Miles and miles and miles

Writing in Place

First off – super excited to be back on the zoom later with For The Love Of – where I’ll be showing how to make magic out of places. Then, on July 3rd, I’ll be in Sheffield doing it live and on the streets. When I look at my own work it’s usually the incidental things, or those things we might not give out attention to, that end up being the most important parts of my stories so it’s been loads of fun scoping out places around Sheffield that I think will be fertile ground for ideas and inspiration – in any form you choose. There are still a couple of free tickets left – here to book.

Ghost Reader in Leicester

Big thanks to all over at Leicester University’s Creative Writing team – especially Jonathan Taylor (I interviewed him here, and it’s great) – for featuring Ghost Reader. In all the madness and travel of the last few weeks it’s lovely to see. And it’s here…

The Memory Hoover at Appleton Academy

A little while ago I was up in Wyke, helping to launch The Memory Hoover – Appleton Academy’s* latest collection. It’s so easy to appear over-excited about everything I do but it’s so, so good and the writers I worked with this year are so talented beyond their age. And a wonderful bunch of human beings – smart, kind, strong.

*through First Story. I would be with them a couple of weeks later at Huddersfield Uni (thanks, Michael Stewart!) for their regional event – a bunch of schools getting to work with a bunch of different writers and get a really cool inside-peek at the uni (which is terrific).

And, miles…

I’ll talk more about all the other things (before this gets too long and boring) but I’ve been on the actual road more than usual – train strikes and logistics and harder to reach places have meant driving. Barnsley, Bradford, Sheffield, Batley, Rutland, Huddersfield – and probably more besides. But there have been unexpected highlights that I haven’t had to look to hard to see. Wildlife! Osprey, peregrine falcon, red kites, kestrels and, lately, tons of goldfinch; yesterday two stags leapt a wall to cross in front of me. Today, a Chinook passed overhead. There really is beauty everywhere and unexpected things, possibly, just behind that next hill.

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nikperring

Nik Perring is a short story writer, author, teacher of writing, and editor from the UK. His stories have been published widely all over the world. His books include the widely celebrated Not So Perfect (Roastbooks 2010), A Book of Beautiful Words; and Beautiful Trees; and he co-wrote Freaks!(TFP/HarperCollins, 2012).

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