Girlbooker's Tea and Toast

My first discussion for my creativity series took place with Annie Kwok, a beautiful, inspiring, creative music teacher who talks so articulately and thoughtfully that I basically just pretended I was listening to a podcast during our phone call. Here is a picture of Annie that I nicked off her  wonderful blog  because it sums up her personality so beautifully Annie spoke about creativity in a number of different ways. She sees it as uncomfortable, exciting and also essential to her very being. Creativity plays a huge role in her work and in her personal life, but she sees these two creative realms as separate and quite distinct from one another. As a teacher, Annie uses her creativity to aid learning, to keep the students engaged and to make the experience fun. She also sometimes finds creative ways to deal with the stress of teaching. I grew up with teachers who always put more and that made me love my learning so anything that...

As a child and teenager, I used to constantly reread. That habit has fallen away for a few reasons, to the point where I feel almost stressed at the thought of it. In fact, I get a little twitchy if someone mentions they are re-reading something, especially if the person in question works in a bookshop or publishing house. One of the reasons I don’t do it anymore is that I feel overwhelmed at the thought of all those books out there that I would probably love but will never, ever get the chance to read, because there are just. so. many.  Working in bookshops for a number of years has no doubt exacerbated this. It’s also meant that I usually can’t bear taking recommendations from others because my own personal list of Books To Read One Day is so long. I don’t have time to waste on something someone ELSE thinks has value! And the third habit that this work has instilled in me is that I won’t keep reading something that I don’t enjoy. Life is too short, and the book list too lon...