills. We are opened up to the technologically enabled Quiz with the question:

How do you feel when starting something new?

a)     Excited

b)    Nervous

c)     Confused

d)    A bit of both, you numpty.

An overwhelming majority go for option ‘d’ through their interactive keypads, with the results being instantly delivered in a graph on the screen behind Kate, showing the percentages. Next up, audience participation is asked for and a field of hands start waving immediately. An audience member is picked and climbs aboard the Bicycle of Power. Zach powers the show for 12 minutes for the energy reward of a banana. We leave him to it and move back into the event’s poem, feeling the energy of the piece as everyone joins in with the chant.

Flow like a river

Flow like a line

Flow like an expert

Flow like time

Kate transforms herself into Doctor Kate with the use of a lab coat, and two participants eagerly volunteer to take part. One of them is named ‘Samey Sweets Diet’, the other ‘Varied Vitamins’. Samey Sweets Diet; ‘thinks changing the shade of Haribo means variety’; and gets ready to race Varied Vitamins. Getting ready requires dressing up Samey Sweets Diet in flippers, goggles (should have eaten those carrots) and headphones. The benefits of Varied Vitamin means you race without anything holding you back. As expected, Varied Vitamin wins and Samey Sweets sheds their underwater outfit. We conclude with some feedback letting the audience know how many of them are Varied Vitamins and how many are Samey Sweets. You’ll be pleased to hear 62% of the audience believe they are Varied Vitamin. We move from diet to Bristol Stool Chart! Paula Radcliffe briefly appears on screen squatting inelegantly.

My favourite audience interaction piece is called ‘Fartlek’, a running technique defined as ‘speed play’, that can be adapted to your own personal speed. As Kate Fox put it, ‘Running fast when you feel it, and slow when you feel like it’. So there could be a way to talk or walk in Fartlek!

As the second biker chooses coco-pops, an energy value of eleven minutes to pedal for, we move onto visualisation. Kate asks us to close our eyes and think of something we would like to start, then turn it into a starting line for writing. After a few minutes a few people share their first lines:

‘The excitement of starting a new school flew into my body’

‘The anticipation of starting is flying around the hall’

And we move back to the Starting Line quiz.

Question: For running you need to use:

a)     Your body

b)    Your mind

c)     Both of them

For writing you need to use… see choice above!

90% choose option ‘d’ for question one, 67% choose option ‘d’ for question two. Kate comes to the point of what this event pivots on; both activities use the mind and the body.

Today, pupils, teachers and the audience, leave the event with new starts planned for their daily lives, new starts for their writing—supported by All Write! Competition—and with Kate’s promise at the end that: ‘The only way to finish is to get across the start’. 

Rebecca Audra Smith is in her first year of a Masters in Creative Writing: Poetry Route. She co-hosts the poetry night: 'Stirred at Sandbar', and blogs both here and also updates her own blog with details of freelance creative writing workshops, reading groups and events here. Follow Rebecca on twitter @BeccaAudra