tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65645585952210856752012-01-05T12:36:41.746ZMiriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.comBlogger351100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-83208829063025284562011-03-27T19:02:00.002+01:002011-03-27T19:48:53.581+01:00

On Thursday March 24th we launched the fifth anthology of poetry by participants in writing workshops funded and run by English PEN. It was an electrifying evening of work by participants from all over the world. In my group we had people from the Ukraine, Gambia, DRC, Cameroon, Pakistan, Uganda, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Jamaica and the Phillipines. Few of them had written poetry before and

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-5968226116231075632011-01-24T16:40:00.000Z2011-01-24T16:40:03.492Z

I have written poetry all my life since early childhood. Poetry and music have run through my head almost hand in hand, musical notes and musical words. I played three musical instruments, piano, clarinet and guitar and I used to write songs and set them to music. I loved reading poetry aloud even as a child. When I had finished my three weekly library books ( usually by the end of the weekend)

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-53894608679724652512011-01-12T14:39:00.000Z2011-01-12T14:39:18.383Z

HIDDEN is the first novel where I have properly experienced the editing process and it has been a combination of enormous fun, rigour, soul searching and extreme satisfaction. My editor at Meadowside Books, Lucy Cuthew, has more than anything allowed me to develop the more contentious issues on immigration and human rights law. I have been able to extend my research and write much more

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-83462160133113070552010-12-20T12:45:00.000Z2010-12-20T12:45:06.561Z

Last Saturday in the teeth of the worst blizzard I've ever seen in North London, I ventured out to meet my daughter in Camden Town. By the time I arrived ice crystals were falling out of the sky. Camden Lock right in the heart of the famous Stables Market was covered in snow and the water was beginning to freeze in the canal. The lock dates back to the 18th century when horses pulled the barges

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-62986401171708661332010-12-15T11:57:00.002Z2010-12-15T12:04:46.033Z

What do you do if your publisher invites you for mulled wine and mince pies, but their offices overlook the former shop of Sweeney Todd Demon Barber of Fleet Street? Accept and vow not to touch the mince pies? Warn everyone else not to touch the pies? Pretend to eat a pie but secretly drop it behind the book displays? Answers on a postcard please. As many of you know, my great passion is

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-7308378590508586432010-12-06T09:09:00.000Z2010-12-06T09:09:48.943Z

Here it is -  the cover to the first novel in my cycle of three novels set on Hayling Island. Its been quite a journey, taking photos to send to the designer, Sarah Andrews, at Meadowside, looking at different ideas, but ultimately Sarah has come up with a wonderful image which truly represents my novel. Perhaps the most important element for me that I hoped for in this cover was the

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-24123704802767777642010-11-30T09:48:00.000Z2010-11-30T09:48:34.420Z

For the past four years of my life I have been writing my Hayling Cycle of three novels. I'm not sure when it turned into a cycle, but sometime during the writing of the first novel, Hidden, I had a wonderful idea for a second novel. At that point I decided that two was too symmetrical and I had to write three. So sometime during 2006 the ideas for the three novels were born. The inspiration for

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-12867692577096803982010-11-19T08:30:00.000Z2010-11-19T11:39:01.757Z

I ran two writing workshops on last weekend's SCWBI Conference in Winchester and 53 people came, 17 in the morning and 36 in the afternoon! So why did they come? "It's great to do some writing after so much listening." "We're always learning, aren't we?" "Odd process writing isn't it?" "Helped to shake the cobwebs off my pen and brain and get writing." Martin ( here on the left) said something

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-18539519432488437552010-11-03T08:04:00.000Z2010-11-18T18:35:09.072Z

It was such a cold week in October when I came across the Chewing Gum Artist, Ben Wilson, in Highgate. I'd just finished running a workshop at the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution (HLSI), one of the oldest independent libraries in London. HLSI is a thriving cultural centre on Pond Square with around a thousand members. It has a wonderful library with over 25,000 books, as well as

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-14992548029880372702010-09-20T09:45:00.000+01:002010-09-21T13:08:32.556+01:00

We went to New York this summer to stay with my husband's brother, the sculptor Oded Halahmy. Oded has a loft in SoHo. In the past decade he has set up The Pomegranate Gallery and his Foundation for Art, promoting peace across the Middle East. Oded and all of his family were born in Baghdad and went into exile with almost the entire Jewish community in 1950. But Oded had never forgotten his

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-18799347355758009252010-07-27T15:28:00.000+01:002010-07-27T15:30:00.103+01:00

GATHERERS A lot of writers talk about the gathering stage of writing. This stage can involve reading around the literature which relates to your novel, reading books by writers you admire and books on a similar genre and theme. The gathering stage is also the time for research.  I've recently been researching the little ships which left Hayling Island for Dunkirk, for my novel, HIDDEN, coming out

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-34049538331279131692010-07-03T17:08:00.000+01:002010-07-08T14:35:39.258+01:00

Imagine trying to write a book in Arabic or Cantonese and your mother tongue is firmly English. This is what it is like for writers who are forced into exile. Not only must they learn a new language but if they cannot suppress their desire to write then they must also try to create fiction in their adopted language. Once the book is written, what chance of translation into English? Only 3% of the

