Dr Janet Summerton
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On waiting and waiting rooms
I think about medical matters lots, and not just because I am a hypochondriac. My sole scientific qualification is an A level in biology (my degree was in philosophy and literature) but in my twenties I worked for a charity fighting for compensation for those with industrial diseases such as asbestosis. Around that time, one…
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A lost friend, agent hunting, and new collections of short stories
My friend Janet Summerton died on October 1st at the age of 79. I was heavily involved in her care during her last two months, and that of her husband Ken who survives her. Janet was a lateral thinking champion of the crafts and craft makers – and a benign influence on a generation of…
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How I stopped being a genius
Let me tell you that until the age of 29 I was a tortured genius.To help other people understand this, I lived in a squalid bedsit. I was also permanently unhealthy in that way typical of geniuses, and I spent my nights barking my tortured, misunderstood poetry into the smoky fug of doggerel-filled rooms. Don’t…
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Diva – Brighton Open House, Powis Grove, Brighton
I was lucky enough to have a preview of some of the work on display at Diva on the Seven Dials Trail as part of this year’s Brighton Open Houses. It is the first one curated by Dr Janet Summerton. You’ll find Diva on the Seven Dials Trail and it features an intruiging and eclectic…
Peter Kenny: a writer's notebook 