Queens of the Underworld is a ‘season highlight’ in the Bookseller Non-Fiction Buyer’s Guide for autumn.
I’m excited to be returning to the Hurst to tutor on a residential Tutored Retreat: Fiction course, with Jacob Ross, on November 8th-13th. Working on a novel or a collection of short stories? Fire up your Fiction will provide support and feedback for whatever issues you’re facing with your writing – whether you need […]
The winners of the Make Space for Women competition have been announced – a stunning selection of bold and inspiring artwork. It took the judges hours of discussion to decide on the final winners – with 90 entries, ranging from paintings, photography, drawings, crochet and multimedia, to poetry and prose. The competition was run by […]
I’ll be giving a free online illustrated talk on the history of Thames swimming – and how the act of swimming connects us to nature and creates community – on July 2nd at 2pm. The talk is part of Ben Judd’s fellowship project, The Origin, at Stanley Picker Gallery at Kingston University, London. He’s also […]
I’m looking forward to teaching an Autobiography into Fiction course for City Lit on April 24th, where we will be learning how to turn real life experiences into fiction. What are the problems – and benefits – of using personal material in fiction? Where should we start, what techniques can we use, and how can […]
I’m delighted to be joining City Academy, and look forward to teaching Online Blogging (July 8-Aug 12), Online Creative Writing for Beginners (Sept 1-Oct 6), and a one day Blogging for Beginners in June.
Author and poet Leslie Tate runs weekly interviews on the creative life, this week I chat about Bad Girls and Queens of the Underworld.
The Women’s Equality Party book club in York will be discussing Bad Girls: the Rebels and Renegades of Holloway Prison on March 18th. I’ll be joining them on Zoom at 6.30pm, to talk about the background to the book and answer questions. Guest speaker Dee Sheehan will be talking about WEP policy on women […]
Holloway Prison, the most infamous jail for women in Europe, closed in 2016. Campaigners have been working tirelessly ever since to make sure the site is developed for the community, and that includes a proper Women’s Building. BUT there is not enough space allocated to the building at the moment – there needs to […]
The Royal Literary Fund’s ‘In Focus’ presents short films featuring RLF writers. In the latest film, we respond to the question ‘What’s Your Desert Island Book?’ I chose Rebecca. Watch the film here.
I’m looking forward to tutoring an online Arvon fiction week, ‘Take your writing to the next level’, from November 23rd to the 27th, with Adam Handy. More info here
BBC Radio 4 has aired a programme on Chris Tchaikovsky, leader of The Happy Firm fraud gang in the late 1960s and early ’70s. Her experiences inside Holloway led to the formation of Women in Prison, and she became one of the UK’s leading penal reform campaigners for women. Her story is told by […]
I joined a discussion on wild swimming, its history and benefits, hosted by Georgina Godwin, with Ruth Rose of the Seaford Mermaids and Isabel Hardman, on Times Radio
I’ve been working with volunteers at Dorich House Museum, the studio home of sculptor Dora Gordine & Richard Hare, on The Squatter Years: Recovering Dorich House Museum’s Recent Past. The project launched last summer, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Volunteers have been busy during lockdown, researching and investigating the extent of the […]
The hit film The Ponds will be aired on BBC Four tonight, July 22nd. It was previously aired last May, under the title Swimming through the Seasons: The Hampstead Ponds.
Photographer Ruth Corney has published a book celebrating 20 years of photographing the Kenwood Ladies’ Pond on Hampstead Heath in London. All proceeds go to the Alexandra Wylie Tower Foundation, and the book can be bought via their website. Ruth has been capturing scenes at the pond since 2000, and some of the photos […]
The Royal Literary Fund’s ‘In Focus’ presents short films featuring RLF writers. In the latest film, we respond to the question ‘What’s Your Favourite Children’s Book?’ I chose Lima’s Red Hot Chilli. Watch the film.
Harry Gurr, champion swimmer of England in the 1860s, was also known as the Man Fish and was famous for his underwater acts, often performed in glass tanks. Born in Bethnal Green, London, in 1847 he was described as a ‘pocket Hercules’, five foot tall with well developed muscles, a ruddy complexion and fair […]
Channel 5 have re run their Inside Holloway documentary that first aired in 2014, in which I talk about the first women to be executed at Holloway, Edwardian baby farmers Amelia Sach and Annie Walters. It was during filming that I heard there were recently discovered archives inside the prison. Unfortunately, after the programme […]
Warwick Globalist has run a review of Bad Girls, by Arts & Culture editor Isaac Little. ‘A compelling and easy to read narrative that raises uncomfortable questions for how the justice system has treated women…As a social history, Bad Girls makes a criminally understudied part of our past accessible to all.’
Vox is a series of bite-size audio recordings in which Royal Literary Fund Fellows explore topics around writing. I attempt to respond to the issue of ‘Writer’s Block‘…
Reclaim Holloway is a coalition fighting for a Women’s Building to be built on the site of the former Holloway Prison. It has a revamped website, with more information on the building, as well as designs by artist Niki Gibbs. A new exhibition, The End of the Sentence, by artist and filmmaker Judy Price, runs […]
Vox is a series of bite-size audio recordings in which Royal Literary Fund Fellows explore topics around writing. Here I attempt to respond to the issue of ‘Marketing and Me’…
The Hornsey Road Baths in Islington were once famed for hosting swimming superstars, including the Beckwith family who inspired Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World. Read the Islington Gazette feature here
I attempted to interview dad for the Royal Literary Fund Podcast, discussing how publishing has changed since his first books were published in the 1960s. Listen here
February 19th, 2020 The suffragettes of Holloway Prison, Suffolk Book League, Ipswich. 7.30pm, the Ipswich Institute, IP1 3A.
February 19th, 2020 Historical fiction workshop based on Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World, plus discussion on pathways to publication, University of Suffolk.
November 18th, 2019 I’ll be teaching on Arvon’s non-fiction tutored retreat from November 18th to the 23rd at the Hurst, Shropshire, with Colin Grant and guest speaker Helen Jukes. Information about grants here
The Royal Literary Fund’s ‘In Focus’ presents short films featuring RLF writers. In the latest film, we respond to the question ‘What’s Your Favourite Book in Translation?’ Mine is Mrs Pepperpot! Watch the film here
A large print edition of Bad Girls has been published by W.F Howes, under the Clipper Large Print imprint.