Synkroniciti is overjoyed to welcome back writer and poet Kathy McVittie with a coming of age memoir, “…never had it so good,” about growing up after WW II in the UK. The title refers to a quote from Prime Minister Harold MacMillan’s 1957 speech celebrating the success of the post-war economy and exhorting the populace to industry. There are so many experiences in any childhood that are accepted without being explained, many of them perfectly ordinary yet tender with regret or discomfort, especially for those who are dutiful and anxious children. With the War behind and the dissolution of Empire, no longer sustainable materially or as a concept, underway, this anxiety was formative for much of the post-War generation. Kathy weaves it into an entertaining and yet thoughtful piece that hints at larger societal changes underlying children’s games and parties. Like play, her writing is whimsical and yet serious underneath. What ever happened to those playmates? How does possibility become reality and what do we lose and gain in the process? Kathy’s writing is both compassionate and humorous, with a disarming vulnerability that draws us into her confidence.
Experience Kathy’s delightful essay in the newest issue of Synkroniciti, “Curiosity,” now available for purchase and digital download here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Kathy Labrum McVittie is a biologist, life-writing companion and dancer, who was born in Chester, UK. She has lived in eastern England and northern Scotland. Kathy has published essays and poetry with Synkroniciti. She writes her way whole at writingpresence.com, where she states “This body loves to dance (conscious movement practice), in a community space surrounded by wild and caring friends. Or, more recently in lockdown, solitary in the kitchen or sitting room, sending and receiving appreciation in a wireless network of kindfulness. And whether it’s warm or chilly, I love to move upon the young bright turf, and to meld into the misty subtleties of rag-rug landscapes, up here at 58 degrees north, where some of the rocks are young and some are very, very old.”