From Cardiff to Krakow

The month of October began in Cardiff and ended in the Polish city of Krakow. Cardiff was all about running creative writing workshops, reading bits from Lottie Biggs and meeting lots of Year 10 students, and Krakow was mostly about wandering around a chilly and very beautiful mediaeval city and eating cake in cosy cafés. Both experiences were interesting in their own different ways. Cardiff surprised me with how much it has changed in the two years since I moved from living there and Krakow made my jaw drop because it is so incredibly picturesque. For some reason though, I was more drawn to the grotty graffiti. I think it’s because I’m a scruffy city pigeon at heart. Or maybe it’s because of the fascinating things graffiti tells us about the world. Like the fact that the Polish gave us Copernicus, Chopin and Max Factor and we, in return, gave them the word hooligans.

This month I’m sending my hello to Cardiff - and in particular, to Mrs Sanders’ Year 10 English Class who all wrote me lovely letters after I met them. I really appreciated it. Thank you.

Now to get my head down and write a bit more of Lottie 3…