Bulletin Editor South West

That Time of Year Again...

2012-01-22T18:33:00.000Z

Well after the Christmas and New Year break, it's that time of year again...Yep, time to go hell for leather on all the venues and event promoters whom you started bothering last September. A handful in September, as it was still the high from the last season. Then a few in October. More in November, and you always mean to do as many in December...but even if you don't flag, mysteriously offices shut earlier, folks are on leave, or simply it's more answerphone than staffed phones... And now it's time to hot up the pace, ringing all those whom you've e-mailed and who haven't yet replied, reminding those who've sounded interested, trying to get hold of those who've mentioned bookings in order to elicit firm dates (not least because of those who are asking when you're free - of course you as yet have no idea!). E-mailing again all those who've lost your details when they were away or off sick, and phoning new places to ask whom to contact. Filling in online forms for various festivals, and generally gearing up be a stalker - well, that's how it feels. My intentions are honourable - I just want some work, but now I know what days x works, when y has been on holiday for how long, and when they've been off sick, that z takes long lunches, that v never gets into the office before 10, that u always leaves early, and that o is only ever available on a Thursday... If I had been employed to check up on these folks about the amount of time they are actually in their offices, I'd have had a fat cheque or two by now! Sorry, I couldn't help being silly for a moment there, but it IS demoralizing trying to get hold of very busy people to get an answer to your question, and that being one of importance to you. It does one good to see the funny side from time to time.
I was just wondering how many times I'd already rung x and y, when my co-performer Deor reminded me just how many times it took me to eventually get through to a certain big festival curator last season. Because it's only when you've caught their fancy or captured their imagination, whipped up their interest, that they give you their mobile number, and start calling you back. THEN communication becomes smoother and easier, simpler. But - you have to get to that point first. When you're booked and performing, everything feels right, and afterwards, with the festival programme or venue brochure tucked safely under your arm, you forget all about the huge amount of admin. - and I don't mind admin.! - but I mean the soul-destroying chipping away at the rock face, and the feeling of dogged warding off of despair that it induces - you forget about all that stuff that you had to do in order to make it happen. And it feels as if it was always going to be, that you would get these gigs.
It wasn't of course. If it hadn't been for all that hard graft, it would never have got arranged. Promoters are busy. Festival organizers have to deal with dozens of acts, sometimes hundreds, depending on the size of their marquee, field or area. You have to convince these folks that they ought to remember you, that you will be great, and remind them of that.
I only remember the curator ringing me back and everything going from there, negotiating the fee and parking permits. 'No' said Deor - 'Twenty phonecalls it took to get to that stage.' 'Twenty?' I gasped. But when he said it, I DID recollect - yes, unless you're at one of those gigs who just book you time and time again, that's the sort of effort we're talking about. The thing to keep telling yourself? 'Something WILL happen. I MUST just keep on'. And remember - it was like this last time, and the time before that... Call it the 'January Blues'.

Word Command Winter Panto!

2011-12-21T17:10:00.000Z

Time for Christmas shows and the Epicentre Book Cafe had a special Word Command last Thursday - the the Word Command Winter Panto! Hosted by and starring Bryce Dumont (as Bing Crosby, he was modelling it on past television specials!), Lucy Lepchani, Chris Brooks, Robert Garnham, ourselves Widsith and Deor Storytelling Theatre and others. Everyone had a Christmas twist, often comical, (Chris's classic audience-join-in rhyming was extended to bring in the festive season!) often thought-provoking (Lucy reminded everyone that the elderly are simply folks like everybody else who have lived longer - and had some asking for drugs of the illegal variety as a present!), and sometimes outre (Robert's surreal 'Wardrobe Man' and flashing-lights-with-antlers hat!). It all made for a delightfully seasonal mixture, as Bryce read out apologies of various Hollywood folks of the 'Golden Age of Cinema' to add to the fun.
We did our new adaptation of Charles Dickens' 'The Chimes', one of his Christmas stories (but one which is told less often than 'A Christmas Carol', with some of our latest bodymasks. (Deor has been busy the last two months!). So Mint the Mouse Troll was Chief Goblin, Nosferatu acted as the Prime Minister, the King of the World played a merchant banker, and so on. I just played the one character - Toby, the poor message runner whom the story circles around. It was about fifteen minutes long, but due to those who unfortunately couldn't make it (the weather wasn't pleasant, with a lot of spray, rain and sleet on unlit roads), we did have time for it. And it went down very well! Folks were extremely kind about it, and we were very pleased with how it went. It's always so nice to have the opinions of fellow professionals who see a lot of acts and performances! So it really means something when they give praise. Big thanks to Bryce for having us, organizing it, hosting it all and making great coffee! And to Lucy, Chris and Robert for being so great to watch and saying such nice things! A Merry Christmas One and All!

The End of the Line?

2011-12-01T22:14:00.002Z

Spoken/Written is in real financial difficulty. With so little money coming in, it hardly makes sense to spend the time putting it together which could be spent trying to work in other ways. For the sake of those who have paid, Spoken/Written will probably carry on until around next Easter. But after that – if it continues at all, it will be a reduced version. If Spoken/Written continues, it will just have to feature more news about the Collective – the arts network which hosts it – in order to have a reason to be. and to evolve as one of its early models – the Spiel Unlimited newsletter – evolved.

My initial impulse, years ago as Editor was to run Spoken/Written Bulletin S.W. – as it was funded by the Arts Council through tortuous grant applications until July of last year – as some sort of Public Service Information station. Anonymously – I thought it would be somehow a trifle tacky to tell people it was actually edited by a poet, writer, performer and proof reader, themselves on the look out for gigs and freelance work. I imagined this to be somewhat self-serving and tawdry, so it was issued as if by magic like an automated system, with the aim of benefiting as many people interested in words as possible. After much nagging from people who were surprised to discover that I edited it, or that I still had the illusion that it was like the BBC, I gave in and started writing Editorials. At first with the idea of communicating things of interest which I had found out in the course of putting an Edition together. I suppose I thought people would feel gratitude for or desire to help something or someone so disinterested and virtuous (!). I have always suffered from too much C18th/19th century novel reading. (Whom did I think I was? Monsieur du Pont from The Mysteries of Udolpho?!)

But I have learned a lot since then. That unless you ask for aid, no one will give you it. That people think that because something ought to be funded, that means that morally it must be in some meta-sphere, and hence no one need bother. That generating goodwill is about more than providing a service, even if people say they value it. In fact that that it is often about selling yourself and your lifestory or quirks as a 'brand' (something that I at least find hard as the words 'brook, spirit and bear' spring to mind - although if I could grit my teeth, I suppose I ought). And 'getting your name out there'. Something that people can feel a 'personal loyalty' towards.

Finally, as Spoken/Written earned so little this month and has had no feedback for months, I must assume that some things also run their course. That, for a mixture of reasons, the main one of which is probably technology, that it is no longer as needed or as useful to folks as once it was. I have also learned that some kinds of idealism are just plain dumb, and that if no one understands what you’re doing or why, then you won’t get any credit for it and so really should not expect any. I guess I am just feeling 'disenchanted'. But then working on something for six years, founding it, nurturing it, getting a feeling of worth from it, and then looking at it coming to an end was never going to be easy. I've learnt a lot, got better at admin, got published in an anthology and a few zines, including my all time favourite, 20x20 Magazine, and been offered the odd gig, all as a result of Spoken/Written. I've also gained some much appreciated freelance editing work and grants consultancies. Three Arts Council grants (though stretched too far and perfectly reasonable pay has been drawn out to pittance). And a lot of experience in research, 'the scene', how internet searches work (invaluable) and all kinds of work skills and confidences arising out of them. It's been a ride. And perhaps most of all, I've had some very kind praise from subscribers and donations from those willing to dig into their pockets to support something they considered worthwhile - a zine which I created. And that has been very moving. I just wish I could have (as it's a remote-working job done almost all via e-mail) met more of those lovely folks in person. Well, I guess Spoken/Written says 'Thanks for the fish' guys. Take care and good night.

Exeter's Duckaroo Club

2011-11-02T19:38:00.000Z

Last night's Duckaroo Club at the Bike Shed Theatre in Exeter was an intimate affair. (Its predecessor was the Exeter Catweazle Club and was held at the Speakeasy upstairs at Oddfellows, but for some reason many of the branches of the Club were closed by the organizers of the original Club, and so the Exeter branch metamorphosized into the Duckaroo Club, and is now held at the Bike Shed Theatre.) It's on after the show in the auditorium every Thursday night, and actually the format really works! Far from starting too late, it has a 'from 8.30pm' informal get-together in the stylish yet comfy bar of the Bike Shed, and once everyone's had time to relax and have a drink or something to eat, and actually catch up with each other (which one so often doesn't! having so many folks to say hello to at such events) properly, and then roll in at 9.30 to the stage and actual theatre. To my amazement, the set from the play was still there - well, thinking about it, during a run, of course it would be. But it meant that the thoughtful and theatrical designer backdrop was all ours for the evening, not to mention the lighting. I've been to cabarets and slams in the same theatre with bold lighting that was just functional - but this was warm, atmospheric and elegant. And, as performers, it seemed to me that all of us responded to having a proper 'stage environment' to perform in, by pulling out an extra stop. Despite clashing with two other popular events (the Blue Walnut in Torquay's Performance Poetry night and Uncut Poets at the Exeter Phoenix, which would always be the case with a weekly format) and so there not being many of us there, there was definitely the 'pin drop' ambiance for which the original Catweazle was famous. The host, gifted musician and singer Kimwei Westbury started the evening with a 'Symphony for Happiness' on guitar (which she plays as percussive as well) and started with a bang! A beautiful piece, hypnotic, absorbing, and like much of her work, neither rock/pop nor contemporary/classical but a wonderful and engaging mixture of the two. Arty, modernist, yet also accessible, harmonious and brilliantly danceable, it, like Bjork's music (the only comparison I could think of) is seriously intelligent acoustic pop, (I wouldn't describe it as folk) and doing something different and genuinely experimental whilst being really melodic. We then had the treat of the classically trained Stephen Yates on guitar, which was just spellbinding. He gave a wonderful mini-lecture on Paganini and the history/beginnings of the rock star cult/ure, in whose legacy we live, and it was so enthralling, I felt as if I was re-living the kind of experience which I had at the marvellous Medieval Music course I once went to at the WEA. He plays technically challenging and virtuoso pieces with terrific skilful dexterity and it was a real pleasure to listen to him, especially as he had chosen something wonderfully creepy and off-kilter in honour of it being close to Hallowe'en. During David Heathfield's story (a Katherine Brigg's tale of the Moon falling into the snares of the marsh creatures), both musicians extemporized which was magical, and after Katie Moudry telling a tale with her poetic turn of phrase and well-toned voice, Kimwei and Stephen finished the evening off with a joint improvisation! Which was, with two such gifted musicians, and improvisation-chemistry added, really something not to be missed. An evening stuffed with treats in other words.
We (Widsith and Deor) did a section during the proceedings, of our 'Carnival of Monsters', giving the full introduction to the invocation, summoning of and speech by the Diabolo figure. We thought it went very well, and it was great to have a chance to do the whole thing, as of course at noisy drunken festival venues, you move swiftly on to the next monster to keep the pace of the evening. (But during festivals and cabarets it's best to perform it as cabaret, and not as the full theatre-experience which we are developing the full Monster Carnival as.) It was nice to shoot it past such an appreciative audience.
Big thanks to Kimwei for organizing it! It was, as said, 'pin drop' magical.

PowWow Litfest

2011-09-22T17:39:00.002+01:00

This weekend it was off to Birmingham to support Deor as Matthew Hammond the Stand Up Philosopher. We arrived in the morning to catch up with good friend Robin (an artist/musician and mental nurse), and then set off for the venue. We parked nearby the capacious pub with its varied areas. The Prince of Wales in Moseley has an old world feel with leather settles with brass studs, bits of stained glass, is quite dark but in a Victorian railway kind of way, has moose head over one of the mantles and generally has the tobacco stained look on dark polished wood. However the function room is more cosy with jacquard cushions, and the larger garden another world! Under a roof, there are many antique-style tables and chairs including a very large octagonal table with classic motifs, colourfully upholstered on carved wooden dining chairs, with icicle fairylights. Then there is a kitchen (the only food?) only staffed at suppertime by folks who come in to cook vegetarian Indian 'street food' which looked authentic, a little shed that was a winecellar (!) seeling only wines, and advising on bottles looking French with bit of raffia attached and a little cart, and then a dodgy-looking pink lit lounge and then a large marquee with a tropical themed cocktail bar! Complete with bamboo, shells, cocktail bartenders in flowery shirts with loads of cocktail shaking going on, huge colourful drinks with endless straws and parasols, and the occasional flambe of said drinks, some of which looked like they were about to set the bamboo on fire! Plus a mixture of benches, ancient upholstered settle in a corner, red leather Chesterfield sofas (a feature at lit fests it seems! Velvet or leather, red or green!) and classy stools and modern solid pine benches, picnic tables and 'proper' tables, rectangular or bistro circles...all in all an extraordinary mixture of a pub!
The Litfest was held in the garden, and the speakers and performers in the tropical area. There was a well stocked book stall, amusing comperes, representatives from both agents and publishers, plus a publishing debate, and creative work from authors including the organizer, novelist Andy Killeen, plus music and all in all a really buzzy atmosphere. The slam was a very interesting one, involving composing short pieces of fiction during intervals with the three heats spread out over the evening! Which explained the earnest-looking folks surrounded by sheets of paper in the corners. Much of the day and evening and the venue was packed, needing the steward and hand-stamp system employed for order and entry.
Matthew Hammond the Stand Up Philosopher was at 9pm, and I went on to introduce him and the idea of 'stand up philosophy', also to mention the books and website (as that can really break frame when performing! when does one mention them?) and he then did four pieces, all of them brilliant - a thought provoking Foucault, still with the power to make one start with revelation, a timely, telling and funny rendition of Moore's fabulous fantastical satire 'Utopia', the searingly scintillating '3 Minute Marx', and to finish, Nietzsche's barbed but side-splitting critique of Kant, done as storytelling. Books were sold, hands were shaken, and folks said some lovely things. 'That was brilliant!' 'Highly entertaining' and 'really unusual' being some of them.
All in all, it was a great weekend, with as as well the buzzy LitFest and storming set, a lovely afternoon wandering round parks and city streets with old friend Robin, stopping at the MAC arts centre for coffees, dodging the heavy showers by some miracle, and going round beautiful historic Worcester on the way up and hearing the organ thundering as the keyboardist was practicing at the stunning Gloucester Cathedral on the way back...with the Saxon ruins of the original building all picturesque just nearby...So ends the summer season of festivals - big thanks to Andy for making it end with a bang!
And affectionate thanks to Robin and Clare for making it so extra special.

Then the Bunkfest!

2011-09-11T22:04:00.002+01:00

The following weekend, it was the Bunkfest, billed as music, dance, steam and beer! With storytelling, as last year in the lovely courtyard of the George Hotel and with Tim o'the Oak (from the Forest of Dean), and Tina Blibe (former secretary to the Society of Storytelling). And they were both charming to perform with! The Saturday and we did 2-6pm, taking it in turns, three sets and then a ten to fifteen minute break throughout the day, with a storyteller's corner where we all sat together to watch or to talk and drink companionably in the intervals. We heard some thoughtful tales, some hilarious, and some pretty wacky anecdotes too! And delivered tales and riddles ourselves, which went down well - the audiences we had, as Tim observed, were lovely! And built until folks were standing at the back with nowhere to sit, having come specially. The latter was very kind after a rendition of 'Tippingee' - 'I wish someone had been filming that, it was magic!' We used fabric to drape over the audience at various points, and it seem to work pretty well. Shucks.

Lastly, that night, at the aptly names 'Late Night Club' event held in the sports centre (it doesn't start until 11pm!), we did - after a very long day wandering round the stalls and attractions, watching dark Morris dancers, and missing things as usual as we were either on at the same time or getting ready to go on! - our Carnival of Monsters (a short version for a late night and very drunken audience). After carting in all the monsters earlier and storing them under a large pool table, as directed, we then had to arrive and fish them all out again, plus signs, liaise with the host, and when I found out we were going to be on last! before the open sessions, I promptly went back to the van to go to sleep! asking Deor to wake me twenty minutes before we were on... In a way of course, it's a compliment to be the culmination or finale or whathaveyou of the evening... On the other hand, late nights are not my thing, as I tend to like to get up earlier in the mornings than that time pattern would permit.

