Alex Barr

I write poems and short stories, and occasionally, short plays. Each time I sit with a writing pad it's scary. Like when I used to dip the oil tank (before I got a remote senser) . . . up the steps, unscrew the lid, stick in a cane. Anything left in there? Does the cane come out wet? If it does, what a relief! That's what it's like. And getting someone to read a story or poem is scary too. My wife Rosemarie is my best critic. I usually end up taking on most of her comments. But sitting there while she reads is hell. What if she thinks it's rubbish? (She doesn't usually.) It's different from when I comment on her ceramics. You can react to a pot in a few seconds. It takes la little onger to explain what I like (or much less often, dislike) about it, but there isn't that long agonising wait.