OYSTERHOOD is reclusiveness or solitude, or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.

— @HaggardHawks

It felt good to see my counsellor this morning again. I missed last week’s session when I travelled to McGregor. But I did my therapy ‘homework’ and today we discussed death, confidence, responsibility and guilt. All interconnected, perhaps strangely.

The rest of the day was devoted to different aspects of Karavan Press – the upcoming festival, reprints, new books, deliveries, a visit to Digital Action where I could witness the first encounter between an author and her book (always special), and admin – much less poetic.

This evening, however, felt like a continuation of the poetry festival in McGregor: we launched two poetry volumes at Exclusive Books Cavendish: Stephen Symons’s FOR EVERYTHING THAT IS POINTLESS AND PERFECT and Justin Fox’s Beat Routes.

After the event, I met with two writers from a writing group that used to meet regularly in the time ‘before’, but haven’t since the beginning of lockdown. The three of us had pizza and talked books, publishing and the importance of integrity and empathy in writing. We had lots of garlic – so much easier to indulge in when one walks around with a mask :) A lovely evening.

Tomorrow, I hope to begin the second last edit of the year. Everything feels delayed, but everything gets done eventually, and one just needs to be kind to oneself.

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local. Get vaccinated, please.

“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”

— NICD