However at quarter to one in the morning, I was woken up, and in a terrible temper which I strove - and I venture to say managed - to master, I got up, got into costume, assembled the props, and then waited near the stage, until we were introduced, and I walked on, taking the microphone and announcing 'Welcome to Widsith and Deor Storytelling Theatre's one and only Carnival of Monsters!' or words to that effect. They were a rowdy crowd, of course, some there for the late bar and all mainly for music and dance, but they listened, shouted, and when the Diablo came forward, when I (as Il Vappo the Ringmaster from Old Venice) had summoned up the Devil, the place went silent, just for a few moments, and then booing and hissing as folks recognized 'who it was', and then joining in the banishing incantation at the end... It was a success! Rowdy, noisy, a bar and music environment, wholly unexpected as we were, we caught their attention, engaged their senses, and evoked their responses...afterward there was much praise, folks stopping Deor and requesting to take pictures of him as various monsters, and a lovely comment from the host 'Absolutely wonderful - I've never seen anything like it before.' That's what we like to hear!

In the middle of the night in the alcoholic haze, I wondered (as we took the monsters back to their table to await being picked up at 8.15am on Sunday morning, and went back to the van to change and get some much needed sleep) how many would look back and wonder if it was a dream...it certainly seemed like one to me!

Big thanks to Dave of the Bunkfest for having us again, and to Tim and Tina for being such good comrades in tale telling!

Poetry Unplugged

2011-09-11T19:48:00.005+01:00

Three days after returning from the Beautiful Days, it was time to be off again - to catch up with friends and family in Oxford/Oxfordshire and London/Surrey, and Poetry Unplugged at the Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden and then the Bunkfest in Wallingford.
Niall Sullivan hosted with his usual aplomb and humour, and there were many quality acts, many newcomers having learnt their pieces and reciting/performing them with remarkable confidence and verbal dexterity. One performer even making the comic but time worn subject of essay deadlines (he was a student) more than engaging - moving, meaningful and rather original as well as involving the expected laughs! No mean feat. Another had a poem about the big cosmic stuff of the origins and size of the universe, mixing science, awe and some emotive/evocative strands about our place in it and what we should make of it. Most performed well, but those were the two (I haven't had time to write this blog as swiftly after events as I would have liked) at this distance that I recall most clearly. Matthew Hammond as the Stand Up Philosopher was scintillating as ever, and I think my set (I got it over with first as then I could relax, and no one else was volunteering to kick off proceedings!) went well. Folks certainly seemed to be listening, and fully engaged/interested as I handed them tiny presents with words in as part of the piece/set.
Thanks to Niall for having us again and being so accommodating, and to our friend Nathan for coming along to support us again, and for a lovely day in Soho cafes and at the British Museum!

Beautiful Days

2011-09-11T19:04:00.001+01:00

After the Big Chill, had a few days to get our breath back, and pack up a less monster-filled and more craft based pack, and then it was time to be off for the Beautiful Days! This time there was storytelling gear to take as we were booked for storytelling and then the whole group (us and Andy and Mandy etc. of the Collective) for craft workshops; a couple of monsters, smaller ones generally for storytelling, a giant unicorn head (for the parade) and a heap of willow and fabric and leather for the workshops. Plus of course signs including our lovely new hand-painted ones (thanks Steve!) and book stock. It was really nice not to have to pitch a marquee, and we managed to negotiate space in Crew Camping at the top of the hill so that we were parked right by Andi and Mandy's big truck and they had space to put up their big awning as a chill out zone for all of us, which was good. The weather on Friday? morning was terrible - the rain poured down and found every tiny hole in the tarpaulins or joins, and every channel in the floor to make streams in! But with a mixture of desperation and ingenuity, they found ways of securing it to keep us all dry. And thankfully, that was pretty much all it did! So like the Big Chill, while it did rain, it soon dried up and I didn't even have to wear wellies, as it drained so well... The moon rises and sunset were (like the Big Chill) beautiful as the site is Escot Park, and like Eastnor Deer Park, it's rolling countryside with views across the bowl of the main site in the vale below, echoing Glastonbury.
The storytelling part (6-9pm daily) went down well, thanks to Ruth for hosting the sessions! We built audiences and some people (to my amazement) came to every single session!! And we got lots of applause and some lovely comments including 'Your badinage is wonderful.' Deor was part of the Majical Youth parade to open the attractions as the giant unicorn, accompanied by an old friend dressed and masked as Mr. Punch (one of the 'monsters' from our Monster Carnival). And the craft workshops were rammed most of the time, Andy and Mandy's lovely driftwood mobiles and dreamcatchers going down brilliantly, Deor overwhelmed with folks wanting wristbands, headbands, hair plaits and a host of other things that can be made with leather, and to my faint surprise and relief, I remembered what Andy had taught me the night before and showed folks how to make willow dreamcatchers! As well as willow and fabric mobiles and headdresses. Ages ago Sonia (of the original Collective) taught me how to make dreamcatchers, but I had totally forgotten how! - Only retaining the all-important knowledge that I knew I could do it. Always vital.
The festival was (oddly, as the bands last year were more to my taste!) better this year, I felt, with more visuals etc.. But perhaps it was partly because we were properly booked for performing first and not craft, and knew what to expect... However, it is a danger with festivals (as with anything) - although I remember when I first spoke to folks who worked habitually at 'the festivals' it was so, and could hardly believe them! - that one gets jaded as there are definitely similarities, not least as in a summer many of the same acts or attractions tour, like oneself. So what was amazing the first time, novel the second time, can become 'oh it's those again' the third time. (I recollect last year thinking that if I saw those red lotus street lamps one more time...!) But actually they've all been great, and all different. So to still be fun (with us working four hours each day not including lugging, set up and take down time), after the larger festivals we'd been to, all I can say is, it must have been good!
Thanks to Andi, Mandy, Sam and Alex for being such a great team! And to Majical Youth for booking us yet again.

The Big Chill 2: The Art Trail

2011-09-06T13:31:00.001+01:00

The Art Trail itself (an established feature at the Big Chill) was stunning, and it was a truly lush setting for the Illuminated Tipi (or rather, Haunted Tipi in this context). Our fellow Trail attractions were mainly exquisite light sculptures by Saatchi artists including some wonderful green lightning in the form of a static shape of rope light (?) stretched in angles over wire under a tree, florescent neon tubes in beautiful colours hanging from trees in a glade, in purple, red, blue, etc., and a fantastic tall sculpture made completely from found objects/recycled materials intricately put together as a tower and then lit with a circle of solar lights, and with threads tied all around it to form a sort of cone - which all looked amazing when lit up at night. We were opposite a yurt with a delicate shimmering projection of images sensitive to movement inside, and along the trail were two video projections, although we only caught one set of films - of flocking birds and old piers, atmospheric and eye catching. There were some funky love seats, big wooden benches with heart shapes and spray painted in striking colours and designs. The performance acts were some performance art of the durational/endurance variety involving what looked like space suits, some corde lisse aerial movement from a tree, and occasional music under the neon tubes in the glade - the first of which we missed sadly, as we were of course all on while the Art Trail was open from 9pm till 2am! - And ourselves in the Haunted Tipi.
Whilst the area (behind the Enchanted Garden) was ambitious to put anything in - brambles, ant hills, nettles, thorn trees, and tucked away in the wood as well as hard to light even with powerful architectural lighting on some of the trees and installations (including the recycled sculpture and ourselves) and small spotlights studding the path, it was very beautiful and crazily atmospheric. To our surprise, hordes of folks trekked up the path and found us all, so whoever decided to locate it there was right about intrepid the festival-goers were likely to be! So while the space was somewhat of a challenge - the big pvc floor tarpaulin did save us the thorny ground, but it also was a fun surface for rugs and cushions to slide about on when folks came in to sit down and a few of the unwary went flying over an ant hill on a surface not entirely unlike a frozen windswept sea! And of course lugging everything there and back from a nearby field, and then finding things in the dark, as oddly, green and coloured lighting aren't nearly so easy to find objects in as daylight-colour light.
However, despite all that, the setting was so striking and so picturesque that we fully understood why it had been set there, and the tipi all lit up at night on the hill, seen from below and from the path itself above, behind it a wonderful panorama of the sea of lights that was the rest of the festival site, looked so amazing that it made up for the bother.
We just wished on Monday that we (all those on the Art Trail) had made an effort to have a drink or something together afterward! As we had all faced the same challenges and delights, and there was such a great deal of talent on the Trail. Thanks to Katie and Liam of the sculpture tower (artist Katie Surridge), for being such lovely company and to Lizzie Jordan of the yurt opposite for sharing our travails! Also to the love seat folks, and the green lightning and neon tube artists for making such lovely things to look at, ensuring that we didn't miss everything as some of the best stuff lay on the path to work! Also to Kelly of Festival Republic for booking us! It was a big success and a fabulous festival.

The Big Chill

2011-08-23T20:37:00.002+01:00

After the Big Chill it was just one long pack for the Beautiful Days! So this is a slightly less fresh impression than it might have been. I/we hadn't been to/performed at the Big Chill before, and I must say I was pleasantly impressed.
But not before we'd turned up on the Tuesday and been shown whereabouts to pitch the tipi...up a hill that might be thought a trifle steep for drunken revellers especially in the dark, then into a wooded track, very pretty but full of very large anthills to negotiate, and finally we came to spaces where glades had been hacked out of bracken on the one side (the poor folks pitching the yurt said there were ticks when they'd done the festival before! as the site is a Deer Park) and a bramble hedge on the other...ours was the bramble bush. We were speechless and at first just looked at each other in disbelief. Deor was the first to come to his senses, and he said he'd give it our best shot. When I quizzed him as we carried the 14ft poles up hill and down dale through the anthills, he said he thought we should at least try and see it was possible...hours later, and to the left of the place initially indicated, and on the slope without the usual circular clearance space, to my amazement we had pitched it! The site had been changed twice already by whoever decided these things (not the curator who had commissioned us!).
We were commissioned to perform ghostly and supernatural tales in the Haunted Tipi, illuminated with our theatre and outdoor lights on the Art Trail, with shows on the hour at 10pm, 11pm, 12am and 1am. Which meant that we (being once the public were let on site camped/parked a mile and a half away) were there pretty much from 8.30 or 8.45pm until 2am, as of course there was set up/opening up time, changing into costume, and afterward shut up time/pack up time. Being on as the one interactive attraction on the Art Trail was both rewarding - we got hordes of audience, almost every show was completely packed, and we were 'one of the lit up things happening in the middle of the night' that people (or at least I do) go to festivals to catch; And also exhausting - as the flip side was screwing up one's sleep pattern, trying to get up later (which took getting used to) and then rocking round again once the festival was over. It also meant that pretty much everything that was happening that looked good, from the Electric Hotel to the Chemical Brothers was on the same time as we were, so we didn't get to see much in the way of acts. And finally, we found out why areas like Shangri La in Glastonbury are full of bouncers! It was a big compliment that folks wanted to come in and just soak up the visuals between shows, as they really liked the way the tipi was illuminated and decorated. It was also nice that we had big audiences, that they often didn't want to leave, and that they applauded often riotously and were so put out when they had missed a show or were willing to come back (being quite a trek in the dark, despite the path being lit up - there were still dark patches, and still nettles, brambles and very lumpy anthills to negotiate!). What was also nice was how charmed they were when we allowed them to sit in the venue (not while we were changing!) when swapping props, or performed ancient Anglo-Saxon riddles for them when they came at the wrong times, (Deor was especially heroic, hating to leave anyone disappointed unless they were really roaring drunk/with no manners at all), and also to try on the masks supervised - which many people also loved to do.
What wasn't so positive was when they bayed like hounds and packed the place out so that one had to start half and hour early! - or put on in total 4 extra shows! Or when they crowded both venue and tarpaulins outside, blocked entrances, wanted to try on masks and bodymasks when they had been left unattended for a few moments, liked stuff so much that they made off with two small masks, a giant blue hand, a big straw hat and a balaclava (how anyone could even see that in the dark, I can't imagine!). And finally, how - despite our tales and especially The Monster Carnival at 1am being scary, on Thursday night it was we who found the crowd a bit scary! People were of course, drunk, off their faces, up for fun, and shall we say some were determined to get every penny of their money's worth, and in their relentless pursuit of entertainment, did not quite manage to maintain the manners one might expect in the normal course of things.
One nice thing however at having done Glastonbury a few times etc., was that while we would have loved some security folks up there or stewards with more experience than the ones we had, on the other hand, we were able to deal with the crowds well enough that we made the artist opposite us more comfortable. She had a beautiful installation in the yurt over the way, which involved expensive equipment, and had trouble getting people to go in one at a time/in sensible numbers for sensible time slots, and encountered careless and reckless people whom she soon started to deflect and close her venue to. We agreed that it was bedlam from time to time up there, and about the more 'out of it' members of the festival goers. She had said a few well chosen words to someone who thought it funny to 'mooney' at her and others on the Trail, and had sent him away with a flea in his ear! But very nicely, she said it was good to have some more experienced folks on hand across the way (meaning ourselves) as it made her feel more secure! So glad to be of use.

Creative Collective and the 'Life of Art'

2011-07-18T20:20:00.000+01:00

When the Crew left the country for the Continent in May, they were off to travel...and of course being the Crew, what should they do but find - completely by chance, Patrick Dougherty the renowned Land Artist, in Brittany engaged in one of his European projects? He was looking for people to work on the project - another of his architectural willow constructions - and so the Crew (i.e. Melina and Wayne of the Collective) got involved. Apparently he said that a ball on top of a pillar was the hardest thing to do...and then was so impressed with their ability that he just let them get on with it! It being the centrepiece of the work. He also ended up giving them a free signed copy of his expensive new art book, writing in it that he couldn't have done it without them, and promising them a corking reference should they ever need it... So in addition to studying with Serena de la Hey of M5 Willow Man giant Millennium sculpture and many others fame, they have now worked on a large project in France with Patrick Dougherty. Time surely that Melina Hubbard Design Associates (as 'Whistling Willow' used to be called) was requested to embark on another major project! In fact, just having returned from Cornwall, and having gone to see her project at Longrock again, and seeing the living willow of the tunnels and dens was growing well, I was struck again by how gifted she and they are. The whole structure is like a maze, but one you won't get lost in and really does that have that 'element of surprise and delight so essential to art' to paraphrase Michael Alexander.

   Also in Cornwall, last Saturday was Lafrowda Festival day in St. Just, the most westerly town in Britain, and Liz Tyrrell (of 'MerryMaker') another member of the Cartwheels Collective, was accompanying one of her giant carnival floats in the big parade. The town was packed, a field on the outskirts commandeered as a car park, stewards and closed roads, the whole centre pedestrianized with stalls, food, music and acrobats, and an amazingly colourful carnival parade! Including a red warrior with turning head and menacing sword, lovely peacock (put together by a local school), elephant highly decorated and ejecting water and confetti, and of course Liz's tall dancing figure, like a Brazilian carnival puppet. Deor donned the Widsith and Deor top hat, complete with roses, and helped animate the figure by taking the pole for one of its arms, and off they went, me taking video and trying to do justice to its sheer size and clever dancing movement. Liz has done some amazing things including a beautiful dual carnival float of two playing card queens in 3D, a huge Spanish style flamenco dancer, and was working on the Lafrowda float (plus community workshops) inbetween her work for the Golowan Festival involving record-breaking numbers of folks dressed up as pirates! and making giant pirates, and soon she'll be off to Cardiff, decorating festivities for the Cardiff Carnival.

   The Collective might not always work in the same place at the same time or even on the same projects, but we keep in touch and up to speed with what the others are doing, and it's delightful that they're always so impressive!
   Closer to home, on returning to HQ, there are two artists/musicians living upstairs, and (while not members of the Collective - folks usually join if they're going to after they've left/cemented things) the drummer and toymaker/wood and ceramicist asked us storytellers to dinner! Along with the painter/keyboard player/guitarist also upstairs. And a merry meal was had by all. The former we hadn't talked with a great deal, as he works opposite hours and so we often don't see him. So it was news to me when he said he'd made a huge dog figure with moveable nose and ears for the Phoenix for a Quirk Theatre production! As well as, (in his native Slovakia) having sold his wonderful toys in markets until the ridiculous hike in stall space rental drove him out of business there. Interested in the carnival float footage, we discussed moveable and mechanical art for theatre and carnivals/festivals, and he was even more gifted than we had thought! (As well as gratifyingly appreciative of Wayne's welding and other skills.) But, like the painter, what he really needed was affordable workshop/studio space... It made me very sad, when I think of the many things Liz has made and had to destroy because there's nowhere to keep them, and that the same thing happened to the giant puppet made for Quirk Theatre! And that really talented people are being hamstrung and having to work in low paid jobs not as stop gaps or top-ups (if the employer is honourable and the work decently paid, stacking shelves or cleaning are not beneath folks' dignity) but as a replacement to the arts and skills they should be doing and being paid for! And that IS a crime. Likewise the Crew talking of fruit picking work - after what they've just done? I wish I could wave a magic wand give the amazing artists I know studio and workshop space, and contacts with the those whom I KNOW must be out there who want to commission their fabulous skills! 'A life of art'? to use Burne-Jones and Morris's phrase. It's easier when you've got Kelmscott Manor at your back... Thank God for HQ, but even with it and masks and props everywhere, and earlier in the year Wayne welding in the shed and Mel weaving willow in the garden, and the many folks who have made and mixed music and sound and painted and made things here, there's still only so much it can do... An idea for a website called 'Undiscovered Genius' should perhaps be built on - where one nominates amazing folks in various disciplines who haven't had the recognition they yet deserve? Well, it's an idea anyway...

