Cafe Tissardmine is a unique place which enables a creative stay in the Moroccan Sahara amidst rock, shadow, a roof of stars and of course, sand. I’m travelling there for my 8th time and for the 2nd time going as far as Marrakech by train (pictured by Robin Dance at Perth Station).
After the last visit I wrote about the journey and its various stresses for the Saraband anthology of women’s travel writing, ‘There She Goes’. Considering I’ve taken to rail, yes for enjoyment, but more out of concern for my lifelong contribution to climate chaos, it’s interesting that my departure, and likely the whole journey, will be defined by waves of storm and associated delay and disruption not only in the UK (passing white churn of sea off Northumberland, lakes for fields in Yorkshire) but down to southern Spain and into Morocco which is experiencing a particularly snowy and flood-prone winter.
I aimed to travel ‘light’ and with no more than 2 bags (take 3 and I’ll lose one). At the last minute, the small bag I’d chosen was too small and I reached for a cloth tote bag instead. The first to hand was branded for the ‘Dangerous Women’ project which ran from 2017 and invited explorations of what this term might mean. This was a happy reminder of an impromptu writing project.
At the time both Jane Austen and Nan Shepherd were about to appear on British bank notes. So writer-friend Sarah Salway and I teamed up to voice a ‘social media’ chat between them for Dangerous Women. Working on a shared Google document, we kept in mind the preoccupations with freedom of our subjects. For one it was the wandering of gusty mountains, for the other economic independence.
But both women challenged the patriarchal norms of their respective times, even their very creativity might have been considered ‘dangerous’.
This reminder of a randomly-arising writing project was a pleasing way to set off on a new adventure carrying a tote-bagful of blank notebooks and trying to feel ‘dangerous’!
Cafe Tissardmine
Becoming a full-time writer
In 2002 I left a well-paid job to become self-employed as a writer and teacher of creative writing and have been ever since – 24 years. What brought about this transition was the opportunity to become writer-in-residence for three years at Brownsbank Cottage near Biggar, the last home to Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid (Christopher Grieve)…
Stop Press for ‘that book in you’
Two gold dust places are suddenly available for my life writing course at the Garsdale Retreat 5-10th October. This is a wonderful place on the Cumbria border with North Yorkshire, and the Carlisle-Settle railway runs close by – a great way to arrive. Expect to progress or initiate your project with workshop sessions, personal tutorials,…
Writing in Schools
I’ve been reflecting on a longish period of freelance work as a writer and teacher of writing after leaving a steady, salaried job in 2002. It has recalled me to a much cherished project with a primary school over a number of weeks which remains one of the most worthwhile-feeling projects I’ve done. I hope…