Some firsts of 2023 and plans for 2024

The new year is coming and it’s a traditional time to reflect on how the previous year has been and look forward to the next one. It’s been a busy year, so as highlights I’ve picked out a few things I did for the first time in 2023. I’d also like to share some news about what’s coming in 2024.

Firsts of 2023

In the summer of 2023, I recorded Pause for Thought for BBC Radio 2 for the first time – I did a set of four in June, and they liked me enough to invite me back for another four in November and December. (You can still listen on BBC Sounds.) This has been a great opportunity to learn some new skills, like writing scripts which keep to the topic, the time, and fit a faith-themed insight in somehow, as well as a chance to share Quaker perspectives more widely. It’s also a challenge, both to come up with the material, and because the recordings are made after my bedtime to go out early in the morning! 

In the autumn of 2023, I used Woodbrooke’s Quaker library in its new home for the first time. The move from the old Woodbrooke Centre to the University of Birmingham Cadbury Research Library is only one of lots of changes for Woodbrooke staff as the organisation moves away from the building and towards being a flexible, online and travelling Learning and Research team – you can read about other changes on Woodbrooke’s website. Most of the other changes in my work are in quantity not type, though. I always did travel around Britain to visit different Quaker meetings, and although I’ve done more in 2023, it doesn’t feel like a first. Similarly, running online courses is a lot of fun but it isn’t new any more. On the other hand, I knew there was a special collections library at the University of Birmingham, but I didn’t have a reason to use it until Woodbrooke’s collection moved there this year. It is different: calling up material from a catalogue rather than hunting on the shelves myself, and working in a dedicated reading room rather than borrowing books. It has advantages, though: I can email in advance and have something waiting for me, rather than searching and perhaps not finding, and the dedicated space pushes me to set aside dedicated time for research rather than trying to fit it in around other things. If you’d like to try this yourself, the Cadbury Research library is open to the public. 

Also this autumn, I self-published a book start to finish for the first time. I’d done some of this before when I published Between Boat & Shore – it had previously been with Manifold Press, which closed, and I put it out myself. However, there was still a lot I hadn’t done: for Carving a New Shape, I also produced a paperback version, tried to announce the new publication in all the right places, and did some experiments with marketing, including joining in with group sales by sapphic authors (like the I Heart Sapphfic end of year 99p sale which will run from December 23rd to 28th 2023) and starting a TikTok account just for my sapphic prehistoric novels. It was fun, but it also became clear that I have more to learn! (Especially from people like Jae who have much more experience.) I’ve got an idea for the next novel and hope to self-publish again in due course – but 2024 will be more about nonfiction, I think.

Another less than completely successful project was displaying Angela’s archery medals. Having never been a Sport person, this was an entirely new thing for me. I managed some of it okay – put up a small shelf for trophies – but I chose a rail which glued to the wall for the medals, thinking, perhaps foolishly, that they aren’t that heavy and something designed for towels would be good enough. However, Angela went on to have a very successful season (see her archery Instagram for details) and the rail fell down one night! A goal for early 2024, once our Christmas decorations have come down, is to get a new rail with a stronger attachment and make sure we’re ready to celebrate any successes next season.

2024 news

A big change for me in 2024 is that right from the beginning of January, my work with Woodbrooke will increase from three days a week to four and a half days a week. We’re rearranging who does what a bit and there are some exciting new projects in the works. If you want to know what I’m teaching in the next few months, have a look at my Woodbrooke profile page.

I’m also expecting to have two Quaker books come out in 2024 – I’ll have more details over the next few months, but here’s a little taster. One is a Pendle Hill Pamphlet based on a lecture I gave in 2023, which talks about radical welcome and whether Quaker communities are ready to include people who will change us. The other is another Quaker Quick, with the working title Speaking in Quaker Meeting for Worship. It draws on my work on afterwords and vocal ministry to explore the current understanding of this practice in unprogrammed worship and try to answer common questions (which are often about when and how it goes wrong!). 

This will also be a year of changes for Angela, too, as she finishes her PhD with all the challenges that involves – paperwork, the submission process, the viva, and the uncertainty that goes with that. 

I plan to go on blogging sometimes in 2024, but if there are fewer posts, hopefully this helps explain why!

Being an Archery Wife

When we got married in 2021, Piangfan Angela wasn’t into any sports – between her health, and needing to move cities several times, and the pandemic, there hadn’t been much chance. But later that year she set out to find a new sport. It would never had occurred to me because sports means nothing to me except pain, humiliation, and oppressive power structures, but Angela had positive experiences in the past and argued convincely that it would be a good opportunity to meet new people, take structured breaks from sitting at the computer all day, and generally improve her physical and mental health. I agreed that this was a commonly held theory, and that as long as I wasn’t going to be made to do anything, she could go and try out some sports.

Within a couple of weeks, the Archery Adventure had begun. It shows no signs of stopping. 

I had some idea about archery. I had even tried, perhaps two or three times, at the beginner’s taster session level often offered at scout and guide events. It didn’t particularly interest me, but I knew some of the basics. What I didn’t know was how much more there was to learn.

Some aspects of archery I have mastered. I can make a joke using the names of at least five different archery shops from around the world. I can comment on topics such as form, groupings, and where to find lost arrows fluently enough to at least make it sound convincing in a ChatGPT bullshit kind of way, and sometimes even look in the right place for the arrow. I am familiar with several of the common forms of archery Facebook group post which my wife finds most annoying (follow these top tips to reduce ranting: don’t ask a question on the internet unless you want people on the internet to answer it; don’t try and shoot at home unless you’re really sure you’ve made it safe; don’t be racist, classist, or sexist; join a club and take a beginner’s course instead of hoping Facebook will teach you a physical skill). 

Other aspects I have learned to avoid. Although my girl guide knot typing skills cover the basics needed for creating a nocking point, working with nylon and fire has distinct risks and I prefer to avoid it. After the Night The Fletching Jig Fell Apart, I made a firm commitment to never touch one again and my wife now sometimes fletches her own arrows or pays/cajoles/bullies someone else to it. I am also trying to always agree with her coach.

I also haven’t worked out how to answer the inevitable question. When I’m accompanying her to an archery club, or a shop, or a competition, and just sitting around, holding the bags and nodding supportively, people ask – it even seems reasonable on the face of it – “Do you shoot?” “Are you an archer too?” “Would you like a go?” I do not, and am not, and never will. But it seems rude to say to someone’s face that I find their sport or hobby bizzare and its attractions inexplicable, so I have to go for the vague. I’ve tried “It’s not my scene” and “it doesn’t appeal to me” but that doesn’t always seem to put them off from trying to encourage me to have a go. “I’m morally opposed to competitions” seems a bit strong, although it has an element of truth. “I have lots of other things to do” is true, but so do lots of people who find time for archery anyway. Perhaps “nothing else will ever be as interesting as a good book” would give the right impression?

Anyway, enough about me. If you’d like the follow the Archery Adventure, you can get all the latest news about my wife’s competitions and medals and other achievements on her archery Instagram.