I am influenced and encouraged by a host of incredible creatives. You will find below a few of my favourites, from various genres.  They all inspire me with their words, vision and imagination (and in relation to some of the podcasts, their humour!).  Genres are listed in order of preference, but the lists below each heading are simply alphabetical; rating them was just too hard!

POETS: 

William Blake

Helen Dunmore 

Carol Ann Duffy 

T S Eliot

Jackie Kay

Liz Lochhead 

Mary Oliver 

Adrienne Rich 

NOVELS: 

Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood (love all her work)

Room by Emma Donoghue

The Siege by Helen Dunmore 

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald 

So many ways to begin by Jon McGregor 

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (in fact, anything by Maggie O’Farrell)

Wolf Hall Trilogy by Hilary Mantel 

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

MEMOIRE/NON-FICTION: 

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron 

An Angel At My Table trilogy by Janet Frame 

Wintering by Katherine May 

The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

MUSIC: 

Bob Dylan

Sarah McLachlan

Emily Maguire 

Natalie Merchant 

Joni Mitchell 

Rachel Ries 

PODCASTS: 

How to be 60 by Kaye Adams and Karen MacKenzie  

The Shift by Sam Baker 

How to Fail by Elizabeth Day 

Older and Wider by Jenny Eclair and Judith Holder 

The Clearing by Katherine May