Cherry Potts, Writer

Author: Cherry Potts

  • The Historical Birthday-Tea Party March 1st

    A new month, but no birthday to celebrate. I’ll have run out of people whose dates I haven’t found soon and then where will I be? Ok, never mind. Today we are composing birthday odes for Emilia Bassano Lanier aka Aemelia Lanyer 1569–1645 Emilia was  Jewish, the  illegitimate daughter of Venetian musician Baptista Bassano and…

  • The Historical Birthday-Tea Party 28th February

    Todays is another birth free day, so lets celebrate someone we missed in January; another cross-dresser: Charlotte Charke 13 January 1713 – 6 April 1760. Charlotte was the youngest daughter of Colley Cibber a celebrated actor. She grew up independent and took to the stage herself, frequently playing ‘britches’ parts (18th Century theatre was obsessed…

  • LGBT History month – LoSoCo

    LoSoCo is what I’ve always known as Lewisham College. I did a reading there on Thursday for LGBT History Month. Here are a couple of snippets. (Apologies for the background noise – it’s the air-conditioning.) Holiday Romance, in which Melanie goes on holiday with her mother and allows her imagination to run riot. Baby Pink/…

  • LGBTHM – Cafe of Good Hope

    This event was very cosy – last public reading for LGBT History Month, and local, and with friends. I think we pulled out all the stops. Sadly Rebecca Idris had been sent to the Ukraine by her employers (what had she done to deserve that?) so was not able to join us, so we each…

  • The Historical Birthday-Tea Party 27th February

    No birthday girl today so another one from yesterday Mabel Dodge Luhan February 26, 1879 – August 13, 1962. Much married New York Salonist, her memoir (so we are told, I’ve not read it) Intimate Memories (1933) details relationships with several women. She knew Natalie Barney and was a friend of Gertrude Stein and Alice…

  • The Historical Birthday-Tea Party 26th February

    Let’s light the candles on the cake for Mary Taylor 1817-1893 Mary and her  sister, Martha, went to  school at Roe Head, Mirfield, where in 1831 Mary met Ellen Nussey and Charlotte Brontë and they became great friends. Mary and Charlotte both stayed in each others homes regularly. Charlotte used the Taylor family as the…

  • The Historical Birthday-Tea Party 25th February

    No birthday alloted today, so a random choice: Theodora Bosanquet OBE 1881-1961 (no idea what day she was born, history and the internet refuses to relate) Now. Theodora is best known for being Henry James’ secretary. Not a good start, but remarkable that anyone could get known for being anyone’s secretary really. James described her…

  • The Historical Birthday-Tea Party 24th February

    No birthday for today, so guess where we are headed. Yep! Eliza Fowler Haywood, born around 1693 died 25 February 1756, so it seems appropriate to give her a February party. Eliza was an actress, and a prolific novelist, playwright, poet, translator and editor – and made quite a success of all of them. She…

  • Earthshaker published in Holdfast #2

    My (longish)  short story, Earthshaker (based on the Minotaur myth) has just been published in the second issue of Holdfast Magazine online, with a fabulous illustration from Zoe Lee.

  • The Historical Birthday-Tea Party 23rd February

    Today we celebrate, a day late, Jane Bowles February 22, 1917 – May 4, 1973. Jane was a writer who apart from her husband Paul, (also gay) had relationships exclusively with women. On the whole, these were short-lived. Virgil Thomson said of her all her life Jane was promiscuous. She didn’t really care too much…