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-28305698712428974562010-06-14T16:38:00.000+01:002010-06-14T16:42:05.352+01:00

What better place to hold a literary event than in a garden. That is just what Naomi Woddis, Writer in Residence at the Culpeper Community Garden in Islington decided to do one sunny Sunday this June. Naomi invited a whole crew of poets, musicians and authors to come and perform in the beautiful Poetry Gazebo. The Culpeper Community Garden is named after a famous 17th century herbalist who

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-82717374699021211792010-05-23T15:47:00.000+01:002010-05-23T15:47:01.401+01:00

I've been back a whole week from the SCWBI ( Scooby) Writing Retreat in Penderall College, outside Telford and I'm missing the peace and quiet and the total focus on writing. Penderall College is a wonderful old manor house set in the middle of sheep grazing land and this is my third year running I've attended out Retreat. We have lovely single study bedrooms ( ensuite) and plenty of quiet places

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-30937937176079969892010-04-20T17:06:00.000+01:002010-04-21T20:19:23.981+01:00

What do you pack for a trip to Kerch? I took my Rough Guide to Russian, three pairs of candlesticks and a set of wooden bricks with Hebrew lettering. A strange combination you might think. Read this post and all will be revealed. So where on earth is Kerch? It took me ages to find it on a map. "It's in the Crimea," I told people confidently. "Korea?" they said and "Kerch, that's a drink isn't it?

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-45703888868945600372010-03-21T21:28:00.000Z2010-03-21T21:28:38.711Z

The Hayling Island Bookshop is the smallest Independent bookshop in the UK. It was the South of England Independent Bookshop of the Year, 2009. In 2008 Terry Pratchett's novel, Nation was launched there. Started 20 years ago the bookshop is currently owned by Marie Telford, with Events managed by her husband Colin. The bookshop has been a marvellous haven for me and resource for the past few

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-15083763769721288552010-03-10T21:31:00.000Z2010-03-10T21:33:32.654Z

I have been dying to come across Ben Wilson for years. He's the chewing gum artist. His mission is to paint over the flattened splodges of gum which have been spat out all over our London streets. So I was delighted to almost trip over Ben as he crouched outside the Royal Academy last Monday lunchtime, in the freezing March wind, painting a beautiful scene on a grotty lump of gum. Ben Wilson

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-47214623980588469212010-02-22T15:17:00.000Z2010-03-13T19:06:34.040Z

What a great title for this engaging and inspiring new book of poems for children, by Cheryl Moskowitz illustrated by Ros Asquith. This collection of 48 brand new original poems cover every aspect of the ordinary lives of children. The poems focus on the experiences of primary school kids and there is a special thanks to the children and teachers of Rhodes Avenue Primary School on the dedication

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-33203929990960214802010-01-24T15:19:00.000Z2010-03-11T12:11:57.660Z

English PEN, 'mightier than the sword' promotes literature and human rights, defending the rights of persecuted writers around the world, as well as working with different groups in the UK. Recently PEN has focused some of its energies and funds towards working with refugees and asylum seekers, to support their development as writers. As a writer I can think of nothing more frustrating than being

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-70972059433659038512010-01-15T16:12:00.000Z2010-01-15T16:12:59.914Z

On January 12th 2010, Miep Gies died aged 100. She was the last survivor of those brave people who hid Anne Frank and her group in The Secret Annexe in Amsterdam from the Nazis. Anne wrote, "We are never far from Miep's thoughts." It was Miep who brought Anne the news she craved from the outside world, along with her first high heels. Miep Gies I feel as though I have lost my big sister. As a

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-25920499970885525802009-12-28T14:39:00.000Z2009-12-28T14:46:30.056Z

If you are a writer who craves silence, there is nothing quite like the silence of the Arctic Circle in winter. Night falls by 3.00pm and then it is pitch dark until ten o'clock the next morning. Morning is no different to dinnertime the day before. It is a strange existence hovering between perma-night and daytime activities and all the time, outside, nothing moves. Even the wind does not sound

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-874452459907075702009-12-02T19:46:00.000Z2010-11-27T12:31:41.780Z

Tennis Masters, O2 Centre, London, 2009 I have been a fan of tennis and the British tennis players in particular for the last ten years. My son, who is an excellent player, got me interested and now he says I'm a better commentator than the professionals! I have really enjoyed the careers of Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski and also followed less well know British players such as Arvind Parmar. In

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-32614214204483218062009-11-18T19:26:00.000Z2009-11-18T19:59:20.972Z

When Tony Bradman put out a new brief in 2007 for stories about climate change Britain was poised for a storm surge down the North Sea which was threatening floods worse than the great floods half a century ago. On the 31st January 1953 a wall of water, driven by winds over 100mph, swept down the North Sea and over 300 people died. It was the worse peace time disaster in Britain in the twentieth

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-33096494131555258632009-11-08T16:25:00.000Z2009-11-08T16:25:09.716Z