Patrick Dougherty's artist website;
http://www.stickwork.net/

'Disabled Art'

2011-07-03T19:21:00.000+01:00

Had a conversation recently with a visual artist who doesn't have much time for what he considers 'minorities' and their 'preferential' treatment from time to time. We were talking about disability arts, or the practice and idea of an organization such as Kaleido (which by the way, recently lost all its funding in the Arts Council cuts) putting on an exhibition in association with a mainstream gallery, including visual arts created by disabled/differently-abled artists. All different art mediums and all different challenges, eg; wheelchair users with varying mobility, MS sufferers, deaf people, blind people, etc.. He took issue with the the idea that just because the artists were disabled and created art, that didn't mean that their work should necessarily be shown in galleries because what gives you the right to exhibit is 'being any good'. So I tried to make some distinctions. There is the art that under 'normal circumstances' might not be considered all that great, but what's so impressive in the context, is that say, it was painted by someone who couldn't see. A friend used to send me cards printed from paintings by folks who could only use their mouths or feet to paint with. What struck me first was the fabulous use of colour and the wonderful striking images and bold style. It was only when I read the backs of the cards that I realized also what an achievement they were as well. But they were undoubtedly very fine paintings whoever had done them.
However, I have been to exhibitions and sometimes seen work that I didn't think was up to much. (But then I could say exactly the same of non-disability arts exhibitions!). It was the idea that no extra effort should be made to accommodate folks with extra obstacles in their way that I wanted to explore with him. So then a gifted artist I used to know sprang to mind. And I said - well, there was this truly wonderful artist who created amazing paintings of trees, and collages of moss in book form, and hundreds of tiny object-based collages, and who, as far as I know, usually exhibited in disability art exhibitions and forums, although they were easily gifted enough to be shown anywhere and everywhere. In that case, he replied, they should get themselves a better agent! Ah but, I pointed out, what can you do when someone gets a commission and then honestly can't be doing with making another huge artwork just then because their doctors have insisted they go in for another three operations in a row? How can you give the time and effort to insisting you should be entered for this or that competition when every day involves wall bars, drugs to take, the sheer grind of getting into your specially adapted vehicle and out again, the making sure you've got someone around to carry the pictures, the... He got my drift. Gifted as they and others like them are, you won't see their art in 'ordinary' exhibitions any time soon. Should it never see the light of day? Aren't we all poorer for it if those works don't get out there? Should we cut all extra provision for disabled artists that makes it possible that the gifted aren't just wasted? Or should we get off our backsides and go to their exhibitions and plays and suchlike to check out the amazing stuff such artists have been doing, and make sure we don't miss out!
Like every other sector of society and art, 'disability arts' has some chaff...but plenty of wheat in it too.

Nice to be wanted

2011-07-02T12:28:00.006+01:00

Strange to think of the events we can't do or have had to turn down this season... the Leamington Peace Festival wanted us to perform, as did Strawberry Fayre in Cambridge (my first ever festival as a student!) and the Acoustic Festival of Great Britain. Exmouth Festival hosted the wondrous Edge of Chaos improvisational/experimental event that I love so much in May, but I couldn't go... the Dumnonni Chronicle's Outlore big LARP Dark Age bash and battle in early May in Okehampton...and typically enough they had the marvellous Daughters of Elvin playing! Groans all round to miss that! And had an army issuing out a tunnel no less...sounded amazing. (Although on the other side of the coin, we were offered the Buddhafield Festival again this year, but after last year sort of swore never again!)

Every season has it's clashes, as the Exeter Respect Festival on the Saturday meant we had to leave the Hay-on-Wye philosophy festival just after the Friday evening gig! And Glastonbury was so hot on the heels of the N.Devon Festival's Summer Science Day, we nearly didn't make the latter... And we've just had confirmations of the Nozstock and Big Chill Festivals...one after the other, and also the Beautiful Days (which always clashes with the Sunrise OffGrid). But this season it's crazy. We were accepted for the Exeter Fringe, but then couldn't do it because it was right over Glastonbury! Argh! For the first time since doing it, we can't make National Play Day at Playplus in Dorchester because it's between Nozstock and the Big Chill, and we'll be in Herefordshire all week... What is going on?

The only way in the end to choose, is to pick the ones that you can make or move things for, that offers the best commissions and/or for the most money. But still you have to turn down some well paid gigs or gigs on which your heart hangs, and with folks with whom you have built up a mutual loyalty...hard choices. But summer is only three or four months long, and every weekend there are dozens (nationwide hundreds) of events clashing with each other. I guess the only good thing is that more people seem to want us at their event. And more wanting us for performing and not (much as it's wonderful to have and transfer practical skills) craft workshops. So perhaps (despite the being drawn between the pillar and the post, and the heartache of missing things you'd like or disappointing nice organizers - though thank goodness for being part of a Collective which means you can find replacement workshop hosts at least!) we're kind of going in the right direction...?

Glastonbury Festival - there and back again

2011-07-02T12:03:00.004+01:00

Last year it took a week to get things and oneself back in order. This time there wasn't the intense heat (although it was pretty hot on Sunday) but lots of now-famous mud. I returned Tuesday afternoon, and still today - Friday - until lunchtime you think you're doing well and all the stiffness (from marquee pitching and unpitching, packing and unloading and then packing and unloading again, a full Transit van of stuff) has gone - until you realize you're practically falling asleep, everything seems soporific, and all you can think of is closing your eyes - the fight to stay awake till nightfall has begun. But it was worth it.
   We did a whole variety of things this time. We did Monster Walks (walkabout performance as the name suggests) where Il Vappo the Ringmaster took out different monsters for a stroll. It raised a smile with almost everyone we passed, many taking photographs and some following us with video. The Il Vappo mask on an old Venetian design is rather wonderful - long beak like nose, and frowning forehead in dark red, originally it was the kind of mask used to scare away plague! And I wore it with top hat and tails. Deor played the monsters, so the green faced Master of the North (from the Finnish Kalevala cycle) or the Hobyer/Hobgoblin all red and copper sparkles, all complemented with a flowing green cloak (an Anne Laverick, the historical costumier). We told plenty of Anglo-Saxon riddles by the large campfire in the Tipi Field, and people were (as always) amazed and delighted to be hearing and being performed poetic puzzles from over a thousand years ago. Deor got me doing Egil Skallagrimsson's (Iceland's greatest warrior-poet) 'Head Ransom' as a rap a few times to different sets of campfire audiences. It was nice that they all joined in the clapping, and many seemed to really get into it, so much so that I could leave off the clapping and just perform the last four verses while they kept the rhythm. Some looked bemused to be told that it was by a poet who lived from 910-990 AD, but most were just astonished and interested. Deor got countless people photographing the masks, bodymasks and sculptures arrayed outside the tipi (whenever it wasn't pouring with rain), asking him how they were made, admiring them, trying on their favourites, and asking whether or when he was holding workshops? It was good to hear the monster clan and Deor's making skills getting so much praise! Sometimes he hardly seemed to come into the tent for a bite of lunch, so many people were asking and talking to him about them. Oh and I did a unicorn dance/mime at one point. Our main scheduled show on the Ancient Futures Stage on Sunday (despite lots of folks who'd said they would come or wanted to, of course being too wasted/asleep/across the other side of the site by then) went really well. The audience wasn't large, but we gave it 'welly' and folks yelled, clapped, laughed and got into the spirit of things - again, amazed passers by who'd come in on the 'roll up roll up!' call, and just weren't expecting...well any of it! We were billed as 'Extreme Storytelling' (I think because of the physicality, energy, bodymasks etc. in our performance style) and I think we lived up to it!

   It was of course all hard work, not because we did a fair bit of performing, but in the trench-like conditions of a mud-filled Glastonbury, the vast site (the size of the city of Bath), the 175,000 people creating people-jams at major junctions, the reeking (if excellent, well-managed and miles better than they used to be) loos, the sinking into the mud twice in the dark and having to be rescued by strangers! the pitching the tipi the Friday before (left at 9, on site by 11, didn't leave till 4.30...in wind and occasional rain, if still lucky we got it up in a dry spell). The carting the stuff (a full van load) of masks, carnival heads, carnival poles, fabric, rope, canvas, camping gear like chairs, big iron pots and pans, the new brazier (made by Wayne of the Collective) gas cannisters, petrol and petrol cooker, book stall stock, signs, props, costumes, ladder (you need one to put up the door etc. in a tipi)...to the pitch, off the pitch, and taking the whole structure down again on Tuesday morning...in between being smoked out of the tipi (twice) by reeking charcoal, having to crawl in and out of the tipi for days on end (too damp to let the door be wide open most of the time), and just the sheer physical challenge of it that justify the 'I survived Glastonbury 2011' t-shirts folks were buying.

   We were however, lucky - lucky that Sunday was scorching (27 degrees C?) and windy enough to dry out most of the site, lucky that we met an amazing guy just as we'd were starting to despair of getting the Transit van out of the muddy hole in the Dragon Field Crew Camping we were parked in, as the wheels whizzed round to dig further mud marks. He looked at the route we were thinking of taking, saw the problem, insisted we take away the planks we'd thought of putting under the wheels, told us he thought it was possible to get out without the aid of a tractor or similar, and that he'd been doing this for thirty years! He had the missing teeth and accent of a Clash fan, it seemed to me, and the friendly street-wise smile and spiky hair, and we warmed to him. 'But,' he said, 'D'you mind if I drive?' 'Be our guest!' we said, and off he went, driving the van like a slalom, zig zagging over the mud, and around the ditches and trenches, until, to my amazed and delight, there stood the van on the hard road. We shook his hand and thanked him mightily - and despite him 'not being on the internet', I would like to thank Bertie, the trumpeter from the Powersteppers with green painted nails, publicly and with all my heart! A man who would have made a wonderful rally driver! I wish we'd caught one of his sets. What a hero.

   Other folks that need thanking are Mike the face/body painter from Cambridge who made us tea when we were at the end of our tether on the previous Friday pitching the tipi! And who was pitched opposite us and a charming neighbour, Clive Pig the Storyfella for coming to the Tipi Field to be our guest star for a short show - and who was as amazing as ever! A superb tale brilliantly told, with wit, wisdom and wonderful balletic movements for the character of the Wind! And Tara of Hearthworks for having us once again.

   Also to all those engineers, technicians, artists, performers, lavatory builders and emptiers, mud shifters and builders who make the whole thing possible! Especially to the Arcadia team for another night of bliss, and AnugreenDesigns of Cork for their exquisite 'Portach' metal and LED bog garden / cave sculpture chill out zone... Also to the folks from the church in Bristol who design and staff the Elemental tent for the best sofas and most welcoming chill space on site, and to The People's Front Room for the best open mike idea and one of the best 'surprises'. Lastly to the coolest walkabouts, the black Star Wars-style robotic stilt walker, the Anubis effigy stiltwalker and the Magritte Men! And the company who staged the divine 1920's Pimms' Party by the central campfire... And of course the Eavises for going through all the headache of permissions, legal requirements, pollution issues and the stupidly huge clear up operation just so that everyone can hold a massive art party on their lovely fields once a year! We love you all.

Festival Season...Again

2011-06-18T21:29:00.001+01:00

Back from the North Devon Festival's Summer Science Day at Tapeley Park, the day after having gone to the Glastonbury Festival site in mud and rain (though mercifully it was dry when we actually set the thing up) to pitch the tipi in the Tipi Field; complete with juggernauts, scaffolding, empty fields, the skeleton of the to-be Ribbon Tower, the structure of the Pyramid and other stages, and general swearing, cursing and losing of tempers.
Then off in, after getting something to eat and drink in a supermarket, what turned into driving rain to North Devon, to spend the night with Collective members Andi and Mandy (wood/cob/willow artist/maker and fine all-round practical skill-master, and wondrous costume/felt/textile/blinds/bags/felt maker and peg loom weaver) - who between them host more imaginative craft workshops than you can shake a stick at, in their company 'Freeplay'. The best part of the two days was undoubtedly having supper with our charming hosts who served up a delicious meal, and you know when things are going well when all four of you end up shouting news and opinions at each other, each agreeing or disputing in a friendly constructive way, and all yelling drunkenly but still making sense! Grown ups in an adolescent-style bonding session in other words! It may sound hell to those who don't do ebullience when they relax with some of their friends, but to us storytellers (habitually shy and often reserved!) to have folks you can let rip with from time to time is simply heaven, and we did. Indeed I do even have a quiet restrained and self-disciplined friend who finds it funny when I or we relax with her and go up a few decibels and run amok in the pub, even though it's not something she does herself. Anyway, it was great to have such an evening after a pretty 'urgh' day and preceding the worst attended event we'd ever been to at that much-frequented venue, all because of the weather. So many of the stalls and attractions didn't turn up, let alone the public. But still Freeplay's fantastic driftwood mobiles sculpture and fishnet aerial collage went down a storm, and our tales as Widsith and Deor drew what appreciative crowds there were to be had in the dry spells.
But to hold a stall in such weather was disheartening to say the least - you can't sell things and draw folks in when you're rescuing paper based stock like books from downpours coming in at the door and what feels like a gale blowing everything to kingdom come... I couldn't help thinking of all the performers I know of who turn up with a suitcase full of book stock and dump them in the foyer or site office, stroll in, take up the mike somewhere dry, do the performance, stroll off to somewhere dry to sell books... Oh to get less hassling gigs! I guess the problem was going for the festival market as part of the Collective? Doing workshops as well as performing? I thought it would open doors, not trapdoors! I have learnt a deal doing this kind of work, and got some gigs and a lot of experience I would not have got otherwise... And best of all I've worked with some truly amazing and gifted people - the Collective, and had some good fun with the extended network. But perhaps the time has come to rethink the strategy. Branch out in all directions that you can, yes, learn new skills apace, yes. But if there's something you intended to do and not stray too far from, and levels of hassle beyond which trying to earn a living becomes too much stress to handle, then that's the time to refocus and think again. Approach different venues or events for work for instance, not just rely on the usual channels. I know the weather and times when you hoped and needed to make money and didn't, can knock you for six, especially in the arts. But the inimitable Hope Clark would say, and I agree with her - what can you learn from this? And how change it to become what suits you better and is a better way of promoting your work?

