I tend to write by hand in cafes. I proofread there. I write lists, ideas,
first drafts of short pieces - whole haiku. More often I redraft. I like to take
printouts of computer work and eye them with my special cafe eye. It's a good
place to rejig visual pieces, look over short stories as if it wasn't me that
wrote them, pick apart poems.
My most regular haunt is in Todmorden, where I live. I visit this cafe
mainly in late afternoon - not too many people, lower noise levels, mellow
music. It is when the cafe staff are winding down, when a table by the window
might be free.
I could be totally anonymous here. The staff might recognise me and have a
word as I buy my coffee but no one knows my name. Well no one did. That's
not the case any more. Now I am Judy Poet. Incredible Edible Poet. Todmorden
Poet Laureate. And it's nice. And I do still have the space to settle down to
write. But I am no longer invisible. The anonymity is gone.
My family think it's great I've got to know more people. I like it too. But
if I want to reclaim that precious anonymity I might have go further afield,
perhaps as far as Hebden Bridge....
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