This time last year I lived in a pokey wee flat with an understairs cupboard masquerading as a 'computer room' with simply no where to put down a book and tripping over baby guff at every step. Now miraculously I live in a spacious lower 'villa', have my very own desk and a proper typewriter (albeit electronic). Sure the desk is a mess but that's okay with me! I've not had a working printer for over a year which is why I'm so excited about the typewriter. Now I can finally type out my poems and start sending them out to places that only take paper submissions. Which means I'll have to start writing more poems. Just had another two accepted by Envoi and my backlog of available poems is rapidly diminishing!

Cove Park

I've lots of good things, poetry-wise, to look forward to next month.

I have a meeting at the Scottish Poetry Library (SPL) in Edinburgh with  the SPL Director, Robyn Marsack, and the Programme Manager, Jennifer Williams. I'm really looking forward to this. I've never actually been to the Scottish Poetry Library before though I use their webpage (here) very regularly, it's a great resource for all things poetic! Hope it's easy to find, I'm much more of a Glasgow-girl! 

I also have a mentoring interview with the lovely people at the Scottish Book Trust. Apparently I can put in a request for who I would like to mentor me over the next year and they then approach that person. It's all very exciting, I guess my plan is to work on putting together a full-length collection so I'd be looking for someone to give me advice on that, my poems and on how best to approach publishers etc. Also it would have to be someone within reasonable travelling distance. So lots to think about!

Also The Cove Park retreat takes place next month too where I'll get a chance to meet the other award winners. Not sure if I'll be able to get babysitting cover for the full week but they've said I can go for a long as I can manage, which is great.

I've a wee poem in the next Gutter Mag which I'm happy about, it's one of my favourite literary magazines. The online mag, Ofi Press Mexico, is publishing a four-part experimental poem of mine in March!

For someone who usually barely makes it out of the sticks I'm starting to feel incredibly busy!

So I've changed my mind about going back to Jerusalem and instead I have booked a week-long writer's retreat in the south of France with none other than the amazing poet, Pascale Petit! I'm so excited about it, the title of the course is: 'Extending your boundaries with Pascale Petit'. I was in two minds about Jerusalem when I happened to see someone advertising the course on facebook and I booked it immediately. This will be my first time ever getting a chance to be tutored professionally apart from the occasional masterclass at StAnza. Pascale Petit's poetry is so image-focused and surreal, which is perfect for me, and the title of the course is exactly what I want to do with my poems. Plus, spending a week writing in a country chateau in the South of France with marble fireplaces and oak flooring overlooking a canal, vineyards and the Pyrenees sounds pretty heavenly to me!