My second full length poetry collection We Could Be Anywhere By Now was selected by Wales Literature Exchange for their 2020 Bookcase: Welsh literary works recommended for translation.
'Whether reflecting on the Wittgensteinian problem of mapping
our worlds within the limits of our language, on phobias of flags or of flying,
or voicing a roguish supermarket trolley’s invitation to break free of societal
constraints, Stansfield’s work constantly surprises and delights. With their
unexpected, oblique turns and their quirky worldview, these engaging poems give
highly distinctive voice to a strongly individual talent.'
You can read more about the work of WLE here.
A short reading of poems followed by some reflection on how I write poems (spoiler alert: at a glacial pace).
Find out which author I'd most like to go to dinner with.
On re-reading crime novels: an argument against the 'disposability' of crime fiction, and my great admiration for Ellis Peters' Cadfael novels.
Q&A: a short guide to my historical crime series Cornish Mysteries and the details of my writing routine, aka how to write novels around day jobs.
Q&A: a short guide to my historical crime series Cornish Mysteries and the details of my writing routine, aka how to write novels around day jobs.
Crime+: writing genre-blending crime fiction
First page analysis: in which I share the first page of my novel Falling Creatures and explore my writing decisions, with some wider reflection on the openings of crime novels.
Writing Selves: for the Royal Literary Fund
'That word ‘writer’ looks, at first glance, to be singular: it is the thing I am, the thing I do. But in fact, behind that singularity are a plethora of selves. This is because, like many writers, I write in different forms. There are different versions of me, the writer, out there in the world, all writing and talking about their writing at the same time.'
Just Another Poet interview
Reflecting on the impact of Wales on my poetry, and a few other writing thoughts. Recorded as part of Taz Rahman's Literature Wales-funded commission.
Crime Writers in Residence
Written for National Crime Reading Month: a short intro my crime novels and how I've been spending lockdown.
Poetry Non-Stop
Podcast episode recorded for the Poetry Non-Stop series: I'm in conversation with Patrick Widdess, founder and presenter of the podcast, talking about the role of place in my poems.
Interview with Seren Books about a new poetry collection
Talking place and displacement, learning languages and the language of poetry in We Could Be Anywhere By Now.
How I Write
An audio recording for the Royal Literary Fund: thoughts on the space needed to write
On the Cornish Mysteries series
A short video introducing my historical crime series.
Writers' Rooms
Take a tour of my side of the office I share with the other half of DK Fields (aka David Towsey).
Interview with the Historical Novel Society
'The place seems to have taken root inside me' - on Cornwall, folklore, and the power of historical fiction.
Tracks
In this piece for the Royal Literary Fund, I explore the role train travel plays in my writing.
On Writing Residencies
What are they? What do writers do when they 'reside' somewhere? Written for the Royal Literary Fund.
On sequels, on What Cathy Next Read
In which I ruminate on the challenge of writing sequels, and decide that setting fire to things helps
On the brilliance that is Mari Strachan's novel The Earth Hums in B Flat
In which I fangirl about one of my favourite crime novels for the Crime Readers Association
Interview with Jan Baynham
'The valley has long been associated with an early Christian saint, and I’ve been interested in beliefs involving these figures, their holy wells and the "clouties" left for them, for as long as I can remember.'
Interviews with the Book Trail
I talk to literary travel agency the Book Trail about the real-life places that feature in the Cornish Mysteries series, as well as the historical background of the novels
Video interview with New Welsh Review
On landscape and literary influences in Falling Creatures, and a reading from the novel
Interview and reading for Devolved Voices
Devolved Voices is a three year research project based at Aberystwyth University and funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The project is investigating the state of Welsh poetry in English since Wales’s devolution ‘yes’ vote of 1997. The website contains many fascinating materials about contemporary Welsh poetry in English and is well worth exploring.