I have been writing since I could read but when I was growing up no-one took much notice. My parents encouraged me to do well generally at school but school did not encourage my creativity and I was too shy to admit to anyone that I wrote. I did however write songs and sing them to my friends at uni and did the occasional open mic spot. It wasn't until I had my kids that creative writing classes

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-41172834160980055952009-10-25T12:32:00.000Z2009-10-25T12:43:38.334Z

Read over your compositions and when you meet a passage that you think particularly fine, strike it out. Samuel Johnson. I try to leave out the parts other people skip. Elmore Leonard. START AGAIN? Writing anything can involve such a huge effort that many people feel they can't face the redraft. And yet without the redraft, have we really written anything at all? Professional writers talk a

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-41607004064276119562009-10-18T12:31:00.001+01:002009-10-18T13:23:33.243+01:00

I have kept notebooks most of my life and have a cupboard full of them. Reading back through a couple of notebooks recently I found two poems which I had forgotten about and I'm working on them with a fresh eye and inspiration.In the last three years my notebooks have been full of notes, thoughts, character studies, landscape descriptions, relating to my cycle of three novels set on Hayling

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-9501373878983561102009-10-12T10:15:00.000+01:002009-10-12T10:46:50.818+01:00

In my workshops we often discuss creating and holding a point of view in fiction. Why is this important? David Lodge in 'The Art of Fiction', maintains that when the writer constantly shifts the point of view "the reader's involvement ..'production'of the meaning of the text, will be disturbed."Jumping around, in and out of many character's heads, makes it almost impossible for the reader to

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-73591535616241194242009-10-07T19:54:00.000+01:002009-10-07T20:27:35.147+01:00

Melvin Burgess raised the concept of the human spirit in our characters during a recent Arvon creative writing course he lead with Malorie Blackman and which I attended this summer. So what does he mean?"The human spirit," says Melvin, "shows how people keep on trying and living and making relationships in the most dreadful of circumstances." In his latest novel, Nicholas Dane, he evokes the

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-52993688531129823812009-09-30T17:33:00.000+01:002009-09-30T18:41:18.516+01:00

Anthony Horowitz always says, "Believe!" when asked what kept him going through the years before he was noticed. In the last three years I have been writing and publishing short fiction for children, such as Peppermint Ward, a story of children with cancer.You can read more about my short fiction on my website, as well as my other publications, such as my first novel 'Secret Territory'.But I have

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-1512125895040422852009-09-30T09:22:00.000+01:002009-09-30T09:37:53.551+01:00

We are all plagued by our Inner Critic, sitting on our shoulders, telling us we're writing rubbish. But in a workshop with River Wolton a few years ago, I learned some useful tips on challenging my Inner Critic.River encouraged us to visualise our critic and mine is a Tiger.I wrote a piece imagining my tiger prowling the edge of my garden, while I sit in my study trying to write. It is dark and

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-81762163241229191442009-09-22T14:28:00.000+01:002009-09-22T14:50:10.533+01:00

Most of my writing for children and teens has been set by the sea and the area which features in my new cycle of teen novels, is Hayling Island. My family lived on the Island for 20 years. You can find out more on my website.In my second novel, ILLEGAL, Lindy and Karl need to get away from the adults for a while.It is evening and they go to the Kench, a beautiful, very quiet spot on the

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-8667994853449735762009-09-21T18:45:00.000+01:002009-09-21T19:15:10.718+01:00

Sometimes when I sit down to write it feels like an impossible mountain to climb. I have a problem, I can't find my way through, I start to go down the distraction route, make coffee, fill the washing machine. Anything to run away from the mountain. But I know that the problem won't go away. I have to resolve it to restart the flow of writing. What can I do?MIRIAM'S WRITING TIPIf you find

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-70883016754935408512009-09-18T12:49:00.000+01:002009-09-18T13:14:21.538+01:00

I have written journals all my life. Writing a journal can be part of the daily practice of keeping ourselves limbered up as writers. The journal is the place where we can explore our innermost thoughts and so it can be our most private of places. But I also find that my journal is a safe and comfortable place to write a stream of consciousness about a character or a problem in my story.

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-25042115880687868312009-09-17T15:16:00.000+01:002009-09-17T15:32:19.326+01:00

Write everyday to keep yourself limbered up and in practice as a writer. The more you write the easier it will become. Even if you only write one sentence.What about your shopping list?Choose half a dozen items and turn them into poetry.Tesco BluesWholemeal bread, deodorantmouthwash out those crumpetshygiene gel,salmon filletsdrown the lot in pasta sauce,2.5 potatoes, another bag of spudstuna

Miriam Halahmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04935448538608020877noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6564558595221085675.post-89199642281102725622009-09-16T19:12:00.000+01:002009-09-16T19:29:13.692+01:00

This is a whole new beginning. I am starting my first proper blog and I am very excited because this will be a whole new area of writing for me. I have added to other people's blogs but now its time for me to start my own new thread weaving its way across the Internet.MIRIAM'S WRITING TIP : Decide to write for half an hour. Sit down at your writing space, write for 30 minutes exactly. Put your

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