StAnza, as always, was wonderful, and this year I was there as a participant, which was the icing on the cake. On Friday morning I had a visit to Newport Primary School, reading some poems and answering some questions and seeing their brilliant Tam O’Shanter puppets. And then at lunchtime I was part of the Red Squirrel Showcase, with Colin Will and Elizabeth Rimmer. I didn’t advertise it here, because it sold out really quickly – no pressure! But it was a smashing occasion and I hope the audience enjoyed it as much as I did.

And this was amazing: Innes’s Bookshop is the Festival Bookshop and here’s their window display, with Not in Nightingale Country in amongst it (along with Colin’s and Elizabeth’s books). I used to walk past this window on my way to tutorials, back in my student days. To walk past it and see my own book was slightly mind-blowing