Worcester LitFest Reaches the Final Weekend

The 7th Worcester LitFest has reached the final weekend. If you haven’t managed to get to Worcester yet, you have 48 hours left! On your marks…

I have spent the past 3 days working on a new website/blog for all things Shire/Laureate based so from time to time I will be sharing links across social media, including this blog.

It would be lovely if you follow both even if you are an international reader/blogger.

The competitions run by the LitFest team (with the exception of the Poet Laureate) allow National/International entries, worth a follow just for that!

It has been an exceptionally busy week at the Festival and I look forward to updating you all on the week’s events soon.

For now – visit my new blog and discover what the team have in store for this final weekend.

https://worcestershirepoetlaureateninalewis.wordpress.com/2017/06/14/blog-post-title/

Another Action Packed Week!

I have a busy schedule between now and August, none more so than the next few weeks.

This week I have a meeting*  – Confab Cabaret – The beginning of WLF Worcester LitFest, starting with the New Poet Laureate being announced – event at the Guildhall, on Saturday I am missing Ruth Stacey’s  workshop ‘Native American Myths, Story Telling and Poetry.’ I wanted to attend but am already committed to covering the Writing West Midlands group with Jean Atkin over in Kidderminster. On Sunday I am going to be a Pop Up Poet on the ‘Pop Up Poets’ Bus Tour for WLF and then later in the afternoon am heading over to Birmingham for Tessa Lowe’s Poets With Passion at the Sahara Restaurant.

In addition to this I am working EVERYDAY – although 3 of them are half days.

I am also working on several writing projects/ submissions for the end of month deadline. And I will be reviewing Sarah Hymas’s new pamphlet.

 

The First Day of 18

I have broken up from work for the Easter break and am looking forward to 18 glorious days in my writing skin.

There is already a lot of news to share.

Firstly, Mouth & Music which was a fabulous night that I am still on a high from, sent exciting news today.

Slap Magazine  (supporting local arts and performers) want to publish the photo Mary Davis took of Tim and I performing and much as it makes me want to get an instant body wrap, attach myself to a zumba DVD and pray for instant weight loss, I am still stoked with this news.

Secondly, I attended my first meeting tonight as an Assistant Writer for WWM Writing West Midlands. It was a buzzing atmosphere and great to be in a room with so many writers, many of whom I have already met; William Gallagher, Stephen, Roz Goddard, Hayley Frances, Ian MacLeod, Brenda-Read Brown, & Garrie Fletcher.

My writing diary is packed and my ideas file grew this evening.

1) Write the 14 lost missing NaPoWriMo poems (file issues last Sunday)

2) Write the new 52 prompt poems and catch up on a few gaps I have

3) Write a poem for our WWM Creative Writing group tomorrow – requested by Ian MacLeod

4) email Jonathan/ Hayley/

5) Catch up with Camp NaNoWriMo – some major words lost already (non- existent)  It is ironic that this year (my 3rd camp) I FINALLY get an active cabin and I am not there to see it.

6) Write Strong Women poems and as a result decide whether to do Najma Hush’s exhibition opening. I really want to go to this event but am due in a city more than 45 miles away at lunchtime. I would love to be able to stay until 1:30 when it finishes. I am in two minds, I have mentally checked all possible solutions.  Train, buses etc, need to check them properly tomorrow (later on today) but if I do go I will only have an hour there before I have to whizz back for my meeting.

 

I have a whole selection box of Spoken Word events over the next week too;

This evening – Poetry and Place – Ledbury Poetry Festival, to see

 

 It is the first of three events which see Ledbury Poetry Festival linking up with Worcester Literature Festival (WLF) with performance events at The Hive. I am involved in performing at Poetry and Pollination in May, organised by Ruth Stacey and headlined by Ruth and Sarah Leavesley (who have both performed at Ledbury in the past) – very much looking forward to this event. Tonight will also give me a chance to catch up with some poetry friends.

I have submissions to work on, including poems, on Thursday I have Poetry for Lunch (booked for the next 3), followed by the special ticket holders Hit the Ode and then on Friday I will be performing at The Ort – the first ‘Friday night’ one. On Saturday I hope to attend a camp Nano meet / write in, followed by a writing group run by Apples & Snakes, Poet’s Place. They started the most recent group meetings in January and I have been unable to attend any yet.

 

From a Week Off to a Week On (It)!

Last week I took a week off from performance events, open mics and any socialising generally. I worked for 4 days and wrote in the evenings (mainly , desperately need to catch up with NaNoWriMo)!  I then had a 3 day weekend which consisted of a day off with Mr G to visit a newly opened Home store *they had 25% off, to buy paint and materials to start decorating our place, a missed birthday party, a 60th/ 40th Wedding Anniversary Party, planting seeds, catching up with writing projects, and missing the WLF Poetry Walk.

I have slept a lot too.

This week is the last week of work before Easter, I don’t get any pay in the holidays so I took on some extra work. I have 3.5 days work, a rehearsal (in a few hours) for Mouth & Music Dualogue set before work,  I am working all week, bar Friday (thank goodness)!

I have Mouth & Music   Tuesday evening,  a meeting with the other writers who work for Writing West Midlands on Thursday and on Friday night (after a day in my writing skin) I am going to  for the first of three events which link the Worcester Literature Festival and the Ledbury Poetry Festival.

‘Four poets with assured and distinctive voices for whom ‘place’ is not just the geographical or natural environments that inform the poems but also the human histories that unfold there, the people who are part of the landscape and part of the poem.’

Angela France

Martin Malone

David Caddy

Fiona Sampson

After a busy week I have an even more action packed weekend (start of my 2 week Easter break). On Saturday Najma Hush (a.k.a PhotoGiraffe) is having her 2nd Exhibition opening in Birmingham. The Exhibition is already up. I planned to perform at her opening which is from 11 to 1:30 and will be amazing! I thoroughly enjoyed watching every at the Diverse Dancers Exhibition and have since met up with Najma several times at poetry events (which would make celebrating her photography even more exciting)!

It is also Birmingham’s Independent Book Fayre, great way of meeting small presses and networking – but I may as well forget that 11 – 5pm because I won’t have time to get to it, maybe next year. This event is also run by Writing West Midlands, who I will be working for on Saturday.

My issue with getting to the exhibition, is that I then need to travel across county to get to my Assistant Writing job for 1:30 and I KNOW if I make it to the Exhibition opening I am going to want to stay there.

After all that it is also a friend’s 40th Birthday Party, she is celebrating at a pub with a band on and is having a buffet also. Plus it gives me a chance to see friends I missed this weekend and have not seen in a long while.

On Sunday I am celebrating an anniversary with friends who are having a lunchtime function.

I also hope to write and submit 1 short story and several poems.  

Have a good week! Happy Writing!