HowTheLightGetsIn Festival

2011-06-09T20:04:00.000+01:00

Back from a whirlwind few days as I was privileged to go to Hay-on-Wye to support Matthew Hammond the Stand Up Philosopher, performing at The Globe Stage in the HowTheLightGetsIn Festival of philosophy and music (which runs pretty much at the same time as the Hay Literature and Arts Festival). The weather was amazing - almost too hot! And the bustling town of Hay was alive with folks attending both festivals, and packing the teashops and market stalls stacked up old stairs on the way up a steep slope to the castle remains... The attractive clock tower had signs all round it, and the colourful shops full of antiques, books of course for which Hay is famous, gifts and whimsical objet, made a wonderful backdrop to the festivals. As did the bridge over the beautiful River Wye, untamed and wide like a river in France, and the whole nestling by the foothills of the Black Mountains.
The main venue for the HowTheLightGetsIn was The Globe, with its extensive grounds and split levels and many bars, and the thing that impressed me was just how much like a manageably scaled summer rock festival it was! The grassy spaces were studded with quirky interesting stalls, one selling sheepskin rugs, one selling vintage hats and a whole section calling itself ' Beautiful Rubbish', lots of places to eat with local suppliers well in evidence, cafes, a tea tent decorated like a posher version of one of the famous cafes that do the rounds at festivals like Glastonbury, places to sit outside with many octagonal wooden table and chair sets, well kept marquees, and because of the split levels and causeways, it all felt bigger than it was, and one could find unexpected corners. The Globe itself had a main hall, and underneath that, a lovely chill out zone bar selling excellent coffee and cakes as well as the usual bar drinks fare. The Stage marquee was lush - a cocktail bar at the entrance, replete with many martini glasses, neon sign and all, and a wonderful vintage red velvet ornately carved sofa, looking like something from a decaying country house. The stage area had crimson drapes, and was a really nice space. As a ticketed event, Matthew had to wait until the audience arrived before starting, so in the meantime to get people in the mood for thinking, he told them Anglo-Saxon Riddles from the C10th Exeter Book (a speciality of Widsith and Deor Storytelling Theatre of which he is course, one half), and at one point he kindly invited me up to tell my favourite riddle - the Sun and Moon! His show when it did commence was brilliant as ever, and the feat of remembering all the philosophical ideas detailed in each piece, the performing as if we were hearing the philosopher in question hectoring his contemporaries, whether Kant, Aquinas or Marx, the turning philosophy into theatrical monologues, and the hearing-the-thinking occur as in the piece on an idea by the modern French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, all of it was as rich, enthralling and (as a poet at the Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden remarked last summer) 'incredibly impressive', as ever. As he observed to the audience (eliciting some laughter) they needed to be drunker! but it was early in the evening... However, the show went down a treat and the organizers/stewards and technicians who had hosted and aided with it all were all pleased and complimentary, and all in all, it was a triumph.
I just wish I could have made many more of the events listed. With talks and discussions on drugs, 'When China Rules the World', the 'Old Gods of England', the concept of the self, and allsorts of aspects on technology, politics, and everything in between, plus loads of music, and even circus, I recommend the Festival as one to get to! It had a lovely mellow vibe, and was about as far from stuffy or quiet (as some people might assume a festival about thinking might be) as could be imagined.

The Astrolabe and the Heart

2011-05-18T18:58:00.002+01:00

The new season is well underway now, though blogs and other things have been being neglected whilst two members of the Collective turned up and parked outside HQ for months! From late in January on and off until this week, they have been around, coming in and going out, making things, offering things, mending things, weeding the garden and painting their big purple truck, making it ready for serious travel (rather than a large, comfortable, but rather stationary affair), bestowing on it a motorbike rack, welding, creating, chopping wood and generally being the hive of activity they usually are. It's been strange having them around again for so long. The Collective was born (as I'm sure has been said in previous posts) of various people/artists living together in the same space, either at the same time or sequentially, and knowing one another through that, and coming together to form an artist's collective on the strength of - if you live together, then perhaps you can work together. The original eight members were all folks who lived at HQ (including ourselves the storytellers - writer/poet/actor/collage artist and philosopher/maker/historical cook respectively) and six of us kind of at the same time, which provided the initial impetus for forming the group. Sadly, two of these core members moved to New Zealand a while back, the jewellery and clothes maker, and the roundhouse/eco-builder/wood sculptor/musical instrument maker. Known collectively as 'The Crew', those four all went to Bicton College and met during the now-legendary Environmental Arts and Crafts course, save one, who went to Dartington and was partner of one of the three.
   Since then, the Collective has expanded into friends-of-friends, as the two remaining of the original 'Crew' introduced two of their fellow students from Bicton, or rather one, (cob/wood/willow artist) and his partner (costumes/textiles/banners/rugs/weaving), an artist they met from one of their own projects (carnival floats/public art textiles/large scale banners) and another from their circus days (juggling/fire juggling). Meanwhile two of the early members have fallen away - the issues that evolve over time after having lived together sometimes straining as well as cementing bonds! So music is now under-represented.
   However, incredibly, what with two of the original members moving to NZ, it still meant that we had eight active members, who worked together and in combinations at festivals and events! Quite an achievement, we felt, given the potentials for trouble, what with friendship / housemates / couples / singles / money / relationships / art / egos / work / stress / weather! and heaven knows what else, all mixed up in a heady cocktail. Others with whom the Collective are allied and sometimes work are a pair of stilt walkers (also from Bicton) and an environmental artist (Bicton).
   So for the last three months or more, to live with two folks with whom you have lived twice before, with whom you have done so many workshops and festivals, whom you have been with in good weather and bad, for whom you have cooked and who have cooked for you, who have given you many things and whom you have given many things, with whom you've gone to dinner at dodgy beach bars and danced the night away at parties in questionable venues...with whom you have been through and done so much, and who have brought you through bad times, and find themselves doing it yet again: With whom you have lived in a seemingly endless gift and favour exchange economy where one always needs what the other has to give, storage space for some plastering, willow for electricity...with whom you have unwittingly forged and fashioned something uncomfortably close to a family. Who treats you like a hotel, but in the nicest possible way. With whom you have the ease of ideal flatmates, work colleagues, helpmeets, fellows in some cause...good friends. - Has been strange. Strange because you think that eventually you must get sick of the sight of each other! And yet it doesn't happen, despite the fact that you all have edges or points of non-contact, and come up against them from time to time. Despite (from my own perspective) the endless mug-finding, mug-rinsing, floor-sweeping, the lack of parking outside, the fur on the carpet, folks around getting in the way of admin. and work and making one late...but none of it matters, ultimately. What price the always-chirpy greeting, the friendly smile, the ever-readiness to help, suggest, be positive, cheer up, the know-how to draw upon, have pleasantries with...folks you can get drunk with, without worrying if you'll make a fool of yourself in their eyes.
   And of course, why they were here for so long was to get everything sorted and ready to go to the Continent - perhaps for good. They will stay Collective members. Just as if someone offered thousands of pounds of work to build a house, the eco-builder might return from NZ for a time, so they could perhaps post some of the smaller items which they make, and so will stay with their projects online. But it does mean that in effect, and for now, we storytellers are the only original members of the Collective available for work and working collaboratively now. And that IS strange. The Collective was five years old. Is this the end of an era? Who knows.
   But as of yesterday, they caught their ferry and have gone, having spent from January's end until Easter, then meeting in Easter in London in glorious summery weather and going boating, them surfing behind on the river, and other crowded scenes, almost adolescent in their colourful intensity, and then parting there, only to have them return a week ago...
   And so all this explains why the recent Spoken/Written editions have been late, why e-mails arrived after they were meant to (although there have been server issues too!), and why this blog has been neglected for a while. This wasn't what I intended to write, but perhaps it's only once written, that the business of this blog or online journal can commence.
   Although the Crew and Collective are of course or have been intertwined inextricably with work - until now.....................

   On a lighter note, HQ has been somewhat transformed, with new licks of plaster and paint, much weed and bramble cut away, impetus to get me tiling (an intention which had never yet materialized into action!), thrown away rubbish and junk left by many upstairs, and inspiration to sort spaces that had turned into lumber piles...and perhaps most startlingly of all, their parting artistic tributes to the Collective. A heart shaped hurdle fence with a chandelier crystal set in the centre, and a huge metre and a half high astrolabe sculpture made from cast iron rings...I won't forget this last three months. Bon Voyage, mes amis.

Live at the Bike Shed Theatre

2011-05-17T17:58:00.001+01:00

What with everything that's been going on, I also haven't had a minute to write about the gigs we had at Cabaret Oasis in Torquay, nor the Sunday Funny Sunday cabaret night at the Bike Shed Theatre, the latter being after an invitation we (Widsith and Deor Storytelling Theatre) got to perform because the organizers had heard our comic tales on the Phonic Drama Show! They were both brilliant, and the latter was rather special as a couple of other members of the Cartwheels Collective came along, who happen to be staying at HQ at the moment. They helped take in our gear on a lovely warm April evening, and we all piled into the delicious bar of the Bike Shed Theatre, with its wonderful dark red painted corners, outsized stencils in classic designs, ostentatious mirrors, luxurious sofas, fairylights and generally charming atmosphere, hiding away down a back street reached via an unlit flight of stairs into a basement! It really is a fantastic venue. Our set went well, us telling the trademark 'Girl Who Gave a Kiss Out of Necessity' from Sweden, and a new story, premiered at the Storyclub called 'The Four Liars' (which I'd changed quite a lot) originally from Cambodia. But much of the fun of the evening was having along fellow Collective members whom we call 'The Crew', as they played ping pong in the bar, and tried on our hats (tricorn, straw, and helmet), and generally made us laugh... It's a treat to have such supporters whether in the the audience or in the bar...
Thanks to Chris of Poetry Island, Andy of Monkeys with Puns, and the Crew for making it all happen!

The Phonic Drama Show

2011-04-28T18:34:00.001+01:00

Since mid-February (and so much has happened that I haven't had a chance to write about it - but that's another story involving the Collective!) Deor of Widsith & Deor has begun a second radio show on Phonic, a Thursday morning weekly slot - ambitious given the time constraints? Certainly, but he's managing very well, and I have been recruited as the Associate Script Editor, reading the scripts that come in and assessing them for broadcast. It's been another rollercoaster, as squeezing it all in with everything else is just madness, but to my surprise (although there are scripts waiting to be read even as I write) it is proving possible.
   The Show alternates between dramatic storytelling by Deor, storyteller/solo renditions of classic plays, so far Greek tragedy! and plays sent in by playwrights, so far ones with access to their own recording studios and actors, which is brilliant. We have been amazed and delighted at the quality of the work sent in, and as the Phonic Drama Show swings between experimental and Exeter's answer to Radio 4, so the fortnightly 'Widsith and Deor Presents...' has been making occasional stabs at being the city's reply to Radio 3...no comments on how it's been going, we have no producer but ourselves!
   The solo Greek tragedies, Euripedes' 'The Bacchae' and his (almost unwatchable and unlistenable in the grim stakes as well as so loaded that it was banned by the Greek colonels in the 1960's) 'Trojan Women' have both been performed by Deor. I have to admit I wasn't sure it could be done, as both have quite a number of characters! But was astounded, as ever by his versatility. 'The Bacchae' is one of the most beautiful plays ever written, with incredibly poetic language, and one of those tragedies that is, for me, like Macbeth - there are times when you want to cry, but, like the opera Carmen, somehow everything is as it should be, and the gods or the witches or the cards have their way, and strangely it seems right in that context. The Trojan Women by contrast is one of the grimmest and possibly finest, and certainly earliest known, of anti-war plays ever written. It deals with war from the what-happen-to-the-civilians? view - the women after the city is captured. Enough said.
   In the storytelling shows, Deor has been doing epic cycles from the Finnish Kalevala, and this morning's show was of Viking myths of the gods, but told as a series, with background techno/dance tracks to up the tempo and tension. It was powerful stuff - well, I was moved, and I've heard some of them many times before. The interpretation took up the usual mantle of blood-thirsty gore and comic book slapstick of the Norse gods' tales and turned them into a well-forged blade, dipped in ironies and laden with extra depths, multi-faceted, bringing out the real tragedy and the dark politics involved in a way that I've seldom heard done with Nordic retellings. A heady brew!
   Once a month at the moment there's a 'Storyclub Special' where whatever we've managed to record from that month's Storyclub gets played on the show. I say 'managed' as Michael Dacre must've put a copyright spell on his tales, as the machine never plays back his brilliant tellings!
   More new plays are in the pipeline, including a political satire by the author of our first featured play the tragi-comedic 'The Rose Garden', Simon Jackson a professional writer and film maker based in Edinburgh. We are also looking for Devon and Exeter based playwrights, so if you have something, and especially if you can produce/record it yourself, we would be interested to hear it! Just e-mail it to me, the Editor at the usual e-mail.

'The Ruin of Britain'

2011-03-30T20:40:00.004+01:00

This morning's radio show on Phonic FM - having been thinking about King Offa in the previous show but one about Geoffrey Hill's 'Mercian Hymns' - circled around Gildas the Monk's 'The Ruin of Britain' from the C6th, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The discussion was about different aspects of a historic conflict, that of the wars and battles in Britain between the Welsh/Britons and Scots/Picts, and Roman Empire and then leading on to the Angles/Saxons/Jutes. The invasion of Rome, the rule of Rome, Roman and Romano-British Britain, and the way that Gildas' account - deeply political, a polemical sermon basically, favoured the Romans. Then the way that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle charted successes and less of the failures, the way it was written often long after the events it details, in many places, even though it's written in the form of an annual diary...the way that Gildas refers to things which 'everyone knew' and yet as one of very few records, of course, now we don't know! The gaps and the missing names, the obvious partisanship of historical texts...and we ended with 'The Ruin' poem from the C10th Exeter Book, as a classic re-imagining of the Roman times from a Saxon poet. It was really interesting - or at least, as topics and periods which we ourselves have discussed many times, it was great to actually try and structure a discussion to explain to folks who Gildas was, why these texts matter, why it is that they're so interesting, and of course, most importantly, what they can teach us now - not only about our own past, the past of the places we call or think of as home, but also about current conflicts. How things have very different versions depending on who is doing the telling! It's a point that's always worth drawing attention to, and more timely than usual just now.
   One can argue for ever about whether one can or cannot learn from history, when technology changes even if humans don't, when history repeats itself but not in exactly the same way...but what is true, it seems to me, is that history can illuminate situations as well as give context to a geography.

   It sometimes seems quite amazing to be given the opportunity to present a show where the whole kaleidoscope of arts, history and culture are available as subjects. Well, with a finite knowledge base, given shoehorning time for research into the day's tasks somewhere, anyway... My co-presenter always remembers his various and varied areas of knowledge, in a most impressive way. Whether post modern philosophy, the history of philosophy, the history of the English Civil War or the history of maths, he can lay his hands on the key names, dates and facts in a few moments... I on the other hand can read dozens of C19th novels, or study C18th garden history, philosophy, have a detailed knowledge of follies and folly landscapes or Tudor banqueting, Icelandic Saga facts, and then...after a while, it all becomes rusty. I know that I have known whatever it is, but can I recall it quickly or without preparation? Sadly not. Whether Expressionism, multimedia theatre as documented by Richard Kostelanetz, concrete and code poetry, the English Civil War, Anglo-Saxon poetry or Anglo-Saxon kings and culture, Surrealism or theatre history, sundials, astronomy, hydraulic automata, all of them passions and hobbies at different times and still. But could I now tell you the plot of Fanny Burney's 'Camilla' as distinct from 'Cecelia' and 'Evelina', or the names of other key characters? Or the actual difference between Trollope's 'Can You Forgive Her?' and 'He Knew He Was Right'? Disraeli's 'The Election' or 'Sybil'...? Errrrrmmmm.....

   I know I have known these things and read them, but... However, luckily, whatever the faults of this morning's show, at least Deor didn't do what he often does, which is ask me a question the answer to which I can no longer remember, will remember much later, or couldn't possibly remember on only the one cup of instant coffee I've had time for! Doesn't matter what you know or how much, radio is a strange beast and a tricky medium...I'm much less inclined to criticise presenters on most stations now. Whatever I do or have known, nine times out of ten I sound like an idiot at some point on these shows, and if not 'erm', then radio picks ups your stopgaps and stock slang like nothing else. 'Wow', 'absolutely', 'I mean' all get picked up and stick in the ear. Ouch! That and sounding like you've got brains made of spaghetti. But these topics are so worthy of the attempt - it's worth it.

The Philosophy Show

2011-03-16T17:18:00.004Z

It's always really good to do something which you've been meaning to do for some time, and this morning's installment of 'Widsith and Deor Present...' on Phonic FM on modern philosophy, was just that. Philosophy is a passion of mine, if in a hobbyist/slacker way. I love the history of ideas, the way that philosophy forms the backdrop to most if not all other disciplines, the way in which it critiques assumptions and looks at the scaffolding of language and culture that most of us take for granted. I love the way it makes you look at the world in a whole new light, and can make you change for the better. And I love the crazy quirky tales of how some books were written or recorded or lost and re-found, the wacky lives of many philosophers, ancient and modern, and just the whole way it seems to light up art and literature.
So it was great to do a show just devoted to discussing it. We talked of how modern philosophy was probably to be charted from Nietzsche; Foucault's remarkable and eye-opening take on how the idea of sexuality has changed with technology and conceptions of what society's all about, from hanging to health care. Of Heidegger's Being and Time; of the difference between the Continental and analytic (or ordinary language as it used to be called) traditions in philosophy; of Deleuze's idea of the Event, very fruitfully I thought, and of course, of how the Stand Up Philosopher's performances came about! And we played one recording (a great piece, though the sound was a bit echo-y), and Deor performed the other. The show, punctuated with wonderful music from Debussy, Bizet and Britten, went all too quickly. We could have discussed just Foucault for a whole show, and we didn't have time to talk about the book I'd brought along, Foucault's beautiful and dynamic homage, art/criticism, work of philosophy 'This is Not a Pipe' - about (of course) Magritte, one of his favourite artists. There was also a lot more that could have been said about what it means to turn the history of thought and philosophy into theatre, but we did touch on the fact that of course, once philosophy was essentially oral, and changed its character with the printing press and so on. We could have gone on all day! But apart from anything else, it's in the nature of radio to have bite sized chunks of subjects. When you present a show, on any kind of radio station, it gives you some insight into why presenters and DJs sound as they do, and why programmes get studded with music or are only certain lengths.
However, we also managed to record it, so it should soon be up on the 'Widsith and Deor presents...' site (link to the right).

