About Helen
Helen Sword is scholar, poet and teacher whose books on writing and writers include Stylish Academic Writing (Harvard 2012), The Writer's Diet (Chicago 2016), Air & Light & Time & Space: How Successful Academics Write (Harvard 2017) and Writing with Pleasure (Princeton 2023). She is a Professor of Humanities at the University of Auckland, a research affiliate in CAST, and the founding director of WriteSpace Ltd, an international writing consultancy. Helen has facilitated writing workshops at more than 100 universities, conferences, and research institutes worldwide. See her website (www.helensword.com) for links to her books, workshops, retreats, free videos, online editing tools, and virtual writing community, the WriteSPACE.
Passions
I delight in arts-and-crafts projects that confound the material-digital divide and allow me to experiment with colour, texture and form. In recent years, my artistic activities have included making poetry, mosaics, jewellery, paper collage, and colourful websites like this one! I also love hiking, beachcombing, and cuddling my dog Freddie.
Creative Play
What is an Artist*Academic?
An exploding star
a riot of possibilities
imposter syndrome outblitzed
by the light of art, the art of light
In its place, flowers grow:
risky flowers from rich dark loam,
tall poppies that refuse to be mown down.