An Introduction

I'm of a mind to report my reading is a mess. I've never studied English (or Creative Writing, for that matter) and this is probably reflected in a very haphazard pattern of phases and obsessions with writers or kinds of writing. But, the older I get, the more I wonder who has read the canon chronologically, starting with Homer? And never having to analyse books, or should I say texts, in a forensic fashion is something I now regard as having been advantageous to my writing.

My mother told me my party piece was reciting all the nursery rhymes from a very early age, and I do think this has stood me in good stead! It's all there: rhyme, refrain, alliteration, everything. I don't remember hardly any poetry at school, except Browning's 'Home Thoughts from Abroad' for some reason. Though we did sing sea shanties with the morning hymns, which is fairly unusual, and may have had some bearing.

Read more... Treacle - Poem