Thank you to everyone who came to my charity storytelling workshop at the Bloomsbury Festival this weekend. Run as part of the Wordstock event for the 26 writers’ group, it took place in the gorgeous wood-panelled library at Conway Hall. I’ve long associated Conway Hall with storytelling, as for several years it was the venue […]
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Have you heard about Friends on the Shelf? This beautifully designed independent magazine features real life stories from known and unknown writers. At the beginning of the latest issue, you have Harry Enfield writing about adopting a duckling; later on, you have me describing my brief foray into the world of naturism. Some stories are […]
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Mindful creative writing doesn’t have to involve meditating on a mountain top with a notebook by your side, or looking out across an Alpine lake, with a pen in one hand and a glass of kombucha in the other. It’s something you can do in a café or during your lunch break. You can write […]
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I’ve recently had the pleasure of working with the Environmental Investigation Agency on their winter appeal to protect the forest elephants of Africa. The charity does amazing work to tackle environmental crime worldwide. So if you possibly can, please do support their work. The plight of the forest elephants of Africa The forest elephants of […]
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It was a sign. On the street leading up to the Truman Brewery in East London, there was an empty Argos microwave box bearing the slogan ‘Heat. Ding. Done.’ This clever packaging project won a D&AD Writing for Design award two years ago, the last time I was on the panel. I kept an eye […]
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At Glastonbury this year, I talked to best-selling author Amy Liptrot about the success of The Outrun, how to write a memoir and what she’s writing next. Amy Liptrot’s book, The Outrun, has been an extraordinary success. A Sunday Times Top Ten best-seller, it won The Wainwright Prize and has just been awarded the […]
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Last week I was running some writing workshops to help people write blogs and articles for their company intranet. One theme that emerged over and over from the day was “How do I get started?” And that’s understandable. Even professional writers have days when we look blankly at the blinking cursor and don’t know how […]
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What effect do the words you use have on your fundraising success? Here we investigate the impact of good charity copywriting. At the last count, there were over 195,000 charities in the UK, all looking to attract support, donations and – wherever possible – life-long allegiance to their cause. Whether charities succeed or fail in […]
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A pint of fruit cider and a dish of cockles It’s mid-afternoon on a Wednesday in February and I’m sitting in a village pub by a station a few miles outside Newcastle. A man wearing black jeans and a smart jacket walks in, looks around the silent, almost empty bar, and asks: “Who died?” Then […]
Read more...You never know quite what will happen at The Story, except that it will illuminate distant areas of your brain with unpredictable copper sparks for some time to come. Here are a few of the things I learned from this year’s gathering of storytellers of all stripes – from film makers, writers and artists to […]
Read more...Mike Paisley loves simplicity, making things and tinfoil gadgets. We first met when he was involved in Throwawaylines, a wonderful project which treated rubbish like royalty. Mike is a Design Director at The Partners, where he’s solved brand and communication problems for clients as diverse as LV=, eBay, Allen & Overy, HSBC, Penguin and Richard […]
Read more...Do you know those Duck Boats that roam up and down the Thames? Bright yellow amphibious boats. Great fun for kids and tourists. Well, one caught fire the other day. Luckily no people were injured. But a load of innocent auxiliary verbs perished in this ITN report shortly afterwards. Have a listen to the story. […]
Read more...I caught the Stradivarius exhibition at the Ashmolean on the very last day. Had forgotten all about it until the curator, Jon Whiteley, popped up on the Today programme, talking about how people behave in museums. He told the story of someone who came in to show him a violin, convinced it was a very […]
Read more...Gill Thomas has played many roles since she left Liverpool Poly with a fresh BA Hons in Graphic Design. She’s been a designer, team leader, creative partner and board director. She’s worked for some of the most influential design agencies around, including Pentagram, Newell & Sorrell and The Partners, and her clients have ranged from […]
Read more...We weren’t quite sure what would happen when we unleashed the power of children’s imaginations on the 21st century objects in the Modern British Childhood exhibition. But we were amazed at the results. A ten year old girl gives the MMR vaccine a voice – “When I was born, everybody feared me”, a Lily Allen […]
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