The Stand Up Philosopher will be appearing at the HowTheLightGetsIn Festival of philosophy and music in Hay-on-Wye, which runs during the same period as the Hay Literature Festival (26th May - 5th June) and the show is on the on the 3rd of June, so do come along if you can!

Check out the HowTheLightGetsIn Festival of philosophy & music at;
http://www.howthelightgetsin.org/

'Geometrica' - the chapbook

2011-03-13T20:27:00.005Z

It's always amazing to see a stage of completion in a long cherished project, and the printing of 'Geometrica' (my latest chapbook) is just that. I would have written a blog about it at the turn of the year, but things have got in the way, and blogs about events seemed more of immediate urgency (if a non-current affairs blog can be urgent).
   However, I have at last scanned the cover! of it. And I must say, it looks to me like the best thing I have ever done. It's always a difficult balance as an artist - what you most wish to pursue, and what 'the market' is most interested in. There are surefire sellers - 'Porlock' being an obvious example. As an all ages historical adventure novel, it caters for a huge range of folks and occasions, and the most recent reason given for buying a copy was a guy who was taking a long plane journey and wanted something to read on the flight! Then there are the slightly niche but still targeted areas of creativity - 'The Books of..' being the example here. Political satire mixed with poetic commentary, the readership is never going to be as wide, but it goes down well at green fairs, respect festivals, and would sell at demos, marches, outside the Leftfield Tent at Glastonbury and suchlike.
   'Geometrica' on the other hand is (and for someone who works compiling information for and attending the live lit scene it feels that way) for the literary few. Written with a seriously unfashionable view that poetry is only sometimes meant for 'expressing shared and common experience'. Evidently 'The Books of...' are meant to make you think - to illuminate the News and the issues which it throws up, in another light. A common experience of the hearsay that is the News, but other takes on it. But some poetry is meant to throw a light on uncommon experience or things from the past that one cannot know, or only from old sources. My ideal (as like many poets I would rather have been a visual artist) is to express in the medium of words - form, colour, shape and structure. In this case, geometric shapes, and/or things expressed through geometry. 'Decagonal' for instance refers to a ten sided shape, or ten pointed star, and is inspired by the beautiful History of Science Museum in Oxford. The Museum is full to the brim with sundials, astrolabes, armillary sundials, and all manner of exquisite historical scientific instruments from a time that looks as if art and science weren't so very distant from one another. Amongst its many treasures, it also boasts a polyhedral sundial and a moondial! The latter as the name suggests, being for making out the time when there is a moon visible, and the former an extravagant 'conceit' of diallists, i.e. a bit of showing off by those who construct sundials, in that it is a three dimensional geometric shape of many faces, each one with another sundial, of slightly different type and function. One exhibit is in a many sided display case, hence the idea for the name 'decagonal'. It seems to be a wonderful way of expressing relationships - a monogon/henagon is a circle, a digon a line between two points, (in 'degenerate and Non-Euclidean' maths) and then things really speed up! Triangle/trigon, square/quadrilateral/tetragon, pentagon, hexagon, septagon/heptagram, octogram, enneagram/nonagram, decagram, hendecagon, dodecagon...I am mixing up sided shapes with pointed shapes, but you get the idea. (Eg; octagons are eight sided shapes, octagrams are eight pointed stars.) I have always thought that this is a fantastic way to explore relationships in an angled/abstract way. The love triangle is commonly used, but less well trodden are looking at five couples as a decagon, or a group of six close friends as a hexagram. In 'Geometrica' I have not used this in any way as a tight construction/correlation, let alone attempted an algebra of relating! But this was a kind of backdrop, an idea in mind when writing the pieces for the collection. For various reasons, probably to do with a preoccupation with the C17th, philosophy and geometry are intertwined together for me, artistically/creatively, and so many of the pieces were written at philosophy conferences. I suppose the connection for me being that the former attempts to comprehend the world, and the latter to symbolize it, to be horribly simplistic.
   To relate philosophy and geometry in poetry is like thinking of abstract art/Expressionism and architecture as synonymous. But if one thinks of Kandinsky and Feininger's paintings and Frank Lloyd Wright's buildings, and then thinks of when architecture has been portrayed by art in three dimensions by artists in the form of the sets for the film 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari', then I hope it makes more sense, or becomes clearer why I would choose to do so.
   However people may prefer 'The History of This House in Twenty Objects' when finished, or other works entirely, still 'Geometrica' is the thing I most care about, and am most glad to see in print. The visual textworks (unfinished yet in terms of enough for an exhibition) come close, but really, this chapbook is my joy and pride. It matters that people like it and buy it, but ultimately, like much art that is made in many of the artforms, it just had to be done. It occurred because it IS the work about which I care most, and because of the kindness of various libraries and resources for putting the historic images which I desired to complement the text, within my reach.
   And so the text is studded with timeless images from the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Wentzel Jamnitzer (master of the dodecahedral image), a fragment of the famous Flammarion woodcut, a piece from Andreas Cellarius' justly famous star atlas the 'Harmonia Macrocosmica', sundials and other wondrous things.
   There have been times when I thought it would never be finished - the right images, rejecting many poems originally intended to be part of it, re-writing, editing, changing last verses at last minutes, for some time the stasis of no longer getting to philosophy conferences once many of my contacts in academia had lapsed due to study periods ending at institutions, and might as well have been writer's block, for all that they were surmountable with anything other than persistence and trial. But here it is at last, and I never tire of looking at it, which is (rather than egotistical) I prefer to think, just as well!
   Thinking of not having access to the major manuscript libraries, and more importantly a password for the Humanities Index or Jstor (the resources that allow access to all the latest papers and research articles in countless branches of knowledge, and that ceases to be open to you when you are no longer a member of a university), I am immensely grateful to the University of Heidelburg, George Hart the geometric and polyhedra artist, and others who have permitted public access to their wonderful art and visual culture archives. Sites such as the Gallica Digital Library / Bibliotheque Nationale de France make research into more of a joy than endless frustration, and it's a real privilege to have somewhere I can thank them for making the completion of 'Geometrica' possible, (not to mention a dozen other branches of research for writing and the simple pursuit of knowledge).

Check them out at;

Gallica Digital Library;
http://gallica.bnf.fr/?lang=EN

University of Heidelburg Art History section; http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/Englisch/helios/fachinfo/www/kunst/digilit/architektur/welcome.html

George Hart, polyhedra and geometric artist; http://www.georgehart.com/

Poetry Island

2011-02-15T17:45:00.002Z

Then two days later it was time for a different kind of spoken word evening but one also packed full of excellent performances with amazing variety was this month's Poetry Island at the Blue Walnut (Britain's smallest cinema) in Torquay, hosted by the ever popular Chris Brooks. - Who had very kindly asked us along as guest performers. Headlining was Chris himself with a fantastic extract from his crazy new one man show 'Edward Lear Ate My Goat' - a twisted murder-mystery style poetic tale weaving together unlikely names in an attempt to discover the truth about what links the likes of Tennyson, Lear, and Chris himself, with some insane departures into and remarks on light entertainment on the way. It was definitely a night for tongue twisters as Chris got us all roaring rhymes that ended his lines like 'vexed' and 'texts' as he pieced together a wacky poem along the way, summarising various parts of the journey of his researches!

Other performances of the night included Tim King (often heard and seen at Taking the Mic and recently at Forked! in Plymouth) who gave a very fine rendition of one of his trademark pieces, the inimitable James Turner doing haiku, (who'll be headlining later on in the season), and Matthew Hammond the Stand Up Philosopher doing a fabulous and hilarious rendition of Nietzsche's criticism of Kant, including more audience participation tongue twisters as we all had to shout 'have you thought the thought that's never been thunk before?' and 'have you plundered the ponder that's never been plumbed before?' I was impressed that everyone managed to yell them correctly - especially the second one! What a night. Despite driving there in a gale, and the latter only having finished work in time to drive straight there, and dinner in the van on the way in the dark, it was a great evening and one to remember. Well done Chris!

Storyclub Strikes Again!

2011-02-15T17:43:00.001Z

What a week! February began with an excellent Storyclub - despite four of us turning up before anyone else - Jon Freeman of Tyburn Jig, the hard working host, ourselves Widsith and Deor, and Jackie who occasionally tells a tale with a variety of Native American flutes and suchlike. However soon after, Michael Dacre of Raventales turned up, Tracey and Lawrence of the amazing Goliards, and later on David Heathfield, as well as newer tellers and listeners. It was a hugely varied evening with wildly differing styles, which all goes to show you never can say that it's the same old thing at Storyclub! From creepy theatrical monologue to a truly bizarre tale of a duck kingdom told by gifted singer/songwriter Kimwei, to Michael's rendition of an abridged section from the Laxdaela Saga (which should have been called Gudrun's Saga!). I recollected him asking us (after we had done some Egil's Saga tales - our favourite saga to perform from) about Saga tales at a previous Storyclub, and this time we had a hilarious discussion about the merits and claims or otherwise of the various characters! Gudrun was a woman famed in Medieval Iceland for her beauty, wealth, powerful intellect and force of character, and above all, her tragic life and four husbands. But the Saga - every bit a modern novel as are all the best Sagas! if a depressing one - circles around her relationship with the young man she loved best, and yet due to his folly, her pride, and his best friend's duplicity, never marries, but ends up (in Lady Macbeth style) having killed instead. It is a heart-wrenching tale of betrayal, jealousy, love and horror. Michael was more on the side of those that think of Gudrun as Lady Macbeth and Bolli (the lying best friend who ends up marrying Gudrun on her rebound) as understandable and in love. I on the other hand am firmly of the opinion that whatever else she did, she was motivated by vengeance only because of the dreadful betrayal which Bolli by his machinations brought about - and that the one who gets in the way of 'true love' gets what they deserve - or at least, I could see where she was coming from, and felt a deal more sorry for her than for Bolli. It was a noisy and involved, but good humoured dispute! brought to an end only by the beginning of the second half of the evening.
When it was my turn, I had to apologize that while I had wanted to tell a love story, preferably a stirring and passionate tale of a brave princess rescuing a beautiful prince from a ravening monster, unfortunately what had stuck in my mind all week was a crazy ghost story from the Deep South called 'The Plat Eye'! by Veronica Byrd. Which is a ludicrously wonderful tale of the supernatural which we adapted, and Deor played the parts of all three monsters brilliantly - the eight legged dog wolf, the terrifying dark dryad and finally the Plat Eye itself. He used three masks (all made by himself, the Plat Eye specially for the purpose) to great effect, and it went down very well, considering I had only decided to do that story at suppertime, and we hadn't rehearsed it once! I so love contemporary American fiction - there's a quirky voice I seem keep on finding in the 'zines and sites which I come across, that's just irresistible.
Deor 's did another from the Kalevala (Finnish national epic), and though he ran out of time as it was the last tale of the evening, like the last one, it went down a storm, including laughter at 'Handsome Hero Lemminkainen's dodgy dealings with the maidens of the Island of the Blessed!

Bard of Exeter Contest

2011-01-28T20:13:00.001Z

Has come and gone - hosted with customary brilliance and aplomb by Liv Torc (who really ought to add MC to her list of job descriptions! as performance poet, comedian and Wondermentalist), and with really excellent performances by all the contenders (no kidding - all of them). Performers/contenders included Clive Pig and Jon Freeman (plus ourselves W&D) representing the Storyclub - Jon doing a mixture of serious poetry and Zen-like story, Clive a wacky poem-tale about crazy neighbours and a full-of-energy song with guitar, from Taking the Mic there was Tim King doing his very clever letters-as-sounds piece amongst others with great assurance, Morwenna Griffiths doing the best performance I've seen of her work, having learnt it all and moving well, Jackie Juno from Totnes fresh from the spoken word night which she hosts there doing an amazing turn for the first slot of the evening, and going for audience participation in an A-Z letters-as-words piece, and the Stand Up Philosopher doing a beautiful rendition of Spinoza's Ethics in seven minutes. It was a tough call for the voting audience, and a good result as Clive and Jackie tied! and a resolution was passed that the new Bard could be a double-headed dual entity! Which was a perfect and ideal result. They then both did storming encores to a packed audience, and then much hilarity ensued as they both wore the single blue robe - which it has to be said, was big enough and mysteriously seemed to have holes in the right places for two - so all was well that ended well! All power to Jackie and Clive in their new roles!

Starting the New Year with a Bang!

2011-01-06T19:24:00.000Z

After a hectic Christmas of seeing lots of folks, and just after taking down the decorations, it was time for last night's Storyclub on Twelfth Night, very appropriately. There were many top notch tales on offer with Jon and Dave doing two very fine stories each including a hilarious explanation of how come the cuckoo lays its eggs in other bird's nests, and a post modern twist on a Zen what's luck anyway? wisdom tale. Jenny Moon turned up and did a great tale from China about a potter, with her usual wonderful dance-like movements. Deor did a truly epic tale from the Finnish Kalevala about the suitors of the Maiden of the North. I was impressed, as it was right at the end of the evening, and we'd had a whole lot of stories, when he embarked on the epic (in all senses) song from the cycle, and it's quite a depressing tale too (despite the marriage at the end) but the audience made such a racket at the end that they'd obviously been held in its grip all the way! It went down a storm. I was going to tell my tale on my own, but had been torn between three tales - a tale about lighting (which Deor assured me I'd told there before!), the Plat Eye (another from the American Deep South tales of the supernatural which I've been telling a lot of lately) and finally, a ghost story set on Christmas Eve from Cornwall. I favoured the last, but the 'voice' wouldn't come. The first two and I knew how I'd tell them, but the third? 'I can't hear it' I said. To which Deor replied as the central character 'Hrumph!' and so it turned suddenly into a duo tale! I told the tale, framed it, and was the two other characters, while Deor was Ezekiel Gross. It seemed to work, and was fun to do for the first time! It was a really good evening, and our book stall had more stock than ever, as, in addition to the Books of...Trilogy, 'Porlock the Warlock' and 'A Brief History of the Concept of Justice', we also had the fourth in the Trilogy, AND - having taken advantage of (rather than getting cross about) the snow having cancelled so many things, in addition to the Christmas break, to work on projects instead, Cartwheels Collective Press has now just issued a booklet of my short stories - 'The Dream Realm'. So the stall could offer seven books, chapbooks, etc. in all, and very kindly, people came up to buy 'Porlock' and the first copies of 'The Dream Realm' to be sold! Then I remembered something I'd heard somewhere about marketing - that when there are just a couple of things, folks don't generally buy. But when there's a whole lot of things to really choose from...that's a different story.
Then today, I got paid for a couple of articles which I wrote before Christmas for a web content provider, and Pemmican Press e-mailed to say that the poem they accepted last Autumn is now up on the website! What a great start to the New Year...I hope good things come to you all too!

Widsith and Deor Present...

2010-12-10T19:47:00.003Z

A good Christmas radio show (less errrr....s) as of course the topic was much more straightforward than abstraction! which was last show's theme). Deor did brilliant and moving versions of Hild, Queen of the Elves - an old Icelandic folktale set at Christmas, and Dicken's 'The Chimes'. The latter is one of those social comment / searing indictments that unfortunately don't date, as news and social policy cycles come round again! So he did it as an excellent then/now part contemporary interpretation, with all Dicken's critique of his own time and its latterday parallels. It's a less well known Dickens' Christmas story than 'A Christmas Carol', but it always has me sniffing into a hanky! We played some wonderful Medieval music, including salterellos, ancient and modern, and also an artist recently featured on Radio 3 - the amazing Cecilia Bartoli, who amongst other projects has released an album of C18th Baroque castrati music called 'Sacrificium', as she sings their roles! Girl sings boy in pretending-to-be-girl roles... Her voice is superb and her projects both historical and sensational as well as seriously worthwhile, bringing neglected music out from under the floorboards and breathing life into it.
I read/live edited/slightly extemporized a story of mine with a folktale structure called 'Coppelia' which I once told at the Storyclub as a folk story, and hence set it in winter, which seemed to work, so told that variant. Lastly, I read half of Michael Alexander's translation of the extraordinary Anglo-Saxon poem 'Dream of the Rood' from the point of view of the Cross which bore Christ, which also seemed appropriate for a Christmas special. We talked a bit about the history of Christmas / winter festivals, and how even before Christianity, evergreens, lots of food, drink, fire and lights were a common feature, and all in all, I felt it went more smoothly than some, (despite taking over from 'Myriad' the automated system, on arriving, and the lights being so dim it was hard to read!). It's been uploaded to YouTube and is available to 'listen again' at the 'Widsith and Deor Present...' google site (links to the right) for anyone who missed it and would like a listen.

