Firstly, an apology for the time since my last post, but I bring some news! The Gossips’ Choice I have been busy writing and securing a contract for my first novel. It is an exciting new venture for me. They say everyone has a novel in them and I certainly did: this one burst forth […]
Read moreHow women and the moon intertwine in literature This is a republication of my co-authored article published by The Conversation on 18.07.19 read the original here. Sara Read, Loughborough University and Catie Gill, Loughborough University In the late 17th century, the female English playwright Aphra Behn wrote a smash hit play about a man obsessed […]
Read moreIn the festive episode of Loughborough University’s School of Poetry Podcast, I was invited to chat about festive verse with presenter Dr Oliver Tearle and Dr Barbara Cooke. For the ‘So bad it’s good’ segment, I picked a history in verse written during the English Civil Wars era. The poem is not primarily about Christmas […]
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I have talked about noblewomen and the English Civil Wars on this blog before, particularly with reference to Brilliana, Lady Harley who defended her castle against the royalists. This time we are looking at a noblewoman on the other side of the political divide. Namely, Margaret Lucas Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623-73) an extraordinary woman. An English […]
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Right from its beginnings, the NHS has been represented in broadcast media such as radio, print, and film. Given the percentage of people both employed in and using the service, it is unsurprising that healthcare should provide a setting for so much of our culture too. With the 70th anniversary of the NHS just around […]
Read moreA page detailing all my publications.
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Last year I traced my family tree back to the early eighteenth century and discovered that along the one line was a family of blacksmiths operating within a five mile radius in rural Lincolnshire for at least two hundred years. I published part of the story in Your Family History last March but there wasn't room in the piece for one of my favourite parts of the story.
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On the 26th November 2017 I was a guest again on Llewela Bailey’s BBCWM breakfast show to talk about the tradition of Stir Up Sunday – the last Sunday before advent which is when we are meant to make our Christmas Puddings. You can listen again via this link for the next week or so […]
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Yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing the innovative new play, Letters to Emma by playwright Dr Carolyn Scott Jeffs at the Lichfield Garrick theatre. The play features the ‘Swan of Lichfield’, poet and biographer Anna Seward (1742-1809), an eighteenth-century author who was friends with Samuel Johnson, Erasmus Darwin (grandfather of Charles), and James Boswell. […]
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Thanks to everyone who came to our launch at Loughborough University, London, last week, braving the English summer (brrr!) to do so. A good time was had by all, and obviously there was cake – a bespoke earthworms and urine sample cake, no less. Below are a couple of pics from our evening. In […]
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