Authors Electric

  Why has a wider knowledge become so narrow? Every time I teach a new literary text to a student, I am excited to share the context of its historical period with them. Understanding the social and historical background to a text can help to bring it to life, illustrating what motivated the author, what they rebelled against or were shaped by, whether they realised it or not. It is crucially important when studying older texts, like Shakespeare or Dickens, which can seem so remote from the lives of young people today, but it is also important to remember that events which happened in the 1980’s and 90’s might as well be medieval to a 15-year-old. Studying Willy Russell’s  Blood Brothers   requires an understanding of Thatcherism and the politics that shaped the decade in which she presided over No. 10. Knowing the background not only enriches understanding, but it also helps to present the authors as real people with real lives. Furthermore, it is part of the curriculum i...

I have been staying a little bit clear of social media since the Christmas break allowed me to take a pause, reflect and re-charge. But as I slide towards the building momentum created by the events and projects due to take place in 2026, I have posted a few times and tried to keep up with things. Now, I almost wish it would cease to exist.   It’s just that I don’t see positive comments about anything anymore. The internet is awash with bitter jealousy, vengeful spite and comments designed to pull anything and anyone down. It’s always had trolls and bots ‘commenting’ on everything, but lately it’s got nastier and more humourless.   It isn’t just to be found in the cyberspace – there’s always been a whole culture of build ‘em up, pull ‘em down in this country – it’s just got worse. So, I am asking, why can’t we offer ‘congratulations’ or say ‘well done’ anymore?   I knew who my real friends were as soon as I started being published, writing and performing, because along ca...

  I first came across Jo bell when she compiled 52 Poems, a book designed to help and encourage the writing of a poem a week. It lifted me out of a long fallow period and got me writing again. The content was so helpful that many of the poems in my first collection, Passing Places, owe   their origins to it. Lately, Jo has devised the Poetic Licence, an online group of aspiring poets who receive prompts, links, ideas, interviews with poets – all sorts of glorious stuff from her, every month. The idea is to build a community of poets. We can share work and feed back to each other if we want to. It’s the best thing I’ve come across to get the creative juices flowing and the community is full of amazing people. Here's a thing from the August prompt, which is about poems as games: COD/RT Is a game the same as a puzzle? COD1023last COD676L57 COD673L13 COD530IL4 COD307L 4from end COD598last para!   Could this   be called   a poem? RT3...