To hear samples of Cecilia Bartoli, see video, order music, etc., check out;
http://www.ceciliabartolionline.com/cms/homepage.html

Poetry at the Blue Walnut

2010-11-28T19:02:00.001Z

Last night was Poetry Island night at the Blue Walnut Cafe hosted by storyteller and performance poet Chris Brooks and with Matt Harvey as headline, support from Liv Torc and a host of poets from the Exeter, Torquay and surrounding scenes including Clive Pig, Jon Freeman, James Turner, and Tim King from Taking the Mic. The cafe was packed, and cold as it was outside (it was sleeting at one point), the venue got so hot, that windows had to be opened! Everyone was on flying form, although it was hard not be biased in the view that the Taking the Mic crew were really pulling out the stops (although I'm sure poetry isn't really like having football teams...?!). James' poem about God and the Devil, Clive's singing, Jon's love poem and Tim King's letter based Bob Cobbing style piece were all very memorable. Liv was just before Matt Harvey (there were two intervals as so many were performing), and mastered the space at once with her usual show-womanship, doing poems contrasting lust with love to great effect, before Matt Harvey did his set. - And really, however many times one hears some of his pieces, they just get better. He also broke into a hilarious comic 'true story' about Torquay vs. Totnes 'hooligans' which had the audience rolling in the aisles, and as well as doing many favourites, he did recent ones such as poems written for his residency at Wimbledon Tennis Championships, and as well as being funny, charming and full of a very humane empathy (suited to the creator of 'Empath Man'! his Radio 4 series from which he did a brilliant sketch), they were also clever with language and rhyme/rhythm/assonance and quietly subtle in the deeper points which many of them make.
   All in all it was a really good evening, Chris and his sidekick 'Clipboard' doing the honours, and getting everyone involved with the clapping for his 'The cow is the mother of the milk' opener which most of the audience knew or quickly picked up, and a wacky competition for the Poetry Island advent calendar - which involved everyone writing a preferably rhyming short sentence to fill the empty days, of the festive variety. Incredibly, my rather obvious spur-of-the-moment entry (sitting on the holly is an act of folly) drew the most laughs, and I won a kid's advent calendar from Poundland, plus some Belgian chocolates! I was startled (never having been one to win raffles etc.), but it certainly added some extra laughs and audience participation to the evening.
   It was an excellently put together evening, and I was interested in the contrasts and similarities between it and Taking the Mic...both having committed and energetic hosts, both having an emphasis on performance (rather than just read) poetry, having other acts (eg; comedy, music, etc.) and which are intended to be an evening's entertainment selling itself to people who want a good cheap night out rather than a writer's circle or poetry group/open mike for readers. But the Blue Walnut perhaps has a little more of an emphasis on comedy/comic poetry? Just an impression. It was certainly a big hit with the audience, and while there were poets there who I recognized as previous headliners etc., a lot of the audience seemed to be just that - audience rather than poets. And, just as with Taking the Mic, that's a really good sign of a night that really reaches out to people!
   The Blue Walnut itself as a venue is a charming cafe (if small when coping with larger audiences!) with a tiny nickleodeon cinema at the back with delightful vintage upholstered seating. They serve excellent fairtrade coffee ('Origins') complete with star shaped shortbread biscuits!

Thanks to Chris for organizing it and putting everything together so well and making things go with such a bang, to Matt Harvey for a great performance, and to Liv and all the supporting poets too, for making up a high quality night of performance poetry.

Namesakes

2010-11-21T19:58:00.006Z

It's always good to check that titles to your books / chapbooks/ pamphlets / CDs / etc., either haven't been used yet, or alternatively, have been used for something else that they won't get mixed up with. 'The Book of Contentions' hasn't really any exact namesakes that I could find - but interestingly, there IS a monograph called (and in other editions just 'Strife between the') 'Al Maqrizi's Book of Contention and Strife concerning the relations between the Banu Umayya and the Banu Hashim' - now, whilst I know nothing about the latter two clans, it appears (from cursory Google research) that they are Islamic tribal peoples, AND that Al Maqrizi was an Egyptian scholar 1364-1442, and so seeing as 'The Book of Contentions' starting point was the Occupation of Iraq, that seems itself something of a serendipity.
'The Book of Indictments' also has some interesting connections - again, there isn't (so far as I've found) an exact match, but what there is is fascinating - 'Officium clerici pacis: a book of indcitments, informations, inquisitions and appeals...with large additions of modern indictments' !!! about which it says; 'The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars. This collection reveals the history of English common law and Empire law in a vastly changing world of British expansion. Dominating the legal field is the Commentaries of the Law of England by Sir William Blackstone, which first appeared in 1765. Reference works such as almanacs and catalogues continue to educate us by revealing the day-to-day workings of society.' Fantastic! for a history fanatic, anyway. Plus, from 1618, more court records - 'PROCESS REGISTER BOOK OF INDICTMENTS. VOLUME. I. f. 122. James Scutts and George Richardson of St. Martin's-in-theFields for burglary; both at large.' Perfect!
For 'The Book of Offences', I made it into a feature, citing it on the back cover, the fact that the Swedish law codes were codified in the Code of 1734, divided into two parts - The Book of Offences, and The Book of Punishments! Absolutely classic. As it says in the back cover blurb; 'Not to be confused with the Swedish Book of Offences of 1734, and undoubtedly not its companion, The Book of Punishments...'

Finally 'The Book of Convictions' also appears to have no exact namesake, the nearest being 'The Book of the Beliefs and Convictions' a phrase in a book of 'Medieval Jewish Philosophical Writings'. So, also historical, and not without a kind of resonance.

It was really interesting to find oneself trawling through places like the National Library of Australia online catalogue to find out about the texts with 'names like..' - I recommend it!

The Book of Convictions

2010-11-21T18:40:00.001Z

The fourth in The Books of...Trilogy / series is now out, 'The Book of Convictions', and it was odd how new pieces kept on getting themselves written, and then how another Book shaped itself out of the majority of them - themes emerging, following on from the previous Books, deepening and broadening the notions explored, in some cases. At last I managed to decide on a title (from the various options), and a cover image - another from the brilliant Banksy. 'The Book of Indictments' having the scissors cutting out a section of wall, 'The Book of Offences' having the famous barcode as gaol bars, and 'The Book of Convictions' having the wall built by the Israeli government in the West Bank with the image of an opening in the wall looking out onto palm trees etc..
   In a sense it is still a Trilogy, as 'The Book of Contentions' can easily act as Book Zero, as it's quite different in character to the other three. It certainly starts the ball rolling, but being 150 odd aphorisms all in sequence, it's a different kettle of fish to the others with their 'chapters' each often self-contained as poems. The project appears now to be ongoing! But then there is an awful lots of news...bad news, and stuff going on all the time... Like a satirical cartoon strip, it seems that there's no lack of material for such a series.
   There are plenty of other pieces, some pasted up as 'Indictments of the Month' on the Cartwheels Collective website, some that just didn't fit the feel of one of the Books, some I just don't like very much! Having to write about something, especially something unpleasant, doesn't automatically make one like a piece of work! Even if you think it has 'something to say'.
   But I think I'm pleased with how 'The Book of Convictions' hangs together...and it's rather a nice shade of green...

More Radio Show Adventures

2010-11-14T19:06:00.002Z

You turn up and the previous DJ/show host never turned up...but at least there is light in the studio this time! Albeit that of a bedside lamp mended with stripy safety tape...however, things generally seem to be working, and your co-presenter figures out how to switch off 'Myriad' the automated system, and you can begin! The show dealt with the idea of critique - i.e. those looks at or steps back from, the mainstream, the orthodoxy or dominant culture which often surface as satire, personal choice to 'make a difference', historical throw back or call on a historical event, figure, movement, period etc., and suchlike. As well as a chance to look this multi-faceted theme, and cue for some interesting discussion (and finding some great historical tracks!) it was an opportunity to showcase some Stand Up Philosophy and The Books of...Trilogy, from our respective solo shows. Deor performed the justification for a 'Just War' by Thomas Aquinas, complete with Tony Blair impersonation! and Kant's 'What is Enlightenment?' a splendidly ambiguous text - revolutionary or reactionary? And I performed work from 'The Book of Indictments', 'The Book of Offences' and the latest in the 'trilogy', 'The Book of Convictions'.
We felt it went well, and didn't have the terrible feedback in the headphones that thankfully, the person after us last time showed us how to switch off! But it was still despite no one turning up once it went 10 either! and so having to mix carrying on with impromptu performances while ringing numbers on the noticeboard to ask how to put the automated system back on again...to not leave silence! which was all rather stressful. At one point I just read from the posters - 'this is Phonic FM, 106.8 FM, Exeter's sound alternative - no adverts, no playlists...no training for the DJs...' afterwards I wished I hadn't! but one does strange things under stress...

Halloween Shows

2010-11-01T19:15:00.004Z

Halloween is almost always a busy time for storytellers, and this one was no exception - we were booked to do some Halloween storytelling as part of the Halloween celebrations at the Sharpham Estate run by the Sharpham Trust near Totnes, which came hot on the heels of our Halloween Radio show on Phonic FM. For the latter, we had some wonderful classical music from the likes of Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, and Bach, haunting tales from Old Iceland and Devon, and fabulous classic poetry from Robert Frost, Ben Jonson, Rudyard Kipling, Charles Causeley, Harold Munro, John Masefield and others.
   For the former, we arrived at the Sharpham Estate in the afternoon after a beautiful journey over the Haldon Hills and south of the Moor, and found that the Estate in no way brought an end to the dazzling Autumnal experience - the views over the Dart Estuary, the woods in all their glory and many different vistas and plenty of visual interest greeted us. Volunteers came to collect us, and show us to the Quarry which is where the pizza oven and big fire, seating areas etc. were. We were led in through a door, and out past a very attractive vegetable garden, and then through winding paths with lovely views up into the forest, and finally round to the quarry, and then up to our changing space and prop storage venue - a dry warm yurt with sofas and LED lighting. The quarry space was welcoming with some delightfully carved pumpkins on the bar area - one with a huge smile, and another with a tree and bats silhouette, cobwebbing over wooden structures, and a powerful but subtle LED spotlight for our performance space, plus a ring of lanterns made by people earlier. We were brought pizza and tea, very kindly and once everything was ready, and most people had finished eating or queuing for food, we began - we didn't do our most frightening tales as some of the audience sitting around the campfire were rather too young, so as well as trademark tales 'Molly the Dauntless Girl' from Norfolk, and 'The Girl Who Gave a Knight a Kiss of Out Necessity' from Sweden, and the creepy but high energy 'Tipingee' from Haiti, we did the tale of the Chinoo - a Native American heart warming tale with an unusual twist, and (to suit the lantern making and procession) a Chinese New Year story. Everyone seemed to enjoy the set, with lots of applause and a good 'ahhh!' at the end of the Chinoo story. Organizers, volunteers and audience all thanked us afterwards and 'brilliant' 'wonderful' and 'awesome' were words that warmed our hearts. So despite having left the shoes I had been intending to perform in and so jumping about in the mud on an October evening, and getting lost once the lanterns were put out in the pitch dark wood in deep country with a maze of paths and only a couple of torches and starlight at one point! we felt it had been well worth it. We were also very fortunate with the weather - it had been raining and misting earlier, fine for walking, but not good for sitting about or costumes and masks, but it dried up to be a beautiful warm evening, and the paths were a little muddy but not bad at all. All in all it was a really good gig - the Sharpham Estate more than worth a visit - they do lots of courses and events, and the whole Halloween evening went with a swing. And it was all rounded off for us by a party at a friend's house in Dartington.
   Big thanks to Dani for booking us, to Jenny, Sarah and the rest of the volunteers for being so endlessly helpful, and to Jade for recommending us!

Check out; http://www.sharphamtrust.org/

Writing & Sound Workshops

2010-10-21T19:42:00.000+01:00

Tired but glad to have seen the amazing Mid and North Devon countryside on the way there and back, we've just finished another set of sound and writing and storytelling by sound workshops for a Science of Sound Week at a school in Woolsery near Bideford. The workshops went well, although the age group which mine was aimed at didn't seem to get the hang of it as well as the last class with whom we hosted the workshop. However, for the soundscapes part, some participants did come up with some very poetic suggestions - sounds that reminded them of time travel, museum exhibits coming alive at night time, roundabouts moving by themselves at midnight, zombies emerging from the grounds of a haunted house, the stars twinkling, going cosmic in worlds dancing, and other striking visual images called up by the sounds. The maximum number of words collected was 85 - and mighty pleased with themselves that participant was! very justifiably. Deor's workshop was something of a triumph, as while tailored for younger pupils, it was not intended for those who could not yet read nor write! so when some six year olds came in, he had to think on his feet! But we found ways to help them along, and out of the groups creating sound tableaux, 'when dinosaurs roamed the earth' was an absolute winner! I had had no idea what they were going to try and recreate the sounds of, but guessed from the large creature noises followed by the chopping and cracking of bones as they ate small mammals! Also brilliant were the group that chose 'inside a volcano' - the rushing lava and explosions were just great. The other thing that probably impressed me most was the distinction between normal footsteps and the sound of footfalls on stairs!
Both these workshops run risks - the noise based one that of descending into cacophony, if everyone starts making their own noise without regard to others, and/or gets sound confused too much with movement and so thinks that acting or movement will do just as well. The sound words one, always risks the participants using films, serials, videos and readymade imaginings instead of using their own inner eyes. But we each think that these risks are worth running, because - as well as managing to keep in check both the 'not listening to others becoming too obsessed with one's own noise' and the 'giving readymade visuals as examples without using one's own brains' phenomena - when participants do come up with incredibly clever and convincing sound tableaux or beautiful and unusual poem-sentences or descriptive fragments/quirky word suggestions, it's very rewarding, and you can see it expanding their conceptual base when it comes to new ways of looking at sound, whether for communication, paying attention to the world around them, or for literary, accuracy of terms and making better definitions to identify the world around them and the ideas which it evokes and inspires. So another successful day's work - and the trees on the way, all gold among the still deep greens, and blue washed sky with grey smear flying saucer clouds and a delicious bronzy gold antique old masters long low slanting light of sun, reminded me of nothing so much as our colours workshops...

Thanks to the Head teacher for finding us such an excellent speaker for the sounds, our workshop assistant and most of all to Yolande of Bideford College for booking us yet again.

Word Command at Epicentre Book Cafe

2010-10-19T18:06:00.002+01:00

It was a really good night at the Word Command spoken word evening held at the Epicentre Book Cafe, hosted by Bryce Dumont. We were headlining, and so did something ambitious - i.e. tried to showcase a whole range of different genres and styles that we did. Well, when Bryce chose publicity images, he chose one of each! So we started off with storytelling, doing one of our trademark tales for an adult audience, with cloaks, helm, staff, tricorn hat etc., and then followed with a narrative poem of mine. For our second set, we mixed contemporary American fiction as monologue, Stand Up Philosophy and performance poetry. The Stand Up Philosopher doing Marx, followed by a new piece from the forthcoming 'Book of Convictions' (by me) then an early geometric poem (both referring obliquely to the pieces before and after - as the first Philosophy piece referred to Martin Luther, and the poem to Martin Luther King, and the second piece was from Spinoza, and so written as geometric proofs!). And finally condensed axioms from Ethics by the said Spinoza. Having started off with a contemporary American story (see a previous blog on 'Performing Contemporary American Fiction') performed by myself as a monologue, to begin with. So were showcasing; storytelling, stand up philosophy, monologue, and three types of poetry - narrative/monologue/confessional (though I don't exactly like that term, but it conveys something) speech style, satire/declamatory and literary/geometric. All performed, the last with movement as part of the poem. Several different 'heads' were involved! which I always find strangely difficult, but it paid off, they all went down well, and we got a lot of laughs for the storytelling and prose fiction, and many kind compliments. 'Beautiful', 'wonderful', 'fantastic' and 'brilliant' mainly, which made it feel definitely worth the effort!

