Mark My Words – May/June 2026
Bard of Exeter
Dear Friends, New and Old,
I can’t quite believe it but probably before you read this I’ll know if I’m the new Bard of Exeter… or not! I’ve mentioned I’ve recently been doing more performance poetry events so almost just for the hell of it I applied to be the next Bard. To my surprise (horror?!) I’ve been selected as a finalist! The winner will be chosen at a live event this Friday.
One part of me thinks I must be a bit mad, but another thinks – what have I got to lose? It can be fun being a pensioner!
Final Approach Online Event
For those who couldn’t make one of my physical launch events for the illustrated hardback of Final Approach, I’m delighted to be able to tell you that I’m having an online ‘in conversation with’ event with the wonderful Anna Caig, book marketing genius and author of the The Wise Witch of Orkney, her ‘spell-binding debut’. It’s on Tuesday 9th June at 8pm. Here’s the link if you’d like to join us:
I’m really looking forward to this. All welcome.
Calendar of Events
EVENTS 2026
Tues June 2nd
Word Kitchen, Exeter Phoenix
8pm Tues June 9th
Online Event: In Conversation with Anna Caig (please message for joining link).
Sun June 14th
Fresh Fiction, The David Hall, South Petherton
Weds June 17th
Word Kitchen Summer Party, Donkey Sanctuary Sidmouth
Sat 20th June
Stroud Indie Book Fair
Sat 4th July
Frome Independent Publishing Fair
Mon 3rd Aug
The Unreliable Narrator, Read with Yeovil
Weds 23rd September
Final Approach Event Westlands Centre Yeovil
Thurs 22nd October
Wild Words at Sandridge Barton Vineyard
Book Review – My Phantoms, by Gwendoline Riley
Some background: I first came across Riley’s writing in Granta Magazine; reading her piece was like listening to a compilation album and immediately having a favourite track. Despite being more than a few years ago, it’s stayed with me – the perfect picture of a working-class family going on holiday to the seaside in the seventies; overheating overstuffed saloon cars in traffic jams, frustrated children and even more frustrated parents.
So when I saw Gwendoline was tutoring an Arvon fiction course an hour from where I live, and with my intention to get stuck into a new novel (I have started), I quickly signed up. That might have been a good move; the course sold out fast and her latest book The Palm House has been mooted for the Booker Prize.
Once enrolled (it takes place in August) I thought I really better read one of her novels. At that point, The Palm House hadn’t been released, so I bought her previous work, My Phantoms. It did not disappoint. I immediately identified with her writing; when the word mochaccino appeared in the first chapter, I said to myself ‘snap’ – it’s also in the opening chapter of Final Approach! There followed an economic but at the same time visceral and impressively detailed account of a difficult mother/daughter relationship.
What I found particularly impressive was the expansive and illuminated use of dialogue to tell the story; I look forward to (hopefully!) learning about that. The backdrop for these painful conversations is exquisitely drawn, like the Manchester apartment the mother buys which looks more like a student flat: ‘Inside, it really did look like a hall of residence; it reminded me of my own, with bike wheel scuffs on the floor tiles, and a spread of nightclub flyers on top of the mailboxes. In the lift, there were shiny pizza menus on the floor, and a sticker on the mirror advertising a rape hotline.’
In the final chapters, I again found it impossible not to reference my own book, Final Approach. I won’t say exactly why as that would be a spoiler, but let’s just say both end in care homes and hospitals in the north-west of England. And I find that both the mother in My Phantoms and my father were big Columbo fans.
Just one more thing… it’s well worth a read.
And Finally
I’m still giving books away! With every ‘pre-order’ of a signed and numbered copy of the limited edition illustrated hardback (link), I’m giving away a copy of the original Final Approach paperback or one of my Brian the Bear books. Above is a package I’m putting together and am about to send out. Hurry, before I change my mind. I can either send the paperback to you when I post your hardback, or send it to any UK address, dedicated to whomever you like.
That’s all for now; you can view all my my work here.
markblackburn.co.uk 