Lemonade Anemone

I’m part of a group of called DIY Poets , and since 2016, the women of DIY have been hosting an annual event celebrating International Women’s Day .  This year Women Say Stuff hosted its tenth open mic, and it was a really gorgeous evening, where we had the pleasure of uplifting the voices of local women and raising money for Nottingham-based domestic abuse charity JUNO Women’s Aid .  We sold over 100 tickets to the event, secured local sponsorship to pay our staff and performers, and raised over £600 for our chosen charity! Plus, our lovely audience also donated three bags of period products for women in need, which we donated to Nottingham Women’s Centre .  On the night we had twenty-three women on the open mic, plus two fantastic headline sets from Derby-based poet Aoife O’Connor, and WSS co-founder Clare Stewart! (I especially loved Aoife’s award-winning poem “ A Series of Unrelated Small Things .”) On the open mic, we had a real range of topics from maths and to medu...

I’ve been a full-time freelance writer and educator since March 2022, and it’s a great job. No two days are the same, and I get to work on multiple projects across multiple organisations, with very few strings attached.  Of course, there are downsides. No sick pay or pension, having to do my own taxes, and having periods where I’m not sure where the next job is coming from. But all in all, I think the freelance life suits me pretty well.  But I often speak to people who don’t understand what freelancer life is like. They think it’s a doss, or a holiday, or they think I’m just swanning about, like some sort of poetic lady of leisure. And, while I do my fair share of swanning, my freelancing life is a pretty busy one. So, today I thought I’d share an example of what I get up to in a typical week, to give you an idea of what it’s really like!  Saturday: This week, I’m supporting a poetry open mic night and event for International Women’s Day. We have 120 people booked to att...