Hello, and thank you for your interest in my website. I hope you enjoy browsing the different pages that reflect my writing and music career that began in 2006 and 2009 respectively.
A wee bit About Me
Courses/Writing Groups
In June 2006 I attended an Arvon course on writing for children, spending a week in the gorgeous setting of Moniack Mhor facilitated by the enthusiastic, energetic Cathy McPhaill and Mhairi Hedderwick, mainly known for her Katie Morag stories and wonderful illustrations. I have a backlog of stories, some written during a distance-learning course with the Academy of Children’s Writers. One day they will be published!
The following month I travelled to Shropshire to stay a week at another Arvon house, The Hurst, former home of Oscar-winning playwright John Osborne. What an exciting week it was, with inspiration from Rory McLean and Miranda France. I worked on stories gathered during my adventures to see the annual Tall Ships Races since discovering them in 2003.
CrawsNest Press
I set up my imprint ‘CrawsNest Press’ in August 2017 and launched my poetry pamphlet ‘Salt & Soil’.
It has proved very popular, selling internationally but mainly at the many readings I have given in Scotland. The name is derived via my passion for tall ships, the lookout post on sailing ships is known as ‘the crow’s nest’, and also from the Scots ditty ‘Three Craws Sat Upon A Wa’ that my series The Three Craws is inspired by.
Clipper Ship City of Adelaide/Carrick (1864)
In 1999 the book I was writing about my tall ships travels was hijacked when I discovered the plight of 1864 clipper ship City of Adelaide aka Carrick. She became my obsession. I had to know why she was threatened with demolition at the Scottish Maritime Museum at Irvine, in the country of Scotland. My book ‘Clipper Ship City of Adelaide’ BENEATH THE SOUTHERN CROSS will be published in summer 2019.
Clipper Ship City of Adelaide BENEATH THE SOUTHERN CROSS
Clipper Ship City of Adelaide/Carrick (1864) – My Adventures and blog
Poetry
In 2007 my first poem was published in Tyne-and-Esk anthology ‘Aye, Write’, by Calderwood Press. I had left poetry behind in English Literature in secondary school, and could never warm to poetry during primary school days, though I did manage to write a poem in P2 for my mother –
I love you dear mother with all my heart
I like eating apple tart.
Why not visit my Poetry page to see progress since then?
Poetry – Some of my poetry and adventures
The Three Craws Performances & Scripts
Full of cheek, curiosity and humour, The Three Craws take the audience on fact-filled adventures around Scotland via radio, stage, pubs, outdoor spaces, and schools. Check them out before they fly off from Edinburgh Castle walls on yet another adventure!
The Three Craws – Performances and audio shows
Harp
When I went to see Savourna Stevenson perform in Lennoxlove House, Haddington I was captivated. It was the first time I heard harp music played live. She inspired me to have a go. I’ve derived great pleasure from having the privilege of learning it, and have found surprises along the way. Read more about how I was given the gift of my first harp lesson, and never in a thousand years would I have believed I would one day build my own harp.
Harp Beats – Workshops, courses, gigs, community events, festivals
Collaborations
I’ve had the privilege of working with various artists through poetry, music and film.
All images and text © Rita Bradd 2019
All rights reserved