To expand this website beyond my own writing, I’d like to share with you some of the entertaining and insightful writing produced by friends, family and learned acquaintances. To read a particular piece, just click on the relevant link. And if you have something you’d like to share, please get in touch.
8. Tim Barlow is an amateur, part-time writer who lives in Hastings. In 2022 he earned a Masters degree (with distinction) in Creative Writing from Hull University. He usually writes realist stories and poems set in the modern day. He regularly performs his poems at various public events, and his paperback Poems from the Edge of England is available on Amazon. To learn more about Tim, visit: https://timbarlow.co.uk/. He is a committee member at Hastings Writers Group and a regular writer of fiction and non-fiction short stories. Here Tim shares his very entertaining opinion of barbecues. Click here to read why Barbecues are for Flies
7. Adrian Chappell: Originally Fine Art trained in the UK and Italy, Adrian’s professional career began in the education sector (primary, secondary, adult education and policy making). He then moved into the arts funding sector (Arts Council /London where he directed Access, Education and Vocational training programmes). Later, working at London Metropolitan University, he created the Arts Learning Partnership and directed a pan-European vocational training programme in Berlin, Istanbul and London. Before retiring, he led a national music education initiative for the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Adrian now paints and writes full-time, dividing his time between Eastbourne and London. His novel An Honourable Betrayal is published by Brown Dog Books and is available on Amazon. www.curiouscurators.org.uk @curiouscurators. In this article Adrian shares his ‘Visual Autobiography’, images that depict growing up in the 1950s and ’60s. But whatever age you are, you will recognise these faces. Click here to view Adrian’s intriguing Postcards and Postcripts
6. David Tovey is a leading authority on Cornish Art. Below you will find links to his groundbreaking research on the Cornish art centre of Polperro. But David’s own family also offers rich ground for fascinating research and, indeed, it was his interest in his great grandfather, William Titcombe, that launched his career as an art historian. Here, David tells the intriguing tale of Titcomb’s neice and one of his own cousins, Ursula Wyllie AKA the writer, Sarah Miles. My Cousin Ursula – the writer, Susan Miles
5. I first met Simon Chater as a fellow campaigner in Devon for Europe (https://www.devonforeurope.org/). We (along with thousands of other heroic volunteers up and down the country) lost the fight to stop Brexit, but one good side-effect was that Adrian and I became firm friends with the ever enthusiastic Simon and his wife Christel, a charmingly interesting and very hospitable couple. Simon’s day job used to be science writer and in 1998 he and Christel formed a science communication company, Green Ink (www.greenink.co.uk), working in the fields of natural resources and human health. Lots of Simon’s favourite things in life are Italian, including the Italian language, Italian ice-cream, Italian opera (especially Puccini) and Dante’s Divine Comedy, which he describes as “a life-long obsession”. Simon has written quite a bit for West Country Voices (https://westcountryvoices.co.uk/), including a recently completed series of 33 Tasting Notes on the Divine Comedy, designed to introduce the poem to a wider set of readers. Click here to read why Simon insists that: The Divine Comedy is life-changing!
4. Adrian first met Wendy Lee in Papua New Guinea in 1979 when she was married to David Hurford who, at that time, was running the VSO programme there. Last year, travelling in NZ, I was introduced to her and her husband Mark. They were wonderfully hospitable to us, great company and we found ourselves agreeing on many things. For over 45 years, Wendy has been working in developing countries, liaising with NGOs and helping to set up projects in a number of areas, including the empowerment of women, combatting violence against women; community participation in conflict prevention and peace building; primary health care; poverty reduction; education, amongst others. She is also a fan of Jacinda Ardern’s and has spent many years campaigning for the NZ Labour Party. In the aftermath of the recent election in New Zealand, she wrote an email to me, part of which she’s agreed to share here. It’s a succinct, first hand and very heartfelt report of what, to my mind, constitutes a political tragedy in a wonderful country. Click here to read Wendy’s email: Email – Wendy Lee, 27th November, 2023
3. David Tovey is a leading authority on Cornish Art. Above you will find links to his groundbreaking research on the Cornish art centre of Polperro. But David’s own family also offers rich ground for fascinating research and, indeed, it was his interest in his great grandfather, William Titcombe, that launched his career as an art historian. Here, David tells the intriguing tale of Titcomb’s neice and one of his own cousins, Ursula Wyllie AKA the writer, Sarah Miles. My Cousin Ursula – the writer, Susan Miles David Tovey is a leading authority on Cornish Art. Above you will find links to his groundbreaking research on the Cornish art centre of Polperro. But David’s own family also offers rich ground for fascinating research and, indeed, it was his interest in his great grandfather, William Titcombe, that launched his career as an art historian. Here, David tells the intriguing tale of Titcomb’s neice and one of his own cousins, Ursula Wyllie AKA the writer, Sarah Miles. My Cousin Ursula – the writer, Susan Miles. David Tovey is an independent art historian specialising in Cornish Art. After twenty years as a solicitor, he took a degree in the History of Art, changed career and is now the author of a number of highly acclaimed books on Cornish Art – https://www.stivesart.info – and curator of several exhibitions on behalf of Tate St Ives, Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Penzance, Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, Cheltenham Art Gallery and Worcester Art Gallery – https://www.stivesart.info/cornish-art-exhibitions/ He also lectures extensively and is the Editor of The Flagstaff, the magazine of the Lamorna Society. Here, he shares with us his latest and utterly unique research on Polperro – Cornwall’s Forgotten Art Centre. It will appear in three parts. To read part 1, click here: Polperro – Cornwall’s Forgotten Art Centre
To read Part 2, click here: Polperro – Cornwall’s Forgotten Art Centre Part 2
To read Part 3, click here: Polperro – Cornwall’s Forgotten Art Centre Part 3
2. Anthea Simmons lives in Devon with two cats (Percy and Pixie) and a young ex-racehorse, Little Lion . After Oxford and a successful career in the City as an asset manager , she did a spell of teaching before she finally knuckled down to write at the insistence of her son, Henry. She is the author of Share, The Best Best Baby, I’m Big Now, Lightning Mary, Burning Sunlight and a new children’s novel due out in July 2024. (Her children’s books win awards and are recommended – Ed) She campaigns for European values and a fairer democracy. She is editor-in-chief of West Country Voices www.westcountryvoices.co.uk and a co-founder of the South Devon Primary/Political Primary organisation. She writes on politics, corruption, human rights and climate. Here Anthea discusses the transformative effect of Proportional Representation: The Polish election – a fabulous ad for proportional representation
1. The first amusing essay is by Victoria Armstrong, a member of Hastings Writers’ Group, and it asks, ‘Why are Contemporary Fictional Heroines SO Obsessed with Personal Hygiene?‘ To read her answer click on: In the Bathroom Again? by Victoria Armstrong