Writer & Explorer

A curious writer. Looking for inspiration; sharing ideas and work.

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25 Famous Poems That Everyone Should Read

Explore a curated list of famous poems that everyone should read, featuring timeless classics and modern masterpieces that inspire and move

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There are seven different types of conflict in English literature:

Character vs technology

Character vs character

Character vs society

Character vs nature

Character vs self

Character vs fate

Character vs supernatural

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Nano-22!

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[ebanfield]

The garden is empty.

Abandoned, nibbled sandwiches soggily swimming on plates.

The plants are happy, their leaves washed, the earth beneath them damp, warmed by the fleeting sun.

They breath out and straighten up...

after the sharp summer rain.

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Winter walk...

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"Do you want disappointed people? Because they will be disappointed."

Overheard in the park, London, UK.

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June meanderings...

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Up early to write twice this week

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Christmas presents and borrowed... Some reading for 2019!

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A tiny library in Cagliari, Sardinia

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Sunrise and a tiny library.

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London Short Story Prize - Spread the Word

Our annual London Short Story Prize seeks to discover, publish and profile the best stories and writers coming out of the capital.

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[ebanfield]

Books, beautiful books.

[ebanfield]

A Blazing Romance

In the blazing summer sun the budding romance grew voraciously, making the clash of coffee cups and the hiss of steam in the coffee shop part of a distant reality. The tortured artist and the young student were thrown together in the slender space next to the coffee machine while customers narrowed their eyes at the playful glances, lingering touches and exaggerated laughs.

Three weeks of dinners with bottles of wine, where waiters would ask them to leave having tutted and swept around their feet, led to a trip to Paris on the Eurostar. Caution was thrown to the wind and any misgivings were buried deep within bouquets of flowers.

Paris was crowded with out of towners, the air was warm and the city was seen in a haze through their dewy eyes. The stress of an alien city didn’t exist; they were never lost, just wandering. They decided that they weren’t ripped off, but paid over the odds and the rubberised fish at a late night supper was narrated as an experience, rather than a failure. The small shops were stuffed with souvenirs which seemed made just for them, the trinkets telling their story succinctly.

The return to their home town and cooler evenings was when the romance began to slow, but they continued to hold hands and experimented with less extravagant romance, staying in and attempting daring recipes in a shabby shared kitchen. As summer faded one began to construct plans for the future while the other wanted to carve out time to work on a project alone.

The affair had been firework fierce, but on a cold damp day in November all the fuel had been consumed and final goodbyes were said. The crisp used-up leaves of romance fluttered to the hardened ground.