Bouncing Back with A Bang
Life is full of twists and turns, stops and starts. Living on a bizarre rollercoaster, Geraldine Ward is now bouncing back with a Bang.
Bouncing Back with a Bang is a compact collection of poetry by Geraldine Ward, recently published on the 8th September.
Geraldine Ward has been writing and performing various forms of poetry and prose from an early age and I am delighted to welcome Geraldine here today, as my stop on the blog tour hosted by the wonderful Anne Cater of Random Things Tours. Geraldine has written a guest post giving us a small glimpse into her writing life and what inspires her to put pen to paper.
‘I have always loved writing from a very young age. Often the quiet girl who would sit silently in the corner reading and writing, I was very much an introvert.’
Please do read on for more…
Book Description
In a poetry collection that aims to rock the senses and fill the reader with powerful imagery and heartfelt truth, Geraldine Ward’s mixture of critical and realistic social observation and humorous asides, will fully involve you in her journey of self discovery and take you on the ride of your life.
“Geraldine Ward’s poems take a slanted look at this world. They skilfully shine a light on those things we wish were different, the abuse we suffer or inflict.” – Reuben Woolley, Editor of “I am not a silent poet.”
Purchase Link ~ Bouncing Back with a Bang
I have always loved writing from a very young age. Often the quiet girl who would sit silently in the corner reading and writing, I was very much an introvert.
In my late teens life changed. While most teenagers went out with friends I kept myself to myself, enjoying books such as Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy and The Go Between by LR Hartley, and regularly would sit in the library reading the newspaper or anything I could get my hands on. I became even more inward, and having experienced also quite serious bullying at secondary school, as well as the usual exam time stresses, I broke down.
Yet there was always that silver lining, and for me that was poetry.
Having only really written short stories prior to what I went through the poetry came pouring out. It never really stopped and from about eighteen onwards I have always written. Following plenty of encouragement from friends and family I sought to take it further and started to attend creative writing groups, summer courses etc.
Poetry literally saved me. If it wasn’t for poetry life would have been so much more difficult. It has proven my sanctuary and my freedom and passion. I never knock those who write in the therapeutic context as that was how it came out for me. However writing comes out, it is something worth pursing and working on.
I have been writing now for nearly twenty years. My writing career got off to a great start when I received third prize in the Saltburn Writers Competition for my poem “The Party Queen” when I was nineteen. This gave me the confidence to continue writing. I have a real love of language and appreciate the power of words to help, heal and enjoy.
I was born in Cambridge in 1980 and moved up to Middlesbrough when I was about one with my parents. I am one of three children. In early 2010 I re-located with my husband and baby boy to the south-east, which was a completely life changing experience for me. Having lived in the northeast for nearly all my life and starting anew life with a baby and husband, adapting was of course tricky at first. I had a whirlwind year in 2009 when I completed an MA in Creative Writing from Teesside University while running my own independent magazine and group, Teesside Writers’ Network and an online journal, Teesside Artists’ Journal which I ran and edited for a few years with the help of my husband. I also got married in August of that year and in October my now nearly nine year old son, Samuel Terry Arthur was born. So life was something of a blur in that period.
Now that Sam is older I am able to focus more on my writing. I also chose a different path and started volunteering in a local school, which led me on to do a Teaching Assistant course, run creative writing clubs for children and work in nurseries.
I am a much more sociable person these days, though I still retain a little of the quiet, shy and anxious self. I have learnt to manage it a lot better though.
In 2013 I made the difficult decision to self-publish under a pseudonym, Geraldine Ward. People often ask me where the name comes from. Geraldine is my middle name and also my Gran’s name. My gran loved my poetry, and said that “I wrote from the heart.” Ward is also my maiden name, so when I explain that to people the pseudonym then makes more sense.
I was delighted to receive a lot of support from friends, family and other writers for my creative writing forays. I am exceptionally thankful for poetry friends who I have met online often; Marie Lightman and Reuben Woolley have been especially supportive in publishing my work as well as with other aspects of my writing. Reuben kindly wrote an endorsement on my latest book and Marie is very helpful at giving pointers regarding editing my poetry. There have been so many people though, too many to name. Also Deborah Alma, who kindly gave me the opportunity to help run a reading of the MeToo Anthology at Greenbelt is someone who I greatly admire and Anne Cater who runs Book Connectors, and who has helped me by organising the blog tour are inspirational people. The writing community as a whole is very supportive, including bloggers, poets and wordsmiths of all kind.
I also want to give a big thank you to my mum, Liz Ward who I love to bits and I don’t tell often enough. She has been my rock of inspiration and strength through everything. I don’t know what I would have done without her.
About the Author:
Geraldine Ward is an author, mother and performance poet. Her publishing credits include children’s poetry and fiction, most recently ‘Mark’s Magic Farmyard and Other Stories’, a novella about mental health called ‘Caring for the Carer’ and ‘Now’ poetry to name but a few.
She has had individual poems published in literary magazines including ‘The Blue Nib’ edited by Shirley Bell, ‘I am not a silent poet’ edited by Reuben Woolley and ‘Writers Cafe Magazine’ edited by Marie Lightman.
In November 2017 she was one of only three poets appearing on a pre recorded podcast for BBC Radio 4 Front Row, describing her writing process for National Write a Novel Month.
Geraldine’s hobbies include playing piano, song writing and singing and learning the ukulele.
Website ~ http://www.geraldineward.wordpress.com/
Twitter ~ @GWardAuthor
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Huge thanks for the Blog Tour support xx
So very welcome Anne x