Pausing, only in his mind, to squeeze Sister Mary Bartholomew to his chest and whisper, ‘Who luvs ya baby?’ Father Michael Devine made his way to the confessional. Equipped with his stole, breviary, vacuum flask, and digestive biscuits he was … Continue reading Through My Own Fault – a version of this was read on Radio 4 & it appears in Mrs Rochester’s Attic – anthology
I was born in 1954 and grew up in the bandit country on the north-west frontier… of Wolverhampton. The Luftwaffe hadn’t taken the lead in town planning, not like in Coventry and Birmingham, so the council had to be responsible for their own devastation. In front of the town hall they replaced a market square, surrounded by ornate Victorian facades and walkways, with a Civic Centre whose design seemed to have been out-sourced behind the Iron Curtain. A large hole sat in the heart of town for a few years and when the builders eventually filled it up with plate … Continue reading Hinterland – a memoir of childhood
Please click to open, so you can see where the line-breaks come. Gym club hubbub Roll, stroll, shrug and spread. Sprint, squat, stand on your head. Straddle, stride, twirl, whirl, whizz. Don’t shake your rucksack. You’ll make your pop fizz. Swinging flasks, sprinkle, squirt, spray. You’re wetting the floor! Put your pop away. Tumble, rumble, stumble, fall. Spring back up. No bumps at all. Scream on a beam Screech so shrill. Get told off, But it’s still a thrill. Floor flies up. Slip, thrash, splat. Stretch into splits and Miss the mat. Didn’t listen. Throb, strain, … Continue reading Poems based on phonic patterns
I was commissioned to write a story by West Midlands Reading Network to work on an Arts Council funded project. The story was published in a collection featuring work from five authors. In addition to myself, the authors were Kerry … Continue reading The Last Days of Cherry Blossom
Here are the 429 words that won the PowWow Writers’ flash fiction competition. It is to be included in their festival anthology, alongside works commissioned from Alison Moore, Kit de Waal, Clare Morrall, David Gaffney and Nicholas Royle. Fees and … Continue reading Fees and Services
Here is a two-handed narration you may want to use for an assembly, especially with Easter coming up. I use two narrators – one speaking the bold words and the other the normal print. The bold or normal has no … Continue reading An assembly drama (esp. Lent & Easter)
On a similar theme to An aging teacher in a modern world: These may help you ensure Mason carves out a career, Tiler gets to the top and Taylor learns to embroider prose, instead of yelling, “It’s a stitch-up!” every … Continue reading Poems & phonics to use and enjoy
At 61, and having nearly 40 years of teaching behind me, I have observed names over the years. They go in waves, each new semi-decade bringing a boy’s name who you know ranks high on the probability scale of trouble. Television is a great equaliser. Beyond the naming after soap stars, it allows the underclass to latch onto the well- heeled, so that soon the nursery sand tray is crowded with names from a Knightsbridge prep school or a Cotswolds gymkhana. An aging teacher in a modern classroom “It’s Kee – ah,” the girl corrected, every time I pronounced the … Continue reading An aging teacher in a modern world
I’ve recently finished my editing of my novel, ‘Missing Targets’ – a political/crime thriller. My first draft was 155,000 words. Now I’m below 112,000 and need input from others. A friend, who is an avid reader and enjoys crime fiction, … Continue reading The skill that dare not speak its name
Can I say, right off – that a combination of Alan Peat and Ros Wilson techniques qualifies for the title of ‘dream-team,’ in terms of teaching pupils to write. Use Ros Wilson as your spine and then enhance content with … Continue reading Ros Wilson, Alan Peat – and chiefly – yourselves.
Tim Franks Writing 