I go back to Birkbeck next week, Monday 12 January. It is also my brother Anthony’s birthday. Before I travel in, the family will raise a glass in his memory. Then the day continues, because that is how it works.

Returning after the Christmas break always sharpens things. Time away strips the noise down. You come back knowing what matters and what no longer deserves space. This year, that clarity carries weight.

Returning to Birkbeck University of London

Birkbeck University of London understands adult lives. People arrive after work, after responsibility, after loss. Walking back into the building in January, there is a shared seriousness. No one here treats writing as a pastime.

The Christmas break does not reset you. It exposes you. You return aware of what you avoided and what you can no longer sidestep. That awareness sits beside me as term starts again.

Starting Creative Non-Fiction

The new module is Creative Non-Fiction, and it begins at the right moment. This form does not allow you to hide behind invention. It demands accuracy, restraint, and responsibility. Memory argues back. Truth refuses polish.

Creative Non-Fiction asks you to work with lived experience directly. You choose what stays, what goes, and what silence must hold. The work is quieter than fiction, but the consequences are sharper.

Writing With Memory in the Room

Starting this module on Anthony’s birthday tightens the focus. Dates matter. Detail matters. Emotion on its own is useless unless it is controlled. The writing has to earn every sentence.

At Birkbeck, discussion moves past surface ideas quickly. We talk about ownership, ethics, and what happens when real lives sit inside the work. Clichés collapse immediately. If a line feels easy, it is usually avoiding something.

Current Creative Writing Work

Alongside this module, I am finishing a 4,000 word assignment due on 13 January. The piece is a contemporary novel titled Top Dog, set across Jamaica, Spain, and Thailand. It demands momentum, discipline, and attention.

This is the kind of workload Birkbeck prepares you for. Writing that happens inside real life, not away from it.

Moving Forward

Monday 12 January is not a fresh start. It is a continuation. The notebook opens. The work deepens.

Birkbeck feels right for this moment. A place for writers who understand that writing is not about escape. It is about looking clearly and saying it properly.

Find out more about studying Creative Writing at Birkbeck University of London:

https://www.bbk.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/creative-writing

That is the work now.