Literature for Social Change
Well, the holidays are over and I'm back at work. Now first things first: this article appeared right before Christmas and several people asked me to post it here, so here it is. It basically describes...
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Redressing the Balance
With the new year has come some thinking about my work day, and I can say with some surety that something has gotten seriously out of whack. I find that I have been waking up with a long list of...
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Starting to Write a New Novel
It has always been my aim in this blog to state the reality of my experience of writing. I've tried to discuss problems, little victories, unforeseen consequences. And now I'm about to start a new big...
View ArticleNeed Some Inspiration?
I often do, and it's not always for my writing. Sometimes I need some inspiration in order to just get on with it, and when I do, I often turn to my old friend TED. TED talks are wonderful things and...
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So Far So Good
A couple of weeks ago, here, I talked about how I've come up with a new approach to organising my work day so that I do more writing and less admin...well, maybe not less admin, but at least a bit...
View ArticleOn Contracts and Introverts
This week I've come across two posts which I thought I'd share with you. Both important in different ways. Both aimed towards writers, but of equal relevance to others, as well.First, the writer, Lauri...
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Where's Sue?
Today, I am in New York City. In a couple of days, I will be in Boston. After that, I will be back in London, briefly, and then I will be in Bangkok for a day before arriving in Siem Reap, Cambodia,...
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Home Truths About Poetry
I'm stumbling out of (or is it through?) my jet-lagged haze to write down some random thoughts about writing poetry. The impetus for this is the recent blog written on the subject by the wonderfully...
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How to Write a Poetry Play
It's been a very busy week. But a highlight was definitely my trip to the Folkestone campus of Canterbury Christ Church University, to discuss my poetry play, Dreams of May, with one of the classes...
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Temple of a Thousand Faces by John Shors
I'm in overdrive at the moment, getting ready for my annual trip to Cambodia and the kids of Anjali House. As chance would have it, I've been offered the perfect way to get myself into the Cambodian...
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No Such Thing as a Coincidence
I wasn't going to blog today. I spent the morning packing for 6 weeks away -- I have an entire suitcase just for medicine! Then I went for a Valentine's Day lunch with my wonderful husband. It is a bit...
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Waking in Cambodia
This is what I remembered:Breakfast of jackfruit, watermelon, pineapple and mango (very Khmer) beside a plate of fried egg and toast, with coffee (not very Khmer).The street view from my breakfast...
View ArticleWestern Baray: Before Classes Begin
The Sunday before my workshops started, I went with an Australian volunteer/friend and two of my Khmer students to watch the sunset at the Western Baray. This is a reservoir made during the time of the...
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Arrivals
And so it begins. Arriving for my first day of the workshops is always the same and different. There is always an excitement, knowing that something new will happen -- new kids to meet, old ones to...
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Giant Puppets!
Saturday night in Siem Reap...actually, any night in Siem Reap near the Old Market, is a big night. But this past Saturday night was something special. Over the past few years, an annual Giant Puppet...
View ArticleGentrification, Cambodian Style
Gentrification -- I've seen it everywhere I've lived from New York to Cambodia, and everywhere in between. We all have. And I've struggled to know what to feel about it. Of course, in some ways, it is...
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Siem Reap Power Outage!
courtesy of rationalpreparednessYesterday, a truck on the way from Battambang to Siem Reap crashed into a power line carrying power from Thailand to much of northern Cambodia, especially Siem Reap. The...
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One of My Favourite Places
In Siem Reap, just a 10 minute walk through the mayhem of traffic and over broken pavement tiles, is one of my favourite places on earth. It's a monastery called Wat Damnak, an oasis in the middle of...
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A New Street Market
Siem Reap is full of markets: The Old Market, The Central Market, Psa Lou Market, the original Night Market plus the batch of new ones that seem to keep cropping up every year. But the first Saturday...
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Phnom Penh
My husband and I have a silly joke: I ask, "What is it about time?" He answers, "It flies." Well, I've been looking forward to retuning to Phnom Penh for two years, and now the trip has come and...
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