“What a treat to write to music and to look up close at the beautiful beast that is a harp. Thank you for your wonderful workshop.” Lydia Thornley sent this lovely message following my harp and writing workshop for the fabulous women of the East End Women’s Institute last week. The beautiful beast that is […]
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Have you heard about the musical duel between Harpo Marx and Sergei Rachmaninoff? Craig Brown recounts the story in One on One, his book about extraordinary encounters between famous people. (There’s a reason why I’m writing about this now. I’ll come to that later.) Harpo’s Hollywood retreat In 1931, Harpo Marx had taken an apartment […]
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Keeping creativity flowing Say what you like about Zoom, but it does help you make things happen quickly. In May, Andy Hayes of the writers’ collective 26 organised a ‘creativity in lockdown’ session with his friend Sam Griffiths. Sam’s a designer who delights in being playful and enjoys turning labels into robots, and cardboard boxes […]
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More and more of my work these days is for charities. In the last month, I’ve written an annual report for Help Musicians UK, fundraising materials for The Brooke and a report for The National Trust. But as well as my everyday work as a freelance writer, I also wheel out my harp on occasion […]
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