‘Two Blogs in One …’ by Ms Paige Turner
I’ve been away fishing in Fish Hoek, Cape Town for the past six weeks and attended some lectures and book groups. Finuala Dowling was lecturing at the first in Simon’s Town. Her novel ‘The Man Who Loved Crocodile Tamers’ I enjoyed and I loved her collection of poetry ‘Pretend You Don’t Know Me’/Kwela Books.
From her collection:
‘Lastness’
‘All this brouhaha about birthdays and first days
while anniversaries of lastness pass us by.’
Oh, how true.
I attended Dawn Garisch’s lecture on Memoir. Dawn runs the Life Righting Collective www.liferighting.com and I read her creative non-fiction book ‘Eloquent Body’. As a doctor, Dawn writes about keeping the body, mind and memory in balance.
I ran the Fish Hoek Scribblers workshop on ‘Colour’ whilst also reading my short story monologue ‘Scheurer’s Green’ which has been published in the anthology ‘Evergreen’ by Bridge House Publishing. One writer said my cockney accent was better than Audrey Hepburn’s in ‘My Fair Lady’. I hope so but maybe next time I will come back with Audrey’s eyebrows. You can hear me here: http://www.janmoranneil.co.uk/media/flufferedit.mp3
I also attended Helen Moffett’s workshop in Noordoek on ‘Reading Your Poetry Aloud’. What a wonderful voice, Helen has. She’s a singer – would love to hear her sing!
I’m moving into narrating audio novels so watch this space.
So for a second bite of the blog apple which I missed posting when I was away I also read Joanne Wallace’s ‘You’d Look Better as a Ghost’ published by Serpent’s Tail and out in September. Jo started this wonderfully hilarious thriller at Creative Ink.
Laura Shepperson, a Cambridge MSt colleague has just published ‘The Heroines’ with Sphere. It’s a fascinating re-working of Phaedra’s story – a Greek tragedy with a ‘Me Too’ message.
And finally, to end on ‘lastness’, Wenyan Lu, another Cambridge MSt colleague is bringing out ‘The Funeral Cryer’ published by Atlantic Books in early May. Wenyan sent me the first few chapters some time ago and this story about a young woman in contemporary rural China has haunted me ever since. I can’t wait to read the whole book.

The Hat Fluffer …
This is the direct link to my website for the Marlow FM 97.5 Radio recording of my short story published by Bridge House Publishing in their anthology ‘Evergreen’. It’s the tragic story of Victorian hat fluffer Matilda Scheurer who met her very green fate.

You can hear me reading my monologue ‘Scheurer’s Green’ – which Bridge House Publishing published in their anthology ‘Evergreen’ on Marlow FM 97.5 this coming Monday 20th February at approximately 11.15 am. It’s the tragic story of Matilda Scheurer, a hat fluffer in Victorian London. In my best received pronunciation, of course. Here is the link: Marlow FM 97.5 – Radioplayer
If you miss it, then here’s the link for catch up and it’s Good Morning Marlow. www.marlowfm.co.uk/listen-again/

‘Making Observations …’ by Ms Paige Turner
As we all well know, a writer and performer’s job is to make observations of human nature and then reproduce and communicate them to a reading and viewing audience.
So when I saw a couple of dear school friends I had known since I was ten years old and one of them went to write something: not signing the bill as times have moved on with a swipe, I said, ‘I have never noticed you are left-handed.’
The other of our sweet three said, ‘Have you never noticed that, Jan?’
I said, ‘No. And for someone who is supposed to be a writer and performer, I am sadly lacking in observational qualities’.
And so it was, that when attending an online ‘Memory and Imagination …’ Master Class led by my two Cambridge supervisors: Sarah Burton and Jen Poster – sixty attendees no less – I heard the latter say, ‘Writers don’t observe more than other folk, they just use the observations they make’.
Maybe I didn’t need to use my friend’s left-handedness and maybe the universe will always give you the answer if you think hard enough.
When This is All Over …’ a pandemic anthology/Creative Ink

https://amzn.to/3xi8iay

My novel ‘Shakespeare’s Clock’.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/shakespeares-clock/jan-moran-neil/9781912964635

https://www.cranthorpemillner.com/product/jan-moran-neil-shakespeares-clock/

https://www.foyles.co.uk/witem/fiction-poetry/shakespeares-clock,jan-moran-neil-9781912964635

Blog from Blog … by Ms Paige Turner

Gill James, editor of ‘Evergreen’ – an anthology of short stories just out, has published my short story ‘Scheurer’s Green’. She has asked writers some questions for her blog. Here’s me and here is the link:
http://www.gilljameswriter.com/

