Josa Keyes

card showing Christmas tree made of the words, A happy Christmas, fun holidays, merry solstice, sweet hannukah, potent light ceremony and banging new year, to you with love

Cleaning is just preparing surfaces for dirt.

Can I quote you for my piece? It's mainly about de-labelling in the UK.

I adore that poem.

Thank you. Nice and clear.

You can build muscles at age and you should.

Burglar repellent: a ghostly tale Beware of what you wish for. You never know who's listening...

Who likes a ghost story? Here's my rather unusual one, set in the 1980s... open.substack.com/pub/josakeye...

Worse if it's a Kindle...

Can you describe outcomes that are both likely and less likely? Don't worry I'm interviewing experts over here too!

If I had incredibly toned abs, I'd probably want to show them off. It is an incredible achievement, particularly at my age. I have incredibly toned calves from running for four years, but no one I think is interested in those.

So, if I presented with a serious infection known to respond best to penicillin, and with this history, you would try penicillin and watch and wait? What are the best and worst outcomes for this protocol?

My research shows that glandular fever + penicillin can cause this rash but it doesn't mean a true allergy.

So, I had glandular fever at 18. A thoughtless GP kept giving me more and more antibiotics for a 'sore throat' until I came out in itchy hives all over and was finally diagnosed. At 32, pregnant with a UTI, I had another hives reaction to penicillin. What would you do with me?

Do you give the dose orally or do a skin test?

Yesterday I was talking to a friend who was having issues with people who should have her back but don't. I said, 'Everyone's ghastly except when they're not' and she liked it.

Would love to have a chat about how you are doing this. I'm currently writing a feature on the subject, as having glandular fever and taking too many pointless antibiotics gave me a horrible reaction.

In its mysterious way, Audible has put my two audio books, One Apple Tasted and Sail Upon the Land, on special offer at 99p. That's 10 hours of entertainment, read by actor Richard Trinder. Go on, have a go and let me know what you think. amzn.to/4fWOOOZ

We loved the first episode of Alma's Not Normal last night. Wonderfully written and styled. Recommend.

I would do much more creative writing teaching. I did my MA at Brunel in 2019, with a teaching element, but then covid stopped things, although I did some remote teaching. Now I do Oxford summer schools and one to one teaching. Any advice? I'm a published novelist and poet too.

Hi, I teach all ages, both one to one, and via US-based summer schools in Oxford. This is a new career for me and I would like to join your starter pack. In the UK, the profession is far less known so swapping ideas would be great.

Natural intelligence #poem

Blush #poem

A poem I wrote while running to raise money
@refugecharity.bsky.social in 2020 #refuge

Lights of her life

Moonlight
Candlelight
Fairy lights
Bedside light

Nightlight
Fridge light
Oven light
Gaslight

Street light
Headlights
Torch light
Darkness

I'm proof you're never too old to need the MMR Measles is one of the world's most contagious diseases. By July, Public Health England had announced an outbreak in London, where I caught it. If I'd been aware of it, I would have got the jab.

www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic... Last year, as a result of low take up of MMR vaccine, my generation's long safety came to an end. We were not vaccinated for measles (although oddly my younger brother was).

One Apple Tasted Check out this great listen on Audible.com. With chapters set in the 80s, 50s, 30s, and 2000s, taking place from London to New Delhi, One Apple Tasted delivers plenty of surprises and adventures along...

#OneDayNetflix fans? For more long-term love and nostalgia, there's my first novel One Apple Tasted, now on
@audibleuk
narrated beautifully by @rich_trinder audible.co.uk/pd/One-Apple... Reviewers DM me for promo codes.

Do Not Go Dowdy — The Emigre A poem for International Women’s Day by Josa Keyes.

Dylan Thomas' villanelle about dying is masculine, dark and achingly moving. I wrote a lighter, feminine version - be sure, it is also about death, part of every life. www.the-emigre.com/column/poem-...

One Apple Tasted, narrated by the extremely handsome and caramel-voiced @rich_trinder, is 99p at the moment with
@audibleuk
membership today. 'A bit of a One Day vibe - 80s nostalgia and long delayed love...'

I was thrilled to find my poem Shit Villanelle was shortlisted in
@Culturesmatter
in the Bread and Roses Poetry Award Anthology 2024.

There were 10 von Trapp children. Maria wrote in her autobiography: "I really and truly was not in love. I liked him but didn't love him. However, I loved the children, so in a way I really married the children. . . . [B]y and by I learned to love him more than I have ever loved before or after."