Performing & Writing

After taking a three week break over Christmas I am determined to get back into my stride with writing and performing, the heavier proportion needs to be weighted to writing this year as I have a few projects underway.

I have succeeded (partly due to organising an Action Plan) – I can Life Coach myself after all! Another personal qualification of mine. I have this week managed to perform, write new poetry (the first since early December), I thought I’d lost the power! I have even managed a submission too and plan on spending this, my first full writing day of 2016 writing more poetry for submission.

Break your goal into smaller steps, make sure they are achievable.

Spoken Word at The Ort 8th

Last Friday I journeyed over to Birmingham to unite with other poets who were still in shock over the news of Sammy Joe, to welcome in the New Year with Debbie Aldous at her event and to share poetry on the open mic.

It was PACKED! To the point where I began to feel claustrophobic. It was a good night though with lots of poetry/ spoken word. It was mainly good to connect with others and see people that I needed to hug.

Writing West Midlands

I also spent part of the week finalising my plans for the first of the 2016 sessions for WWM working with young writers. We had some new joiners, I am doing my best to increase the numbers for our group this year. I planned a whole session on New Beginnings and it went down well. It was good to be back.

I missed several events this week, Stirchley Speaks, Permission to Speak and Poet’s with Passion.

Headline Bookings

Last year, I was fortunate to appear in lots of headline slots. This week I was asked to Headline next month at Stirchley Speaks alongside; Alisha Kadir and Mark Kilburn. I can’t wait!

Patience Agbabi

I discovered Patience Agbabi was coming to a local university and has a ticketed performance at The Hive on 29th January. I booked a ticket.

As I didn’t get a place on the Arvon City Retreat, I have filled that weekend (29th-31st) with POETRY. The Sunday will be filled with 52 – more on this later.

Mouth & Music 12th

I am dedicating a post to this separately as it was the last one for a while. I will add a link back here.

Thank you for the Music (and Mouth)

SpeakEasy 14th

SpeakEasy was last night, I have not managed to get to one of these for a long time and enjoyed reconnecting. There was a healthy number of audience to performers and some of my favourite poets were performing. It was a lovely evening (if not a tad cold, we have had snow) hosted by Maggie Doyle, who eloquently announced each spot with an blush worthy introduction.

I finally (after a block of a month or so) managed to write three new poems this week and I performed them all last night.

Lindsay Stanberry Flynn was the Headline and she read from her latest novel – ‘The Broken Road’.

http://lindsaystanberryflynn.co.uk/

AVAILABLE TO BUY

https://www.bookdepository.com/Broken-Road-Lindsay-Stanberry-Flynn/9780993418204

A Writing Day

Today is my first official writing day of the month, sacred time. I have my list in front of me and I am busy working through it. I managed to write – edit and submit some work on Wednesday evening – in between going out for a belated New Year’s Meal with Mr G’s family. I was fairly proud of what I managed to accomplish in two hours, let’s hope the editors are too.

Loving the possibilities of the next four days, after a run of (hard) work, I get to tie myself to the desk and get on. I have a manuscript to finalise as well as new writing and of course the inevitable admin tasks (much further down on the list).

This is the good side of the apple.

Eat around the Bruise

I know people who are fussy (or perhaps normal) about food and would bin fruit as a punishment for being bruised. I know that there is still goodness in the remaining unbruised part and will carefully eat around the bruise.

2016 feels a little like this at the moment. I’d let go of negativity dragged from 2015 into this new year and was all ready and primed for a fresh start. Then things beyond my control happened – as they do, otherwise known as life.

When this happens there is no way to protect from bruising. Allow that time and then, get stuck in! Eat around that bruise.

Give what you have to give.

 

‘Break on Through’

It has been over a week since my last blog post, I come to write this post on loss and find that the programming has been updated and content looks completely different for us on WordPress. I wish there was an option to use the old format, but alas, as with life things move on.

A lot has happened in the poetry world, my world and the world since I last posted and although I tend to steer clear of media stories, I cannot let the passing of David Bowie and Alan Rickman go without a mention.

I discovered Bowie as a teen, music first, then ‘Labyrinth’ years later, even tried my hand at creating the jacket worn by the Goblin King and definitely copied the eye make-up! As for Alan Rickman, as I was training to be an actress, he was someone I felt even closer to. First discovered in ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’ – what an actor, what a presence, what a voice.

It is a sad loss to the Arts that these two stars have been extinguished at just 69, both dying from Cancer. May they Rest In Peace.

Closer to home, the poetry community was rocked on the 5th January by the sad news that a wonderful poet, Sammy Joe, was no longer with us. The outpouring of love since has been amazing, I only wish she could read the heartfelt words. All the events I have attended in the past week have offered words in her memory and I know we will get to celebrate her life sometime in the future.

Lots of people are grieving and my thoughts are with her daughter, Rosie and the family. We (the poetry community) have shared compassion in grief. It has shaken all of us and it is almost impossible to imagine the world without her. It will be a long while before we realise we will not see her again, she isn’t going to turn up at events. It has also made us all wake up and appreciate what life is and how we need to let friends know they are in our hearts.

Which is where Sammy is now, Rest In Peace, my friend. x

 Photo Credit Janet Jenkins

I struggle to write about how it feels. Helen Calcutt has written a blogpost, shared across social media http://helencalcutt.org/2016/01/06/words-will-safeguard-the-spirit-eternally/ so I am sure she won’t mind me posting it here.

All this loss so early in the year, not to mention tales of friends and families who have lost loved ones over the Festive Season. It has been hard to keep buoyant New Year hopes alive with all this bigger things happening. Sometimes I feel guilty for pushing on regardless. It is what those of us left on the planet have to do though.

Headstrong fragility is the state I wear this week. There are many of us walking in this daze.

Take care out there and tell people that you love them! x

 

The photographs were taken on a poetry day last summer. Walsall Arboretum/ Bakehouse Workshop – Walsall Arts Festival and in the evening Pre-launch event in Birmingham for Arts all Over the Place. Sammy Joe did a lot of work with 1 in 4 Drama Group, like myself she was a poet and dramaturge.