I'm excited to be working on a new series of poems based on old Scottish ballads. It's an idea I've been toying with for a while but just didn't have the time to throw myself into.
Now is the time and after much reading and absorbing (finally finished my close reading of the Golden Bough) I'm in writing mode.

There's something about working on a project / theme over several poems that very much attracts me - I can really get absorbed in as opposed to writing occasional poems here and there.
I hope to be working on this intensely over the next couple of months.

Thanks to the wonderful Scottish Book Trust I'm going to Moniack Mhor for a writer's retreat at the end of March with this year's intake of New Scottish Writer Awardees. It's 14 miles outside Inverness and sounds/looks amazing. It will be wonderful to have a week in the Scottish highlands away from all responsibilities just to write.

However before then I have a quick jaunt to London for the official launch of Madame Ecosse which will be at the London Review Bookshop on Friday 17th March. Also hoping to plan over the next few months reading/launches in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

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!