   Also performing were the excellent Susan Taylor with a new collection concerning Pixies! Simon Williams being very witty, and the fluid Jennie Osborne with a mixture of compelling words and movement, among others. Bryce served hot soup, coffee and cakes, and the Epicentre Book Cafe is a lovely venue - full of books of course, knitted cakes (!), pictures, it's bright, airy and friendly. Bryce got everyone to contribute to a group sound poem, which once finished, he performed really well to both laughter and acclaim. Also tributes to poets whom he had admired and who had recently passed away.
   I had to buy a lovely travel journal with a cover of antique maps, and all in all it was a really good night.
   Huge thanks to Bryce, for inviting us and hosting the evening with such aplomb, and cooking for everyone! and to Susan, Simon and Jennie for being so good to perform with - long live the Epicentre Book Cafe! It deserves the rave reviews which its gathering.

Check out the website at;
http://www.epicentrebookcafe.org.uk/books.htm

Second Radio Show

2010-10-13T18:18:00.000+01:00

Corks! (as they say in old teen novels of the 1930's) I don't vouch for this morning's radio show, as it was one of 'those' experiences. We got into the building (thnakfully the doors were open), and entered the right code to get into the basement studio...but when we got into the space itself, half the lights were off, and the headphones I was going to use were dead, so I couldn't tell if any of what I said could be heard - or indeed if the show was coming out as static or silence! And there was no one there - just the automated system, called, I believe 'Myriad'. It was scary! Meanwhile, Deor the unflappable went ahead and figured out how to turn the latter off, and told me to begin, meanwhile not being able to get the CD player to work... I fought the desire to say aloud that I thought no one could hear, etc., etc., instead saying my lines abstractedly, and writing a note to say the headphones were down... The hour seemed LONG, without being able to break it up with music, and especially in the semi-dark and not knowing at all how it sounded (if audible at all). Of course you can sit and press buttons randomly, but without a manual or advice, the dangers of doing that...struck us as not worth it. The next DJ arrived at the dot of 10, just as we were wondering how to put 'Myriad' back into action, and he showed us at least the CD mistake, and commiserated about the headphones, before taking over, much to my relief.
   If it sounds a bit ragged therefore, the reason is that seven minutes being shown buttons by one person who wasn't expecting you during their show followed by five minutes refresher instructions by the person on just before you, doesn't equip one all that well if things have all been switched off, rather than taking over something already running!
   Oh well, you live and learn...and hopefully that will be one of the hardest shows we ever have to do - speaking non-stop for an hour while trying to figure out what's wrong!
   And we did still manage to discuss storytelling and tell some tales, do two more poems and another riddle from the C10th Exeter Book, Episode 2 of 'Porlock the Warlock', and John Masefield's 'Sea Fever' - so it can't be all bad!

Meter 10 at the Exeter Poetry Festival

2010-10-13T17:54:00.001+01:00

A busy Saturday getting a Spoken/Written and CC Press stall together for the networking meeting held by Apples & Snakes and Cyprus Well as part of the Exeter Poetry Festival (the city's first). The evening went well, with lots of folks I knew there, and we were given a good BIG table for the stall, and covered it with signs, leaflets, books, chapbooks, sign up book, posters, laminated info sheets, past editions, information file to look through, cards to take away, Viking wristbands (free with each copy of the 'Porlock' novel), Widsith & Deor badges...! There were brief addresses from Rachel McCarthy of Excite (the country's biggest Poetry Society Poetry Stanza), Gina Sherman of Apples & Snakes S.W., and Tracey Guirey of Cyprus Well, and then people mingled. Subscribers who I knew came and said hello, poets signed up who'd not yet done so, some folks dug into their pockets and paid their subscription fees there and then! And it was lovely to meet some subscribers who I'd only known through e-mail beforehand. Met also some other really interesting people like the guy running the Waterstones stall, and the guest poet of the evening, the both riveting and utterly charming Dorothea Smartt, who did a compelling set with her lovely voice making sure you heard and paid attention to every word she said, to round off the event. I especially liked her line - (something like) 'denial is just a debt with interest that's yet to be paid' (on the issue of slavery/denying responsibility for past wrongs), and her powerful list of names/things to call someone - from son and father to dissident or rebel to criminal or slave, and so on. It was very evocative and telling.

All in all, it was worth carting boxes and files of stuff on a Saturday evening into town, and I don't think it could really have gone better.
Special thanks to Alex and Gina for all their organizing and making it - and indeed the whole Festival! - go with such a swing.

Hectic End of the Season

2010-10-06T17:18:00.000+01:00

Chaos! Trying to rehearse for a headline spot at Epicentre Book Cafe's spoken word evening Word Command next week, hosted by the cultured and intrepid Bryce Dumont, sorting out next week's radio show, the Storyclub tonight (which we'll be trying to record some of), preparing for the writing and sound workshops the week after next, trying to get the next Edition of Spoken/Written off by the end of the week, attending the Apples & Snakes / Cyprus Well hosted network meeting this weekend, and hosting Spoken/Written stalls before some of the evening events at the Exeter Poetry Festival this week and weekend...! Plus it happens to be the time of year when all the props and gear needs sorting out and mending after a full summer of hard use, and then of course the fact that the garden needs attention and things could be tidier in general having hardly been here until this last week and a half! All this and 'The Book of Convictions', the fourth in The Books of...Trilogy of serial poem chapbooks is being put together even as I type! When will I get a moment to e-mail the friend I most want to catch up with, finish making the Cabinet of Curiosities and continue with the other craft projects in hand? As for sitting in the garden to eat a meal - in this amazing late summery weather too! but there's just not the time... Writing more of 'The History of this House in Twenty Objects' will just have to be squeezed in at random stolen moments...isn't most writing?

II

This is the time of year when Majical Youth (theatre and production company who work at many festivals including organizing areas in the Kidz Field at Glastonbury, the craft area at the Beautiful Days, the Kid's Field at the Buddhafield Festival, stuff for Tewkesbury Medieval Festival, and others) invite all their crew and others who have worked with or for them over the season to come to their base in West Wales for a big party/small festival, which also involves renovating their kit from carnival stuff and costumes to craft gear and vehicles... What a great idea. I sometimes wish I could arrange the Collective to all come and spend a weekend at HQ doing the same! But as we're a rather smaller operation, guess who most of the clearing up and clearing out falls to? Yep....

III

But at least the storytelling van is now emptied and swept (ready for wood collecting duty and tip runs - if you share space with artists there's ALWAYS more stuff to throw away!), and most of the props are about where they should be or will live until needed...most of the craft gear sorted...still some of the fabric and leather to go...garden mostly cleared of random willow annoyingly lashing you as you try to get to the compost bin...most of the costumes put away, homes still needing to be found for the new things... And there's a pterodactyl covered in red wax standing outside waiting to be let in...(the less said about the goblin falling asleep against the wings of a green demon, the better...)

Phonic FM

2010-09-29T18:12:00.005+01:00

Just when I wondered if I could be any busier (never wonder that!) I get persuaded into co-hosting a radio show on Phonic FM! Called 'Widsith & Deor Present', it will feature culture, arts, storytelling, poetry, history with local links, local food mentions, Medieval music / Early music, and maybe some philosophy as well. Plus any 'curios' we think might be interesting especially if connected to Devon and Exeter, and interviews with folks doing, researching or performing interesting things. Currently it also features episodes of the 'Porlock the Warlock' novel (by yours truly), but I think that's a bit crazy, just because of how long it would take to read it all in a fortnightly show! However.
This morning was our first show, and Dan the DJ before us very kindly ran through the controls with us (we had been shown once for about ten minutes by a kindly DJ from last week's morning show called Luke, previously, and that was it! You do get thrown in at the deep end), and then the clock struck 9 and it was time to begin! We had been guests on BBC Radio Devon before now, performing work from the C10th Exeter Book, (and once my own work), also Exeter FM, and been featured on previous Phonic shows 'Waves with Words' and 'Loudmouth', but never presented our own show before. It was quite scary, and we were glad to have run through/sorted out the topics to cover and pieces to feature/perform, as well as the songs, beforehand.
For music we played tracks from the amazing Daughters of Elvin, THE Medieval dance music and circus specialists, spoke about the Epic of Gilgamesh, Icelandic Sagas and Exeter Book, told a story from the Epic of Gilgamesh, and performed ancient poetry from the Exeter Book, Gilgamesh, Egilsaga and Elder Edda. As 'Porlock' is about how the Exeter Book received its three famous marks of damage in antiquity, and weaves its destiny with that of the Epic and features Vikings, we ended with Episode One of 'Porlock'. Pieces included the Song of the Sybil, The Ruin from the Exeter Book, and some of the Flood story, as well as a couple of the famous Exeter Book Riddles.
Other topics included the other hidden treasures in Exeter Cathedral Library, and seasonal food tips! Mercifully, it sounded alright through the headphones, and the music seemed to come on when it was meant to, and we managed not to say 'er' or 'like' or 'y'know' i.e. those stopgap phrases that are the mark of thinking what you're going to say next on radio in my experience! And it seems that the equipment set up to record it as podcasts also was working, so hopefully we will have a podcast archive or listen again feature for the show as well.
It's early days, and while 7.30 is my usual time to get up, and yet 6.45 seems to put me in a foul temper! and the weather and days aren't getting any lighter or warmer, still it felt worth doing - not least because, on getting back to the computer, an e-mail had arrived already from a listener who had tuned in by chance and was full of kind praise for both stories and music! And that was as unexpected as it was welcome.
So...the first show has been a success...whatever next? Well the next show on Wed. 13th Oct. I guess...

Dates of the shows;
http://www.phonic.fm/phonic-fm-schedule/wednesday/

'Widsith & Deor Present' show website with podcasts / listen again feature at;
https://sites.google.com/site/widsithdeorpresent/
(and yes I haven't had time to proof it as it was set up without me...but I will...)

Spoken/Written Bulletin S.W. - A Crossroads

2010-09-18T19:22:00.003+01:00

I've said this before, but it was really hard to put together Edition 50 (although on the plus side, I always hoped Spoken/Written would make it to 50 editions). A testament to how hard it was, was how late it was. Mid way through the month, not just before it began. Still, it's done and been sent off. There really was no time before, and this week is the first time I've had longer than half an hour at the computer, i.e. was back at base.
It's a tough one. One of the inferences of recent conversations I've had is that no funding body wanted to duplicate services. And Cyprus Well was either going to be interested in taking Spoken/Written under its wing or not...turns out it wasn't. They have a blog and a calendar and these it seems may be intended to 'replace' Spoken/Written, as they have replaced the Literature S.W. website. They want to build a 'community' of S.W. writers/words folk, and so you can upload your news and events...rather than send them to something like Spoken/Written. Cyprus Well's brief then, seems to be that of a 'one stop shop'. But (thinks Spoken/Written) wasn't that meant to be what Literature S.W. was? and they still had Spoken/Written as their official bulletin. And there was always stuff they didn't cover on ArtsMatrix (never mind the myriad of other sources from global to national to local). Also - does that mean Literature Training is redundant for S.West words people? I doubt it! It's one of the country's key resources. And as for specialist stuff - well, it's early days for the Cyprus Well blog, but there's news that KEAP (Kernow Education Arts Partnership) has featured that it hasn't. There are it seems, too many artists, too much going on in an area the size of Denmark, and the scene is too fragmented for one single body to ever encompass, manage and cater for all of it. And what about the specialists like Critical Network or formerly The Place? None of this stuff has yet featured in a Cyprus Well newsflash.
What Spoken/Written offers is a convenient - I hope - digest, of global, national and local opportunities that are out there from the vast web and numerous newsletters, which could be of use to poets, writers and others in the S.West.
Moreover, what big organizations like Apples and Snakes, Cyprus Well, etc. feature are things that other - usually organizations - send them, or that they hear about in meetings. What Spoken/Written offers is original research. I.e., the reason you got turned down by the new S.West zine starting up was because it was featured on all the usual websites...the reason you got published in that cool Canadian zine was because Spoken/Written told you about it and you were one of only a handful of UK writers submitting, and they wanted a dash of internationalism....you get the picture? In a tough market with hundreds of writers fighting to gain any single space from any one of the dazzling array but still finite number of quality zines, anything that gives you information that everyone else doesn't have, is important. It's like the fact that it's only logical (if you actually want to win one, and weren't 'born lucky') that to win a competition, your chances are much better if you enter a lesser known one. And if you're a struggling writer, a free one at that. Spoken/Written looks at things from the artist's point of view. Whether you're a poet, performance poet, writer, novelist, storyteller, text artist, spoken word performer, short story writer, editor, zine editor, proof reader, writing tutor, writing scholar - because Spoken/Written's Editor has been or is still all of these things, so Spoken/Written has been there, got the badges, the t-shirts, the tattoos and the scars, and works for you with - the intention has always been - all the critical wariness and thoroughness that you would put in for yourself, if you had the time.

Hence I believe Spoken/Written still to be unique and to provide a service that no other regional service quite does. Believe indeed that it does or did deserve to be funded. And it certainly earns every penny of the subscriptions and donations that it has received. Please do donate at the link to the right, or e-mail thoughts you may have about the future of Spoken/Written or its value to; bulletin-editor@blueyonder.co.uk .

Porlock the Warlock Show! at Porlock Arts Festival

2010-09-11T19:51:00.010+01:00

Back on Monday, unloading the stuff from the Bunkfest shows, and a huge amount of things people had given us, inexplicably, from a new performance cloak to a pack of card for the printer, and a heap of other stuff, to then frantically design a programme (which normally would have been done in good time, but there just hasn't been any!), and marshalling a whole other set of props and a big book stall for an indoor performance, plus getting together stuff for a workshop that we hadn't done for months, catching up on a bit of admin, a desperate attempt to stop the prop store and craft studio devolving into absolute chaos (I'm usually or rather was - very organized, and like knowing where things are...but have been so busy this summer that it's descended into - where is that again? and hunting for lost things...) answering e-mails for fresh bookings for both performances and workshops, and then it was off again on Friday. To Porlock, for the Porlock Arts Festival, where we were doing none other than the Porlock the Warlock Show! Plus a Name the Colour Workshop at St. Dubricius School in the afternoon before the two shows.
We arrived having packed the van (for what seemed like the nth time) and hunted about, but soon found the school. We bolted down some lunch, and went in and delivered the workshop. Strange to do so without Yolande - the Primary Science Co-ordinator for N.Devon schools, and a really good egg, introducing us and making us feel at home, but the school was lovely - small and homely with a really fun garden full of interest and flowers like a large hurdle cone and various levels.
Then we went to have a look round Porlock - and one always finds something new of interest - last time it was the delightful garden behind the information centre, full of public art like an upturned boat sculpture fountain, ship shaped weather vane (no pun intended), fan cut stairs, fancy dovecote, swirly pebble paving, armillary sundial and riot of split level flower beds, followed behind by a lush grassy space peppered with shady trees, including apple and pear - in which the Poetry Picnic was held, by the avant garde poet and tireless poetry champion Tilla Brading. This time it was the Dovery Manor Museum where we were performing, and its glorious herb garden with willow bee hives, staircases and a bridge that led back into the upper floor of the small and very atmospheric and idiosyncratic C15th building that was the Museum. One could hardly have asked for a more charming venue - wood panelling, gothic cut windows, a steep stone spiral stair, lovely old furniture including a delicious old oval table for the book stall/signings, and a fireplace with a pink flame as part of our backdrop! The curator made us tea, coffee and gave us biscuits, and some people had kindly cleared out the Solar as our performance space earlier in the day. David of the Festival Committee met us and kindly helped us set up, and showed us what choices were to be had in lighting. All in all, they were both a tremendous help and support, and at 6, the first show was ready to begin. It had been a beautiful sunny day, with mist that gave a fine rain that was only really mist and for which one didn't need a coat, just creating a rainbow, and then clearing up for a fine golden evening. The venue was almost full, and the first show went very well, and afterwards I dashed down the stairs to take up position and sell and sign books.
The historic space looked even lovelier in the fading light, and our props seemed to blend in completely - the dagger with the axe on the wall, the trefoil wooden chest with the trefoil window frames, cloak and staff, drum and crystal ball, drinking horns and sheepskins in keeping with the old oak and stone, vaulted ceiling and iron clad doors. Hearing people tell Deor how much they'd enjoyed the show and selling Porlock books is always good, and fortified by these, after everyone had gone I ate as much as I could and drank copious amounts of water, needing energy for the next show at 8pm - just forty minutes later!
The second show was slightly less full, but still with an attentive audience who applauded warmly at the end, and we got much kind praise for our efforts, and had pulled out a stop - serving Anglo-Saxon sweetmeats and Persian stuffed dates, and showered the audience with confetti as well as everything else! David was pleased, and we all packed up, the curator made me some more tea (although she must have been longing to get home!) and after many more thanks and goodbyes, finally everything was gone from the Solar and the Museum kitchen and entrance hall, and we made our way back to base...returning, exhausted and worn out at midnight. Workshops in schools are usually enough to take the stuffing out of me! But followed by not one, but two shows...!

