Posts

On performing at a festival

Image
I’ve performed at my fair share of festivals in the past. I’ve done smaller local festivals like Strawberry Fair in Cambridge, Folk East in Lowestoft, and Gate to Southwell in Nottinghamshire, as well as bigger festivals like WOMAD and Bestival on the Isle of Wight.  It’s always a really nice atmosphere performing at a festival – everyone’s having a good time, and the vibes are (usually) immaculate. Naturally, most people go to music festivals for the music, but I’ve been to festivals that have had morning yoga workshops, space science lectures, vegan cooking demonstrations and even line dancing classes! And, of course, a little bit of spoken word.  Shambala festival started life in the 1990s, when five friends met at uni and decided to put on weekend music events for their mates. By the early 2000s, the events were attracting a couple of hundred likeminded people each year, and by 2007, the festival was a full-time job for its organisers.  The name Shambala derives from ...
Post a Comment
Read more

On the slow process of putting on a show

Image
Last year, I started puttng together my first ever play, KINGMAKER, and I documented the research and development process here .  It was a really fun project, and despite some trepidation about working in a new medium, I really enjoyed the creative process of working with a director, actors and a producer to develop the show. Sadly, our second Arts Council bid didn't get funding, so we decided to put our plans for touring the show on hold until later this year.  The play is a quirky little comedy about village life, friendship, and ellaborate archeological hoaxes, and we originally conceived it as a piece to tour rural venues in the Midlands.  So, while we were waiting for autumn to roll around, we were invited to showcase the play at the National Rural Touring Forum , a conference specifically set up to support theatre in rural places.  We were given a five-minute slot at the conference to showcase the play, in the hopes of connecting with other touring schemes and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

On Saying Goodbye

Image
My grandad died earlier this month, and it’s been a really sad time for our family. But I was very fortunate to get the opportunity to say goodbye to him by sharing a poem at his funeral service. This is the poem I wrote. I hope that, if he heard the service at all, he liked it. Bird Box Love  for Grandad Ged  You fixed a bird box to a shaky branch, and welcomed all the sparrows there to nest. You gave us baby birds a fighting chance; your garden was the one we liked the best. We sparrows sung your praises in our songs because you loved us all, and love abounds. This garden feels so empty, now you've gone; a feather floating gently to the ground. The sun has set on all your summer days, but though your presence fades, we hold you dear. For death is just a parting of the ways, and grief is simply love that perseveres. The garden feels so empty, now you're gone, but we can still remember you in song. Image via Unsplash.com  
1 comment
Read more

On Endangered Species

Image
In ' The Theory of Everything Else: A Voyage into the World of the Weird ' by Dan Schreiber, he has a section where he talks about endangered species. We all know about the beautiful animals that are endangered - the tigers and elephants and so on - but no one really talks about the ugly, irritating or gross animals that are also on the brink of extinction.  In the book, Schreiber spoke directly to a natural history museum in the Netherlands that was trying to save one such beast from oblivion, and that part of the book inspired me to write this incredibly silly poem (perhaps with a serious message at its heart).  I hope you like it! Endangered Species    When we campaign to save our fleeting beasts,  we focus on the creatures who are nice. The ugly and the gross are thought of least —  does no one care about the pubic lice?!  You might be filled with pure contempt, and scoff  at having a rapport with parasites,  but you’ve been quite annoyi...
Post a Comment
Read more

On Women (Saying) Stuff

Image
I’m part of a group of called DIY Poets , and since 2016, the women of DIY have been hosting an annual event celebrating International Women’s Day .  This year Women Say Stuff hosted its tenth open mic, and it was a really gorgeous evening, where we had the pleasure of uplifting the voices of local women and raising money for Nottingham-based domestic abuse charity JUNO Women’s Aid .  We sold over 100 tickets to the event, secured local sponsorship to pay our staff and performers, and raised over £600 for our chosen charity! Plus, our lovely audience also donated three bags of period products for women in need, which we donated to Nottingham Women’s Centre .  On the night we had twenty-three women on the open mic, plus two fantastic headline sets from Derby-based poet Aoife O’Connor, and WSS co-founder Clare Stewart! (I especially loved Aoife’s award-winning poem “ A Series of Unrelated Small Things .”) On the open mic, we had a real range of topics from maths and to medu...
Post a Comment
Read more

On the Evolution of my Working Week

Image
I’ve been a full-time freelance writer and educator since March 2022, and it’s a great job. No two days are the same, and I get to work on multiple projects across multiple organisations, with very few strings attached.  Of course, there are downsides. No sick pay or pension, having to do my own taxes, and having periods where I’m not sure where the next job is coming from. But all in all, I think the freelance life suits me pretty well.  But I often speak to people who don’t understand what freelancer life is like. They think it’s a doss, or a holiday, or they think I’m just swanning about, like some sort of poetic lady of leisure. And, while I do my fair share of swanning, my freelancing life is a pretty busy one. So, today I thought I’d share an example of what I get up to in a typical week, to give you an idea of what it’s really like!  Saturday: This week, I’m supporting a poetry open mic night and event for International Women’s Day. We have 120 people booked to att...
Post a Comment
Read more

On Asking For It

Image
Asking For It is a series of images, created by photographer Jayne Jackson , representing people from different eras. In each image, the person is photographed as if in a mugshot, with a board which lists their “crime” or the “reason” they were sexually harassed or assaulted. Viewers are then invited to question the motivations of individuals and societies that would consider these “crimes” provocation enough to justify assault. The exhibition highlights the historic and contemporary attitudes to victim-blaming, especially in cases of sexual and gender-based violence.  Image's from Jayne Jackson's Asking For It series The exhibition is due to go on display at the National Justice Museum in Nottingham in March 2025. As part of the project, I was asked to support some writing workshops, working with Jayne and a small group of women from Broxtowe Women's Project to write letters of support to women experiencing domestic abuse.  We also looked at Mrs Pace's letters , whic...
Post a Comment
Read more