Writer / Woodcarver / Tree-lover
I am extremely grateful to Nadifa for taking the time to answer these questions for me. Nadifa Mohamed was born in 1981 in Hargeisa, Somaliland. At the age of four she moved with her family to London. She is the author of Black Mamba Boy, The Orchard of Lost Souls and, most recently, The Fortune… Continue reading Interview With Nadifa Mohammed
Spaced to provide each with its own territory, the mountains of Assynt oversee this boggy, rocky, lochy terrain like implausibly shaped sandcastles thrusting from a vegetated lunar landscape. Of them all, Suilven is the most improbable. From the side, it is reminiscent of a giant mammoth’s silhouette, but from its seaward end it is a… Continue reading The Blog That Time Forgot [ten weeks late…]
I don’t like being told what to do. Who does? I am a quiet revolutionary, a passive resister, a peaceful rebel. At school, my Spanish teacher once called me a dark horse (with a degree of admiration I like to believe) on becoming aware of my subversive tendencies (she and the art teacher had just… Continue reading Resistance is Fertile.
A plea for artistic freedom or the undisciplined meanderings of an overactive mind? How many creatives like to always make work that fits into the same style or genre? How many visual artists want to continue using the same media throughout their career? How many musicians want their music to be routinely categorised? Certainly, commercial… Continue reading Pigeonholing
Interview with Nadifa Mohammed slightly delayed but coming soon. Previous posts available here: https://geoffkingwriter.co.uk/news/ Although I am no slacker (in fact I’m a bit of a workaholic), I have never been ahead in the game. To the great discomfort of my modestly-sized mother, I was born three weeks late, weighing almost 10 lbs (that’s 4.4… Continue reading Life as a Mature Student – Part II: The New Age (Digiquarius)
Above my laptop, I can peer through the grime of the tiny four-paned window in the gable end of the house and glimpse passing sheep or maybe one of our three cats. The tortoise-like shell of a collapsed shed contains the abandoned gleanings of a hoarder to whom we once granted temporary storage space. Last… Continue reading Life as a Mature Student – Part 1
Most mornings after breakfast, I take a walk on the land surrounding my home on the coastal fringes of the northern Highlands. Usually alone, I find it an opportunity for contemplation, breathing fresh air and for appreciation of the scenery. When I am working on a novel, undistracted by everyday activities and trivialities, ideas can… Continue reading Walking
At noon, on Monday 9th September, after a gap of thirty-eight years, I will be re-entering full-time education as I embark on a four-year honours degree course in Creative Writing with the University of the Highlands and Islands. As a child, I had eight “first days” at school to endure as the family moved from… Continue reading First Day of School
Long before I finished Nutters, I was pondering which novel to write next. I always have several possibilities floating in the topographic oceans of my mind, with others bubbling to the surface on a regular basis, but more like breaching whales than farts in the bath. I am happy to write short stories now and… Continue reading What Next?
There is no set pattern to my daily activities, but rather a flexible framework dictated by circumstances, mood, weather and other variables. Usually I get up, feed the cats, make tea, feed the chickens and then check emails. After breakfast I like to go for a walk. There is a small hill nearby, which offers… Continue reading My Kind of Day
