First bird of the day: a wren in the garden singing its heart out while I stretch out in my cosy bed listening and thinking about the coffee I’m going to make, and the book I’m going to read when I get up. Perfect Sunday start.

Masterclass Webinar and Workshop Season just announced: Eco-poetics and the Environment. Led by poets Ian Humphreys @lkiew.bsky.social James McDermott @wendypratt.bsky.social and @jsaphra.bsky.social Book one, several, or the full seasons. Full descriptions here: www.eventbrite.com/cc/eco-poeti...

Six Dawn and Dusk Chorus zoom writing sessions coming up. Details: open.substack.com/pub/wendypra...

My March Substack newsletter is now live, featuring two new writing workshops (one FREE to paid Substack subscribers) as well as waffling about my first book being discussed on Corrie! open.substack.com/pub/victoria...

Ich thynke but litel of a Mondaye bleake Tuesday grey and Wednesdaye eke Thursdaye Ich care not for thee Yet Fridaye Ich am yn love [dreamye lute arpeggio] Mondaye thou kanst fall awaye Tuesdaye, Wednesdaye, myne herte slaye No mirthe ys founde upon Thursdaye Yet Fridaye Ich am yn love

Please…. How do I stop ‘oopsey daisy you hoo’ repeating on a loop in my head?

On pushing past the cringe factor of self promotion. open.substack.com/pub/wendypra...

Ahahaha what do they think happened to all those horses that used to pull carriages? Did they all go to live on a farm upstate? 😂

I'm running a one-day online workshop on Writing Historical Fiction on Sat 16th May, 10.00am-4.00pm. More details on my website. Fee: £150, and writers at all levels welcome! Let me know if you've any questions. 1/2 victoriamackenzie.net/teaching/

TV tonight: a furious drama about water companies dumping raw sewage

Ich thynke but litel of a Mondaye bleake Tuesday grey and Wednesdaye eke Thursdaye Ich care not for thee Yet Fridaye Ich am yn love! [twangye charminge lute riff] Mondaye thou kanst fall awaye Tuesdaye, Wednesdaye, myne herte slaye No mirthe ys founde upon Thursdaye Yet Fridaye: *Ich am yn love!*

This week at Notes from the Margin: my writing week: am I living the meaningful life I set out to live? open.substack.com/pub/wendypra...

This week in the poetry blogs with @alinaetc.bsky.social @emmalee1.bsky.social @wendypratt.bsky.social @pearlpoet.bsky.social @billymills.bsky.social @beckyltuch.bsky.social @salenagodden.bsky.social @robin-gow-poet.bsky.social @victoriamoul.bsky.social 1/3 www.vianegativa.us/2026/02/poet...

This week on Notes from the Margin - people emerge from early modern manuscripts. open.substack.com/pub/wendypra...

Lying in bed in the dark, window open just a little to listen to the rain, and a blackbird is piping up hesitantly out of the gloom.

I'm doing a creative writing workshop at Lancaster Litfest on Sat 21st March on 'Writing Historical Fiction' (4-6pm). Apply by 28th Feb: litfest.org/workshops26/ ✒️😍

This week’s Notes from the margin: the reality of the author life: open.substack.com/pub/wendypra...

Come see me in York! www.yorksj.ac.uk/events/upcom...

A super review of #TheGhostLake by Yorkshire #poet @wendypratt.bsky.social I like that they emphasise the importance of #local because I'm so tired of the #global right now yorkshirebylines.co.uk/society/cult...

Absolutely delighted with this review of my memoir, The Ghost Lake, in @yorkshirebylines.co.uk . Thanks to John Barron for taking the time with it.

On this week’s Notes from the Margin: throwing your work into the abyss. How to maintain confidence in long term projects. open.substack.com/pub/wendypra...

Currently judging the Shepton Snowdrops poetry competition and being reminded that people are connecting to nature and finding ways to talk about it. Especially the teens. Feels like hope. Highly recommend reading poems. For all that ails you.

Thanks to those who joined me in the zoom room last night! The recording, notes and writing prompts are now live: open.substack.com/pub/wendypra...

Yesterday it was cows using tools, today its penguins using satellite imagery.

Quite a lot of birdsong this morning. Good.

On Notes from the Margin this week - The Elizabeth I Pregnancy Portrait (Not) - symbolism and interpretation open.substack.com/pub/wendypra...

Ian’s here! Ian’s here!

Today is Plough Monday - by tradition the start of the agricultural year Artist: John Berry (The Farmer, 1963)

My current poetry collection, Blackbird Dinging at Dusk, currently on sale at @ninearchespress.bsky.social for just £6.99!!! grab a bargain! ninearchespress.com/shop#!/Black...

On creativity and accountability. open.substack.com/pub/wendypra...

This on a big sign. Get asked most times we’re out and it’s more than tiresome. Better than the people who won’t leave it alone, or those who send emails or sm messages to the shop with conspiracy theories but it’s all apart of the same sense of entitlement and casual harassment.

Unbelievably, #DuvetKnowItsChristmas generates such good will on social media that over the years we've raised somewhere approaching a quarter of a million quid for homeless charities. If you can spare a bob or two, sling some to Centrepoint, and here's the link: www.gofundme.com/f/duvet-know...

Celebrating Emily Dickinson's 195th b-day & more with @victoriamoul.bsky.social @wendypratt.bsky.social @clareshawpoet.bsky.social @jntod.bsky.social @annettemakino.bsky.social @myheadtheforest.bsky.social @johnglenday.bsky.social @writtenbyallison.bsky.social 2/4 www.vianegativa.us/2025/12/poet...

SPOTLIGHT #poetry book, Blackbird Singing at Dusk by @wendypratt.bsky.social , an illuminating, lyrical exploration of place, nature, rural working-class lives, ancestors & history. 'This book will absorb your heart, mind & soul' - @janeburn.bsky.social In our sale, £7.99 ninearchespress.com/shop

Still places on my #shortstory course which some* writers have found fun and interesting previously. Read 8 contemporary short stories with me in the new year and work on your own fiction too. Expect irreverence, enthusiasm and some debunking of the usual creative writing nonsense. *Allegedly.

Order by 2pm Wednesday 17 December for delivery in time for Christmas (within the UK). We can gift-wrap, add a handwritten note, and/or send to a different UK address (no extra charge).

Reposting for no particular reason 👀 (with apologies for uncorrected typos @lithub.com.web.brid.gy). Increasingly think the failure to twig the lies is not just lack of diversity in publishing + adherence to a certain convenient narrative about disability, but a wide failure in critical thinking.

Ladybird Artists Advent Calendar, window 14 ‘Ponies in the Snow’ Artist: CF Tunnicliffe

Some brave souls choose to face the feare of failure and the terror of a blanke page. Thrugh harde worke and luck thei come back wyth storyes that bringe us mirthe, or horror, or thrilles, or beautye, or wisdom, or delighteful surreal confusioun. Gen A.I. ys nothinge lyke that. Long live artists.

The first of my new Dear Wendy/Dear Writer segments - a writer wondering how to begin writing again after chronic illness derailed her career. open.substack.com/pub/wendypra...

Cheddar Man, 9th millennium BC (Mesolithic) found in Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, UK

Ladybird Artists Advent Calendar, window 10 Artist: Ronald Lampitt

Warn your old folks about these scamming bastards. It would be so easy to get caught out by one of these texts.

A constant blazing terror that somewhere, somebody might be getting a free cheese sandwich. Or indeed brief use of a wheelchair.

'Fox in the snow" by contemporary printmaker Cat Moore #WomensArt #December6th #ArtAdvent

Last year I did very little on the submission front as I was promoting books I’d written. In 2026 I’m setting myself a goal of two submissions a month: flash, fiction, poetry, pitches and I hope a novel at some point! Do you have a pitch goal for 2026?

Ladybird Artists Advent Calendar, window 4 ‘Winter Village’ Artist: Ronald Lampitt

This week at Notes from the Margin: having a tough talk with myself about the way I value myself as a writer. The Fear is on Me. open.substack.com/pub/wendypra...

'Way home' by contemporary German artist Katja Lang #WomensArt

It was a real pleasure to spend a quiet hour in the zoom room tonight x