)
I am an observational poet who revels in championing the obscure and overlooked. I have poems in several anthologies and my cancer poems are available on Macmillan Cancer Support's website blog. I have created a selection of books for early years children, to educate and amuse. I also dabble in penning creative non-fiction, short story, and drama scripts. Beyond my writing, I engage with creative workshops as leader or assistant. I am keen to share my enthusiasm, knowledge and experience with age-groups from babe to elder. I also like to use my creativity to support charities and causes close to my heart.
As a mature student and technology dinosaur – now 58 years old – I have found getting up to date with modern socio-politics and customs a challenge during my BA (Hons) Writing and English Literature degree course. I’ve greatly enjoyed learning more about creative writing and English Literature and have got a huge kick out of learning some I.T. tricks and skills, such as creating interactive stories, and designing a webpage from scratch, using computer coding.
This project is entitled, ‘A beacon in the Fens – celebrating the Luxe Cinema, Wisbech’. It is a combination of creative non-fiction and original poetry, woven together to form a book which explores the role of a single-screen private cinema in a rural East Anglian Fenland community, plus responses to films and other audio-visual productions shown there.
The secondary aim of the project is to facilitate the publication of a book which may be of interest to the clientele of the Luxe, to purchase as a fundraising asset to help the Cinema to remain open. The book will also be offered to the nearby Library, and Wisbech and Fenland Museum, making it further accessible to the local community.
The creative non-fiction element of the project includes narrative interpretations of local newspaper articles. These items document the opening and development of the Luxe, and some examples of beneficial community interaction with the Cinema. Also included is a brief history of film and cinema-going.
Source materials include articles from The Wisbech Standard, and from a 1914 edition of The Girl’s Realm. Information has been gleaned from pertinent internet archive websites and books, and from a questionnaire-based survey of Luxe customers.
)
)