The Lonely Crowd - On flags
My poem 'Vexiphobia' features in the spring 2016 issue of The Lonely Crowd. This post explores the ideas behind the poem, and includes bonus reflection on the Eurovision Song Contest
Pure M Magazine
On writing fiction and poems, and cleaning the fridge as part of the creative process
Aber Student Media
'I used to go to the S section in bookshops and imagine my book there.'
Notes on writing a poem, for ContemPo
The Centre for Contemporary Poetry (informally known as ‘ContemPo’) is a collaborative, cross-institutional research centre founded in 2006 and run by the English departments of Aberystwyth University, Bangor University, and the University of Brighton. This link is the first of two posts, written for Aberystwyth's ContemPo centre, exploring the writing of 'There's no such thing as pandas', a poem that features in Playing House and which you can read here.
Writing Selves: for the Royal Literary Fund
'That word ‘writer’ looks, at first glance, to be singular: it is the thing I am, the thing I do. But in fact, behind that singularity are a plethora of selves. This is because, like many writers, I write in different forms. There are different versions of me, the writer, out there in the world, all writing and talking about their writing at the same time.'
Just Another Poet interview
Reflecting on the impact of Wales on my poetry, and a few other writing thoughts. Recorded as part of Taz Rahman's Literature Wales-funded commission.
Crime Writers in Residence
Written for National Crime Reading Month: a short intro my crime novels and how I've been spending lockdown.
Poetry Non-Stop
Podcast episode recorded for the Poetry Non-Stop series: I'm in conversation with Patrick Widdess, founder and presenter of the podcast, talking about the role of place in my poems.
Interview with Seren Books about a new poetry collection
Talking place and displacement, learning languages and the language of poetry in We Could Be Anywhere By Now.
How I Write
An audio recording for the Royal Literary Fund: thoughts on the space needed to write
On the Cornish Mysteries series
A short video introducing my historical crime series.
Writers' Rooms
Take a tour of my side of the office I share with the other half of DK Fields (aka David Towsey).
Interview with the Historical Novel Society
'The place seems to have taken root inside me' - on Cornwall, folklore, and the power of historical fiction.
Tracks
In this piece for the Royal Literary Fund, I explore the role train travel plays in my writing.
On Writing Residencies
What are they? What do writers do when they 'reside' somewhere? Written for the Royal Literary Fund.
On sequels, on What Cathy Next Read
In which I ruminate on the challenge of writing sequels, and decide that setting fire to things helps
On the brilliance that is Mari Strachan's novel The Earth Hums in B Flat
In which I fangirl about one of my favourite crime novels for the Crime Readers Association
Interview with Jan Baynham
'The valley has long been associated with an early Christian saint, and I’ve been interested in beliefs involving these figures, their holy wells and the "clouties" left for them, for as long as I can remember.'
Interviews with the Book Trail
I talk to literary travel agency the Book Trail about the real-life places that feature in the Cornish Mysteries series, as well as the historical background of the novels
Video interview with New Welsh Review
On landscape and literary influences in Falling Creatures, and a reading from the novel
Interview and reading for Devolved Voices
Devolved Voices is a three year research project based at Aberystwyth University and funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The project is investigating the state of Welsh poetry in English since Wales’s devolution ‘yes’ vote of 1997. The website contains many fascinating materials about contemporary Welsh poetry in English and is well worth exploring.
The Lonely Crowd - On flags
My poem 'Vexiphobia' features in the spring 2016 issue of The Lonely Crowd. This post explores the ideas behind the poem, and includes bonus reflection on the Eurovision Song Contest
Pure M Magazine
On writing fiction and poems, and cleaning the fridge as part of the creative process
Aber Student Media
'I used to go to the S section in bookshops and imagine my book there.'
Notes on writing a poem, for ContemPo
The Centre for Contemporary Poetry (informally known as ‘ContemPo’) is a collaborative, cross-institutional research centre founded in 2006 and run by the English departments of Aberystwyth University, Bangor University, and the University of Brighton. This link is the first of two posts, written for Aberystwyth's ContemPo centre, exploring the writing of 'There's no such thing as pandas', a poem that features in Playing House and which you can read here.
