27 August 2008
News of a poetry reading at Waterstone's Canterbury and of a new prose and poetry competition are on the News and Events page. I am in the process of trying to move house, so I shall post some new material on the site once I am less busy. Medwaymaria will be living in Swale in future. I shan't be changing my name though; you can take a woman out of Medway, but you can't take Medway out of the woman.
9 August 2008
A cheer went up for After the Fire at Matalan... See my poem on the Poems and stories page
4 August 2008
Read my account of visiting the Climate Camp at Kingsnorth on the Reviews/Memoir page
2 August 2008
Details of a new art exhibition at the Polka Dot Art Centre, Teynham, and the first in a series of poetry events at Orange St Music Club, Canterbury, are on the Events and Readings page.
1 August 2008
Climate camp starts this weekend to protest against the proposed coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth, Isle of Grain. There is a march on Sunday 3rd, starting at Rochester station at 12.30. If, like me, you can't walk to Kingsnorth, there is a regular shuttle bus from Strood station to the climate camp. More details at http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/home
31 July 2008
I was shocked, but not surprised to hear about the women who were locked away between 1910 and the late '70s because they were typhoid carriers. They were kept in Long Grove hospital, a mental asylum in Epsom, the town where I grew up. They were not mentally ill when they went in, but the prison-like conditions and isolation they suffered sent many of them mad. Some remained lucid and all too aware of how they were being kept. Many of my family members and friends worked in the asylums in Epsom, so I heard stories of people who should never have been locked away. I became used to such tales, but they never fail to sadden me. Read more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7528045.stm
13 July 2008
Conversation Quarterly - new edition
Issue 4 of the online poetry journal, Conversation Quarterly, is now available at http://conversationpoetry.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/conversation-summer-08.pdf
It features the work of Canterbury and Medway poets, including my poem 'Blithe Spirits.' Submissions for the next edition are now being accepted.
13 July 2008
Free course for people working, or wishing to work, in the creative industries
A new venture has been launched by, amongst others, University of Kent. Some courses are free for a short while. http://www.creativebusinessproject.com/
21 June 2008
Spam, spam, spam, spam…
On 17 June my hotmail account was hacked into, and all the contacts in my address book were sent an email saying that I was stranded in Nigeria and needed them to send me £2000. The phone started ringing and texts bleeping to alert me, including a call from my ex-husband, who I rarely speak to on the phone. My first thought was ‘who’s’ died?’ Each caller thought they were the first to tell me, and whilst it was kind of them, it was exhausting trying to deal with the problem and with the phone calls.
It took me several hours to get back into my account (my password and personal details had been changed), and then there were all the reply emails to deal with: are you really stranded?; I’ve had this hoax email; this doesn’t read like you, the English is too poor.
What did it achieve? Nowhere in the email did it say where to send the money to. Several days later, I am still getting calls and mails about it, and I have changed my email address to a more secure account. It’s taking ages to transfer my addresses.
The funniest thing was my brother-in-law, who lives in Australia, phoned my sister in some distress saying Maria is stranded in Niagara, we need to send her money. Sadly, no one sent me £2000, but it’s not too late…
Swapping books with John Agard
I was really thrilled to meet the poet John Agard at the University of Kent this week. Following his performance I wanted to buy one of his books, and to give him copies of my books. He insisted that we do a straight swap, and that I sign my books for him. What a generous gesture. Thank you, John.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Agard
http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth162