It was lovely to celebrate the publication of ‘The Opposite of Swedish Death Cleaning’ on Friday 16th May at Downing Place United Reformed Church. There were people there from various different parts of my life: teaching friends, rowing friends, church members, friends I was at school with, members of the U3A contemporary poetry group I’ve led sessions with, and walking friends, as well as members of my family.

It was a particular honour to have Kate Winter there, the artist who designed the stunning cover for both this poetry collection and my pamphlet, ‘Other Women’s Kitchens’.

The launch was accompanied by a huge batch of chocolate fridge cake, made by my partner Emily to my grandmother’s recipe, which is handwritten in the recipe book that appears in the top left hand corner of the cover.

I have a series of other launch events lined up over the next few months, and would be delighted to see people there. Here are the details:

7.00pm Thursday 29th May: Wave of Nostalgia, Haworth

7.30pm Thursday 19th June: Between the Lines, Great Bardfield

4.00pm Tuesday 1st July: Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge

6.30pm Sunday 5th October: CB1 Poetry, Town & Gown, Cambridge

7.30pm Thursday 16th October: Fen Speak, Centre E Community Hub, Ely

I’m also very open to invitations to read at other events, so do drop me a line via the ‘Contact’ section on this website if you would like to make a booking.