Author of ‘Waiting For Another Velvet Morning‘
Julia was born on Tyneside, where her young parents had met when her Scottish father was a student at Durham University and her mother a budding artist.
Bright, but sickly, she came through an unstable childhood to gain a BA degree in Cultural Studies, which proved to be a perfect stepping stone to her first job with the feminist publishing house Virago. She then went on to work as a publicist for Penguin books.
After taking time out to travel in South-East Asia, she returned with a viral illness which triggered a mental breakdown. For the rest of her life, she struggled with health problems, yet still managed a long spell working as a Senior Press Officer at head office of Mind, the mental health charity based in London.
The end of her marriage led to inpatient psychiatric treatment, until her untimely death in 2016.
From a young age, Julia was a prolific writer and voracious reader and ‘Waiting For Another Velvet Morning‘ is a unique expression of her passions and life experiences. She lives on through her words.
I stumbled across myself this July,
glimpsing my hips and an angular smile.
My skin has the pink sheen of cream teas,
but the wasp withholds its sting.
(Extract from ‘Cream Teas And Wasps’)
Cerasus Poetry 