I began writing after reading Robert Louis Stevenson, Charles Dickens, and the Oxford Movement. Apropos of nothing, I believe I may be distantly related to Sir Anthony Hopkins! In addition to writing and the arts, I have been a keen and competative Chess player, and marathon runner, including the London Marathon and 13 Potteries Marathons completed. 

The left-handers

We are at City Voices today,
What more can I say?
If you are like me
I know where you will be.
If you write with your left hand,
Sit on my right hand
In the left-handers corner
We lefties were born there!
Special gifts have we
As you shall see.
We number only three
If you are a leftie
Come sit with me.
Our minds are always open,
No clashing of our pens!
Right-handed they tried to make us
Oh with such useless fuss!
No right-hander can say
They made us write this way,
Left-handers have all fought to be
As God made them to be
But because of right-handers force
We still fight the left-handers cause
Left-handers must never be outlaws
To a right-handers law.
Natural left-handers can say,
Ambidextrous we must be
Because of force exerted on me.
But now we are four
Whose writing you will adore!
©Peter Salt

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City Voices Member Profile Workshop
 
Name – Peter Salt
 
How long have you been with the group? Too long to remember!
 
What kind of writing do you mostly do  - Poetry, murder mysteries, and family history. I used to live in Jamaica which has a fascinating but tragic history.
 
Are you published in print?  If so, what, and where can we buy your work? – I am published in some magazines, and have been paid for commissions in ‘The Universe’ and also to cover the Montreal Olympics some years ago.  
 
Are you published online?  If so, please let us have  the titles and links to your work. – I don’t usually publish on-line but I have recently entered my first flash fiction competition.
 
Do you regularly enter national or international competitions? - No
 
Do you submit your work to literary magazines? – No, but I have been involved in many local theatre productions and films, and appeared as an extra in the TV series ‘Greasy Monkeys’ and in a TV commercial  
 
What project are you working on at the moment? – I am researching a 19th Century murder in North East England, which was never solved.
 
What is your greatest achievement as a writer so far – what are you proudest of? – Hard to say! I have recently played the part of a US President in a Staffordshire University film project which is still in production. Strangely, I am the same age as the current incumbent in the White House – 73!
 
What is the best thing about being part of City Voices?  Anything the group has done that you have enjoyed the most? – I have been involved and contributed to many City Voices ventures. Given my involvement in writing and the theology of the RC Church, it was appropriate that I played the priest in the CV drama ‘Heroes of Sneyd’
 
What do you hope to achieve in the future, either as part of the group or on a personal level as a writer? – I await with interest my foray into flash fiction!
 
Which writer/book has influenced you most as a writer? – Charles Dickens, Sir David Attenborough, Mother Theresa. It was 'Treasure Island' by Robert Louis Stevenson that first piqued my interest in reading books.
 
Which books you would recommend? – Any history by Max Hastings, ‘Blue Eyed Son’ by Nicky Campbell.
 
What advice would you give someone starting out in creative writing? – Everyone has a book in them, whether for children or adults. Start writing.