Warwick Globalist has run a review of Bad Girls, by Arts & Culture editor Isaac Little. ‘A compelling and easy to read narrative that raises uncomfortable questions for how the justice system has treated women…As a social history, Bad Girls makes a criminally understudied part of our past accessible to all.’ Continue reading
A lockdown project on museums and heritage focused on Swimming: Images and Places, including two features on Thames swimming, drawn from Downstream. Continue reading
Vox is a series of bite-size audio recordings in which Royal Literary Fund Fellows explore topics around writing. I attempt to respond to the issue of ‘Writer’s Block‘… Continue reading
Reclaim Holloway is a coalition fighting for a Women’s Building to be built on the site of the former Holloway Prison. It has a revamped website, with more information on the building, as well as designs by artist Niki Gibbs. A new exhibition, The End of the Sentence, by artist and filmmaker Judy Price,… Continue reading
Vox is a series of bite-size audio recordings in which Royal Literary Fund Fellows explore topics around writing. Here I attempt to respond to the issue of ‘Marketing and Me’… Continue reading
The Ponds has been nominated for Best Documentary at the annual National Film Awards UK. The awards will be broadcast on March 20th. See the full list of nominations here and vote for the winner here. Continue reading
The Hornsey Road Baths in Islington were once famed for hosting swimming superstars, including the Beckwith family who inspired Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World. Read the Islington Gazette feature here Continue reading
I attempted to interview dad for the Royal Literary Fund Podcast, discussing how publishing has changed since his first books were published in the 1960s. Listen here Continue reading
The Guardian has run a feature on the rise of chemical-free pools, with a mention of Downstream and the Victorian love of natural water. All sorts of new swimming spots were created in the late 1800s, using filtered river water to create floating baths and pontoons in cities such as London and Liverpool. Continue reading
February 19th, 2020 The suffragettes of Holloway Prison, Suffolk Book League, Ipswich. 7.30pm, the Ipswich Institute, IP1 3A. Continue reading
February 19th, 2020 Historical fiction workshop based on Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World, plus discussion on pathways to publication, University of Suffolk. Continue reading
November 18th, 2019 I’ll be teaching on Arvon’s non-fiction tutored retreat from November 18th to the 23rd at the Hurst, Shropshire, with Colin Grant and guest speaker Helen Jukes. Information about grants here Continue reading
The Ponds has been shortlisted as Documentary Film Release of the Year in this year’s Screen Awards. Congratulations to the directors and to all the swimmers! See the full list of nominees here Continue reading
The Royal Literary Fund’s ‘In Focus’ presents short films featuring RLF writers. In the latest film, we respond to the question ‘What’s Your Favourite Book in Translation?’ Mine is Mrs Pepperpot! Watch the film here Continue reading
The Bookseller has just announced that Queens of the Underworld will be published by The History Press in October 2021. For the next year I’m going to be on the hunt for forgotten criminal women – who were they, what made them so successful, and why don’t we know about them today?’ Continue reading
I’m thrilled to have received a grant from the Authors’ Foundation, administrated by the Society of Authors. The grants are for ‘works in progress’ and will allow me to properly research Queens of the Underworld! This is an amazing piece of news, at a time when earning a living as a writer is harder than… Continue reading
A large print edition of Bad Girls has been published by W.F Howes, under the Clipper Large Print imprint. Continue reading
Vox is a series of bite-size audio recordings in which Royal Literary Fund writers explore topics around writing. Here I attempt to respond to the question of ‘Why I Write’… Listen Continue reading
Today’s The World This Weekend on BBC Radio4 focused on climate change, and included a segment on the clean up of the River Thames. I was asked to talk about Downstream and the history of swimmers. Continue reading
October 16th, 2019 An illustrated talk on political prisoners at Holloway. Islington Town Hall, London, 7.30pm Continue reading
October 2nd, 2019 Lord Leycester Hospital, High Street, Warwick, 10.30am I’ll be talking about Bad Girls and the history of Holloway Prison at the Warwick Words History Festival. Continue reading
I’m thrilled that an extract from Place of Reeds has been included in Botswana Women Write, an anthology of writing by and about Batswana women. The 55 writers include the legendary Bessie Head and the poet Tjawangwa Dema, as well as many women being published for the first time. The book will be launched at… Continue reading
It’s twenty years since Roger Deakin’s Waterlog was published, here Ashley Norris writes about the book’s legacy for iNews Continue reading
On September 14th, I’ll be joining Carl Cattermole and Erika Flowers at the opening event of this year’s Archway With Words festival. I’ll be talking about the history of Holloway, Carl will be talking about his brilliant book Prison A Survival Guide, and Erika will be discussing her powerful art work which includes the new… Continue reading
The Guardian has published a list of the ‘top ten books about the River Thames’, compiled by Caroline Crampton, author of The Way to the Sea. ‘Downstream is a delightful compendium of watery facts and documents the changing physical relationship we have with the river’. Continue reading
Three years after the closure of Holloway Prison, Peabody (who now own the site) say they are committed to a Women’s Building – which campaigners have been demanding ever since the prison closed. Consultations have been held in the former visitors’ centre, as well as tours of some of the site. The gardens… Continue reading
In 1952 Pat Seares, a ‘housewife from London’, was jailed at Holloway Prison because she’d shouted protests after a showing of Rommel the Desert Fox at the Leicester Square Odeon. The film told the story of the Nazi general, and after it had been shown Pat stood up and cried, ‘Do not go to see… Continue reading
The hit film The Ponds will be aired on BBC Four on May 20th, at 9pm, with the slightly different title of Swimming through the Seasons. Tune in for a ‘heartwarming celebration of eccentricity and sheer bloody-mindedness’ from some ‘unusual people’ (!) Continue reading
Bad Girls has been longlisted for The Orwell Prize, the UK’s ‘most prestigious’ prize for political writing. Four prizes are awarded, for work which comes closest to George Orwell’s ambition ‘to make political writing into art’. I’m thrilled that the story of Holloway Prison has been recognised as political, and that it has been chosen… Continue reading
Filmmaker Anne-Sophie Gomez has made a series of short thematic videos about swimming pools in art. In her latest, Soyez Synchro!, she takes a look at synchronized swimming, which features an appearance by Agnes Beckwith and Daisy Belle. It includes some beautiful archive shots of synchronized swimming routines. Watch the full video here. Continue reading