Whilst I am a self employed bookkeeper working from my home in Scotland, I am also a student with the Open University currently undertaking a PhD researching into cultural identities amongst the Chinese community here in Scotland. Accordingly, much of what I write is really social comment and ties in with both my professional and academic interests. Certainly,as a student sociologist working with and researching ethnic minorities has been a great source of inspiration for the type of writing/poetry I engage in as I engage with different peoples and the situations they encounter.
My ambition, allowing my work is up to standard, is to become a professional writer -writing poetry and prose about social geography and cultural identities.
I have had poems included within a number of anthologies and recently had a collection of poems published entitled 'Linguistic Chunterings.' This collection has been illustrated by my sister Rosalind B Meadows and may be purchased from Amazon and other bookstores.
My sister and I are currently working on a book of short stories depicting the everyday lives of minority groups, their experiences of being on the fringe of society; naturally this is a work in progress. We are also in the process of collating our second illustrated book of poetry.
I have to say I find writing in general and poetry in particular a vehicle which allows me to 'chunter' make social comments about the often hard, sometimes 'unsavoury' aspects of life, society and (in)justice in a socially acceptable manner. Moreover, being able to comment whilst remaing anonymous , not so much in name but face, is another very attractive aspect of writing though perhaps Maybe I am simply being cowardly!
Whilst writing, particularly poetry is for me something of a personal release valve - an old fashioned 'soap box'I would,nevertheless like to develop and expand my writing Although I have recently co-written a book on the garden city movement which was commissioned by a grant from the Royal Architectural association and relates the historic and social reasoning behind Ebenezer Howard's garden city movement and 'Rosyth's Garden City' Scotland's first and only garden city. That being said I would like to expand my writing to include more than non fiction and poetry.
Consequently constructive feedback from whichever source is valued, moreso that given by fellow writers who know the difficulties of fashioning words so as to draw and hold the readers attention.