Memory, Imagination and Going Spare … by Ms Paige Turner
I’m about to do an online ‘Memory and Imagination’ course – as I need to sometimes ‘student’ and it’s with my Cambridge supervisors so that’s good. I’m wondering if ‘the most famous person on the planet’ will come up as Prince Harry does merge Memory and Imagination. ‘My memory is my memory, it does what it does, gathers and curates as it sees fit, and there is just as much truth in what I remember, and how I remember it, as in so called objective facts.’ His memoir (yet another one to add to the can) is a talking oxymoron as he is a walking contradiction in terms. (eg A confirmed bachelor who says he is desperate to marry.) I’m only halfway through so I can’t judge a book by its cover to mix my metaphors but this reader is aware of how scantily H, Haz, Harold, Hazzers (he goes by many names) explores his relationship with his elder brother – Willy. I am feeling quite sorry for Willy.
Then yesterday, during a contretemps with Mister Justin Case, my husband told me that my elder sister (by eight years – and she always maintains seven) said during one of my rare ‘outbursts’ that I had been performing this way since I was two years old. (This isn’t the way I remember it, even when I was two.) To use H’s term: I saw red mist. Went spare. (I mean Mister Justin Case just laughed – but he’s the eldest of three brothers.) I could go into why I was so enflamed but to cut a long story, I suddenly ‘got’ H’s brief narky asides in regard to his elder brother. I totally ‘got’ his angst the moment my husband revealed my elder sister’s own aside.
However, the difference is: I’m not publicly announcing my narkiness with regard to my elder sister’s untrue remark. Well … only to my three lovely blog readers …
‘Spare’ – The Duke of Sussex’s memoir written by J.R. Moehringer whom the duke acknowledges in the middle of his many, many acknowledgements, as ‘collaborator’ and friend, and sometime sparring partner’.
My novel ‘Shakespeare’s Clock’ published by Cranthorpe Milner is available on Amazon too. Ha ha.

Happy 2023 to my three blog readers.
‘There is no friend as loyal as a book’. Ernest Hemingway.

Abou Ben Adhem By Leigh Hunt
Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold:—

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the presence in the room he said,
“What writest thou?”
The vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord,
Answered, “The names of those who love the Lord.”

“And is mine one?” said Abou.
“Nay, not so,”
Replied the angel.
Abou spoke more low,
But cheerly still; and said, “I pray thee, then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow men.”

The angel wrote, and vanished.

The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blest,

And lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest.

I read this poem this last week at my lovely cousin’s funeral. For George Nabney Bell. Merry Christmas to all.

‘Evergreen’ at this time of year by Ms Paige Turner
My short story ‘Scheurer’s Green’ is published in Bridge House Publishing’s anthology ‘Evergreen’. An apt time of year to launch this lovely collection of stories.
My short story is about the death of one Matilda Scheurer, aged nineteen, killed by the ills in our society. I first read my poem ‘Scheurer’s Green’ at a workshop in Cape Town. The theme was ‘Green’ and indeed, I found myself sitting next to Mrs Green. (Did she attend because of the nature of the theme? I didn’t ask …)
Author Tracey Farren also attended the workshop. Tracey wrote the wonderful ‘Whiplash’ which was made into a film, focusing on the life of a False Bay prostitute. When she heard my poem she encouraged me to write the novel. But subject matters will have their ways – her encouragement gnawed away at me and the canvas became this short story. When I sent it to Tracey she said, ‘It’s wonderful how writers seem to channel and express the voiceless dead decades or even centuries later.’
George Eliot’s last lines in ‘Middlemarch’ are ‘The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.’
I chose my great-great grandmother as the narrator to tell Matilda’s story. Charlotte Dukes was a fancy box cutter so it worked for me. She may have worked with Matilda. Who knows? What I do know is that my great-great grandmother’s voice seemed, as is colloquial today, to ‘reach down’ to me.
See for yourself if you think it did. It’s available here:

http://www.thebridgetowncafebooksshop.co.uk/2022/11/evergreen_25.html

George Nabney Bell – 26/4/52 – 20/11/22

Rest, rest now, sweet coz.

I shall not look upon your lovely like again.

My poem ‘Bird Brains’ has just been published in a beautiful collection of poetry entitled ‘Voices for the Silent’ in aid of the League Against Cruel Sports and edited by Ronnie Goodyer at Indigo Dreams Publishing. Honoured to be in the same anthology as Philip Larkin and Margaret Atwood. You can buy here.

https://www.indigodreamspublishing.com/voices-for-the-silent