Meet the team: Elizabeth Gibson

Interview (with myself!)

Could you briefly introduce yourself?

My name is Elizabeth Gibson and I am from Wigan in the north of England. I currently live in Perpignan, France, where I teach English.

What sort of writing do you do?

I write poetry, which I regularly post on my blog and my professional Facebook page. I am working separately on two poetry collections at the moment. One is a "concept collection", so to speak, with a strong theme. The other is simply a collection of my best poems, although there will be loose links between the poems because there are many common themes to my work. Nature, life, death, travel and love all feature heavily.

I finished my first novel in 2013. It is contemporary YA, set largely in France, and is inspired by my love of French culture. It also investigates different forms of love. I hope to have it published some day.

I also write for The Mancunion student newspaper and The Cuckoo Review, and I have blogged for Manchester Literature Festival and Manchester Cornerhouse.

What does writing mean to you?

For me, writing is like magic - it allows you to do all kinds of things you can't in real life. I can transform into another person, or an animal, or anything, in fact; I can travel to places I've never been; I can go back and forward in time. I also find writing therapeutic - it is a great way to relax. I often write at the end of the day as a way of winding down.

How did you get into writing?

I don't remember any particular moment where I began to like writing; it has always been there. From as young as seven or eight I wrote poems and my brother and I would write stories together. As a kid, if anyone asked me what I wanted to be, I would say a writer without hesitation.

Who or what inspires you?

I mentioned some of my inspirations above: nature, travel, etc. Other things include my family and friends, memories, and language - as someone who speaks several languages - English, French and Spanish and some Catalan and Mandarin -, I find them fascinating to write in and about.

What are your current projects?

My two poetry collections, my novel, working on the Miracle Blog as Editor and on the print magazine as Fiction Editor. I have several other novels partly finished, so I hope to complete them.

What are your plans for the future?

Combining writing and teaching to inspire as many people as possible to know that when you can imagine, you have everything.

What advice do you have for writers?

Don't feel the need to conform to current "trends" in writing. I have been alarmed and annoyed at the lazy way in which certain people in the industry write off particular ways of writing as not being "in" at the moment. The whole point of writing is to create something NEW. So be you, and ignore anyone who tells you how to write.

What do you look for in submissions?

Three things: originality, beauty and, most importantly, honesty. You can tell when a piece of writing comes straight from the heart and when it is just the writer stringing fancy words together. I wouldn't dream of publishing the latter.

A selection of my work (click on the images to make them larger)


Silence

Oranges

A girl I know

If I could capture your laugh

Astronomy