Val’s writing

“The bird flying free

The child behind barriers

Hoping for Freedom.”

 

A haiku by Val for On the Move.

 

Val feels very fortunate to have had what she calls her ‘writing rooms’ for much of her working life. Though running The Live Literature Company takes an enormous amount of her time, when there is a space, Val seizes the opportunity to focus on her creative writing.

 

• In July 2024, Val published First Love – this can be found at Amazon and other book sellers

 

• In May 2020, Val published Harriett Martineau and Charlotte Bronte: A Sketch of their Relationship, a play about the short-lived friendship of these two remarkable 19th century women. Val originally staged this play in 2018 for the Martineau Society Conference in Dr. Williams’s Library in Bloomsbury, London. The book was published by Amazon; you can find more information, and also purchase your own copy here.

 

• Val wrote Song of Innocence, a prose poem set in the womb, which was last performed in 2016 at the Amnesty International Human Right’s Action Centre for On the Move.

 

• Val wrote First Love, a prose poem set in 1969, Cambridge. It was last performed in 2014 at the Amnesty International Human Right’s Action Centre for The New Spring Without FGM.

 

• Val wrote The Quilt, a short play about bereavement and processing grief. It was last performed in 2007 at Guy’s Hospital Chapel. Prior to this, it was performed at the National Portrait Gallery, the Actors’ Centre, the Medical Humanities Conference at King’s College London, and The Bear and Staff Theatre.

 

• Val wrote The Chestnut Seller, a short play set in front of the Royal Opera House. Its sole performance was given at the Tristan Bates Theatre at the Actors’ Centre, in London.

 

• Val wrote A Spiritual and Political Challenge to the Nation, a dialogue between Oliver Cromwell, King Charles I, and John Milton for Milton’s 400^th birth anniversary. It was performed in 2010 at Banqueting House in Whitehall, London.

 

• Val wrote Ivor Gurney – Remembered – Poet, Composer, and First World War Private Soldier, a full-length play about Gurney’s life and work. Not yet performed.

 

•  Val wrote A Summer Entertainment: A Union of the Imagination Between Pessoa and Shakespeare, a full-length play about the 20th century Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, linking him to Shakespeare. Not yet performed.