Reflections on Returning to the Arts, July 2026

It's July 2026 and I am starting a series of monthly reflections. I hope you enjoy them.

It has been over a year since I left academia and returned to the arts industry. My career feels back to front and yet the right way up.

It has been exciting as well as overwhelming. I was a freelancer for over 20 years before I became an academic so I am not a stranger to doing many different types of work at once — dramaturgy, teaching, performing, consultancy, research. What is new this time around is becoming an independent artist - Making my own performances not solely appearing in the performances of others. This year I have created on three solo performances. I love short form work - Pieces between 5 to 20 minutes long. Maybe I have found my genre :-)

One of the joys of returning to self-employment is that I am freed up to engage with things I left behind; performance poetry, storytelling, improvised dance, creative writing, journalism, reading books for the fun of it. And look into interests I never fully explored like my love for design. There is not a lot of time to try things out but there are moments the midst of things where I get to turn my hand to something for fun of it, even if only for 10 minutes and it is amazing what vistas that can open up. Fun fuels many a serious endeavour.