However, the Dovery Manor Museum and Porlock Festival were worth it - and there was a nice feel to the place at it put on its festival colours and frills - posters on railings everywhere (including for ourselves!), and their cheerful purple signs. Porlock itself is worth visiting at any time, with its attractions and shops - including selling almond croissants in the corner shop! HUGE thanks to David and the Festival Committee for having us, to the Curator for all her kindness and patience with us invading her lovely museum for an evening, and to Chris Blazey of St. Dubricius School. And as ever, to all those who bought books, we hope you enjoy them!

Bunkfest

2010-09-06T21:44:00.006+01:00

Next came a whirlwind of museums - the British Museum just before the Poetry Cafe, then the Ashmolean Musuem, and History of Science Museum in Oxford, and some van hassles (mysterious leaks, driving round like a headless chicken trying to find a friendly garage, etc.! the usual shoestring stress), and then our performance at the Bunkfest in Oxfordshire. The Bunkfest is a really charming three day festival with an unusual mixture of big rock festival quality stalls and food and hordes of folks, (and of course lots of music), contrasted with a town festival - with events happening in parks, pubs, the main square road-blocked and given over to entertainment surrounded by stalls and peopled with happy pedestrians - and the social mix was almost greater than at some much bigger festivals, because representatives of every community in the town turned up seemingly as well as a heap of visitors, so there was a real community feel to it too. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and the weather was lovely. As soon as we walked along the Saxon walls - very wonderful they are too, and hidden by trees and hedges around the perimeter of the park - we saw marquees and some of the usual suspects at festivals with banners flying in the breeze below, and went down into the fray. The stalls were of extremely high quality (so much so that I had to break a resolution not to buy anything!), and the atmosphere buzzy - we checked in, and were given our wristbands and welcome packs and free programmes, and then into the town centre and square where dark Morris dancers were being dramatic, followed by a splendid African dance and singing and drumming group called Zulu - there was a wonderful continuity between the two acts, and it seemed to me that different countries in far flung continents had come up with remarkably similar ways of expressing celebration and ritual. The stalls were some of the best food/farmer's markets I'd seen all summer, and the almond croissants were not to be missed! to say nothing of the goat's cheese, olives, and other treats. There were antique and vintage junk stalls too, and all in all it was surprisingly hard to tear oneself away to gather the props and set up in the venue.
The courtyard of the George Hotel was a delightful space to perform in, and we shared the three hour performance time with Tim O' The Oak, surrounded by black wicker sofas and chairs with deep white cushions (reminiscent of French cafes) and smoked glass tables. Each set went really well, and our audiences were attentive and rewarding, joining in or cheering at the right places, and Tim bought us drinks very kindly. We were sorry to leave, but had to be off back to Devon to prepare for the Porlock Festival. It's hard to pin down why the Bunkfest was so special - perhaps its mixture of everyone coming out to have fun, serendipity for those not expecting it, large number of free events and generally taking over the town yet being a 'proper festival' was hard to beat, and I was surprised how much fun one could pack into a single day.
BIG thanks to Dave for booking us, the whole Bunkfest team for putting on such a great show, Tim O' The Oak for being so good to share a venue with, and telling such verve filled tales, and the staff at the George Hotel for being so accommodating, and our lovely audiences!

Poetry Cafe

2010-09-05T16:34:00.014+01:00

Without stopping to catch breath it seemed, it was off immediately after the 'Activity Report Form' to the Arts Council was finished and sent, to London catch up with various folks and do slots at the Poetry Society's Poetry Cafe night in Covent Garden, 'Poetry Unplugged' hosted by Niall O'Sullivan. Neither I nor the Stand Up Philosopher had been before, nor our friend who lectures in Politics at Royal Holloway and lives in Soho either. The place was packed and it was a warm August night, so rather steamy as well in the basement below the Cafe where the event takes place. We were glad to have signed up not long after 6, as at 7.20 we were lucky to get seats, as latecomers were standing in front of doors. 35 poets had signed up to deliver work, so the usual five minutes had to be cut. The quality of work was pretty high, and the styles diverse - from the literary to the comic, free verse to rhyming, moving and quirky, some slightly intellectual. The poet who ended the first half (a host of another London night) a physical poet too, although I was behind so many people I could hardly see the 'stage' most of the time!
The Stand Up Philosopher went down really well - people coming up to him afterwards to say things like 'the star turn of the night', 'you should have an agent', and 'incredible intensity' - which was excellent. I didn't bother with new work, but (knowing the difficulty of tight schedules), simply did an old piece I knew very well and delivered with speed (as it suits the poem/rhythm), which came in at under two minutes.
A quality night with lots of folks who had never performed there before - big thanks to all the other poets and audience - a pity there wasn't a board with everyone's names! and to Niall O'Sullivan for hosting it with finesse, especially having to shoehorn in so many in both time and space, and to our friend Nathan who was such a rock!

Beautiful Days

2010-08-23T21:07:00.007+01:00

For the Beautiful Days Festival, we had a crew of five from the Collective - ourselves Widsith & Deor, Andi and Mandy of Freeplay, and Liz of MerryMaker.co.uk (individual website under construction). Working for Majical Youth, we had a marquee in the Craft area and slots in the Storytelling Circle in the 'Under the Redwoods' performance space between 6 and 9pm each evening.
At first I must confess to thinking (having been back home for all of three days) 'oh no, not another one', but actually... Andi and Mandy arrived for a quick cup of tea and to kindly take some of the supplies, and - after a while as her train was delayed - we picked up Liz from the station (as she had come up from Penzance), having packed the storytelling van full of leather, sheepskins, cow hide, tools, carnival heads and posts, bodymasks, fabric, and cooking gear - i.e. all the necessary stuffs for storytelling, workshops, event decor, and being out of doors for days. Plus books in case we got a chance to sell. Then fitted in all Liz's gear, and off we went.
Thursday was marquee decoration and Freeplay did a splendid job, the place a palace of drapes and cut bunting, finished off by their big fabric sign and our carnival heads on poles. It rained a lot in the night, and we were allotted a parking space on a steep slope and not given any blocks, so it was a struggle whenever the back doors were opened not to let the sleeping bags shoot out onto the floor! But on the other hand, it was a great spot in other ways - because it was right at the back of the crew camping, with access to the tea tent over the way, two vans away from the rest of our own Collective crew, and right next to a secret back entrance into the field with the main arena, so within five metres, one overlooked the main stage!
The workshops - a lunchtime session on Friday, and two mornings over the weekend - went very well. Mandy offered peg loom weaving as folks made their own rag rugs! Some taking hours, others just making something small to sit on. Adults were addicted, and children amazed at their own handiwork. Andi showed folks how to make 'magic wristbands' - leather strips that wove into themselves without cutting off the end, like a mobius strip, I showed them how to make simple classic Viking plaited leather wristbands, fellow storyteller Deor (whose original workshop the whole leather one was) showed them how to make gauntlets and masks, and Liz kitted people out with carnival masks from paper, card, sequins, feathers, glue and other things. We catered for every age group, the smallest children preferring carnival masks, to middling ones wanting animal masks - mixing cardboard with cow hide - and tails! to teenagers making anklets to adults making full face creepy animal head masks, guitar straps (from rags) and one person a furry stole, and another a miniskirt/belt complete with cash pocket! Needless to say, people were very appreciative and some didn't want to leave - 'I haven't cleaned my teeth yet or anything - I just got a call from my daughter saying 'Mum, you've got to come - there's a leather workshop - you'll love it!' ' - high praise from someone who works at heaps of festivals for a living, as the latter was a comment from a stallholder who provides food at all hours to wasted festival goers throughout each summer.
Our storytelling went equally well, the host being teller John Row who organizes the storytelling tent in the Kidz Field at Glastonbury and has done for some years. We told in a circular fire space under tall trees, a twenty minute to half hour set each evening, and to my delight, we started off with people sitting in a semi circle, and as we performed, it became a full circle, and by the end, concentric rings - always a good sign.
Unlike the Buddhafield we had excellent support in the rest of the Collective, other friends were there, and we even had some time to enjoy ourselves. Meals were also Collective, and I was surprised, pleased and relieved as ever at how well we all work together. On Monday we weren't so shattered that we just had to leave (unlike some previous festivals, and despite the torrent of rain on Sunday night) so we went 'tatting' as Mandy calls it - seeking for anything useful amidst the piles of rubbish and junk left by festival goers. I know a number of people who gather tents and allsorts of stuff at the end of events and sell them afterwards. And sure enough - a green heavy duty waterproof jacket, a small foldaway umbrella (working), piles and piles of bread rolls still wrapped in plastic and packed in boxes - we asked and the hot dog place said they didn't want them, we told the kid's crew, and their caterers collected box loads! an air bed, tarpaulin, pristine pillows scented only with washing powder, solid clean bucket with handle, wooden stakes, pink organza, tableware, yellow tutu...the list went on. We each took a few useful things and shook our heads with wonder at the rest - the things people throw away...
Pleased with how our part of it went, that we were a good team, that the weather even at its worst had cleared up and been basically reasonable, and at the festival itself, we parted in good fellowship. Huge thanks to Andi, Mandy, Liz, Sam and Alex for being such a great crew and so talented/helpful, also to Bicton Ben and lovely Kate for providing extra amusement, Jackie Brown of Manic Organic, and to Helen, Jo and Majical Youth for booking us again, John Row for hosting us, Ruth for telling such great tales, and all involved in putting on such a nice and relaxed festival.

Performing Contemporary American Fiction

2010-08-10T21:48:00.009+01:00

Storytelling Written Fiction...

I love storytelling - I love it not least because it frees one from all constraints of how literary work 'should be done'. When I first became aware of it, it seemed to be some strange branch of theatre, but one I didn't understand as while lots of movement and emphasis and voices were in order, the lack of props, costumes, sets and lighting phased me. And of course the extremely stripped down cast... That was then. It's long since I've seen it as an amazing artform - fluid, dynamic, spontaneous - with room for both the polished drama of a speech in the mouth of a hero or powerful narrator, to pocket or full length play all created by one person, sometimes with only one 'voice', and minimal or no props... An artform as old as mankind, that harks back to some of the most vital parts of our 'intangible heritage' - oral history, myth, legend, folklore, folk tales. An art that automatically combines words with performance, and uses movement in gesture, asks, as the scops did in the Dark Ages, for music, and that can be very visual and even use dance. An art that carries its history on its sleeve from The Epic of Gilgamesh to Viking Sagas to Medieval fairytales, and wears its erudition lightly, taking ancient clay tablets and obscure global heritage and fashioning it into something for your ear in the local pub. An art that crosses continents more effortlessly than most, as storytellers from all over the world tell tales from the other side of the world. That somehow, never having been to Sweden or Bulgaria say, I can bring them closer to me, the farmer/peasant culture of turnip tales from the 1600's or Sly Peter the fool figure whose first recorded mentions are also from 1600-1700 by telling those tales. I feel these cultures and past times are suddenly closer at hand, and can be conjured for others to do the same for them too.

The other magical thing about storytelling is its sheer flexibility. And so when I wondered about the relationship which there could be between written literary/post-mass literate society literature and real storytelling, I didn't come to any conclusions but instead just natural occurrences. (No conclusions that is, except that's its bloody hard to write a real fairytale with a true feel of the originals, and that many attempts to construct latterday folktales for oral telling instead of purely literary tributes, had fallen into the numerous pitfalls attendant on such an attempt. And that it was a lot harder than it looked! to retain the simplicity and wisdom of the real thing.)
Instead what happened was this; There were days when the next Storyclub would suddenly come up, and catch me completely unprepared. (For some reason I have never told the same tale twice at the Storyclub unless a second tale is called for - some fetish I suppose.) At which point I would glance round in trepidation, and my co-storyteller would ask me - well what story DO you remember? And it would be something which I had read - either recently, or in one case, years ago - while trawling through e-zines to make sure they were of a good enough quality to be of interest to readers of Spoken/Written Bulletin to be worth their while submitting to.

In every case so far, the stories which I have (in haste) recollected and then retold, have all been from contemporary American fiction. And very splendid examples they have been of them too - hence being so damn memorable that when it came to re-telling them, I could remember the plots and characters, give them all their voices, and fill in any missing details with the storyteller's 'spontaneous adaptation facility' (otherwise known as 'making it up as you go along') - despite sometimes having read them some time ago.

The Stories Themselves...

The first one was a startlingly memorable sci fi/fantasy story called 'Our House' by Paul Di Filippo. It has a repetition structure perfect for storytelling - there is a house with three floors (which all have their features), three couples live there, and each of the two main characters have two encounters apiece - it's also wacky, striking, and the kind of story that's so 'well of course', that you wonder why you hadn't written it yourself. But that of course, is its genius - to capture something that's parallel to what so many understand as being past/present/future, and also the problems and pleasures of shared house living...
The first time I performed it, the audience came to be in hysterics especially on the "Mrs Ab! We've only just met...!" line...it's just a case of getting the timing right on this most generous and perfectly put together of tales. I was thanked very kindly for telling it, and people said they could see why I had remembered it for so long!

Another amazing and completely different story is 'Requiem' by Joshua James Wilson Mattern. It's an incredibly powerful monologue of one man trying to decide what to say - or indeed whether to speak at all - at his estranged father's funeral. At the behest of his beloved sister Sherry, he decides he has to say something...it's a brilliant exploration into that mixture of love, hate, pity, anger and duty that runs through difficult family relationships, and his eventual resolution is, bizarrely both shocking - as is the first line - and 'right'. When I did that one, I felt (probably from drama training) that I became him, and when I stood at the end, I knew the whole audience was with me - it was cathartic, and people were very kind - one person coming up to me and saying 'that was incredibly powerful, and you are an amazing storyteller' afterwards. Just putting on one of my American accents (from drama) and getting lost in the wonderful writing of Joshua Mattern, it was more his triumph than mine, and I e-mailed the magazine afterwards to let them/him know. It was no surprise that they were nominating him for the Pushcart Prize! And were glad I had got in touch.

A story that was totally different again was a retelling or rather a latterday Southern folktale from the Deep South - I was looking at the web resources searching for tales for that month's theme, when I came across a great site called the The Moonlit Road. I flicked through and at once came upon a tale I liked the look of - 'Deal with the Devil'. It read so well and so classically like a folktale, that it was only after I had read it to learn it, that I realized it actually had an author and was a modern 'folktale' by David Hirt. It's very hard to write like a 'real' folktale, and I would class books like Angela Carter's 'The Bloody Chamber' firmly in the literary tradition. To write and capture the old oral mores and tensions in a story is really a lot harder than it looks. (I only have two short stories which I think come anywhere near, and one I'm not so sure about. The other I modify a lot when telling aloud, as well as cut down.) - So I was much impressed by 'Deal with the Devil' which has all the slow richness of a genuine tale from the Deep South - and I had the joy of using another American accent. This one also went down really well with the audience, and I think they thought it must be a 'folktale' without an author till the end, too.

Why do I tell American fiction? - perhaps it's the sheer number of e-zines out there to cater for the many writers of a vast country (but writing in English), or perhaps the strong 'voice' that we in the UK (or at least those of us raised on old films!) can really 'hear', but whatever it is, there's some true gems to be found and told. It's a pleasure to tell them, whether sci fi, monologue or folk story.

To check out these great stories;

Our House by Paul Di Filippo, published online at;
http://www.theedge.abelgratis.co.uk/ourhouse.htm

Requiem by Joshua James Wilson Mattern, published online at;
http://www.sleetmagazine.com/selected/mattern.html

Deal with the Devil by David Hirt published online at;
http://themoonlitroad.com/deal-with-the-devil/

National Play Day

2010-08-04T20:37:00.014+01:00

Another Play Day - our fourth for the play association based in Dorchester. Having done willow wings and swords, leaf mobiles, harvest crowns, leather wristbands and gauntlets, this time we were doing mobiles, head dresses, willow rattles/corndollies, dragonflies and building a Viking boat! And of course, storytelling.
Leaving really early, to set up the Pavilion by 9.30 for a 10am start...after coming back from Cornwall on Sunday, was not ideal...but we were all ready to go on time, and offered dragonflies, mobiles and helping build a willow boat sculpture. The boat turned out beautifully - it was made of willow panels, with a mast, rudder, figurehead of the unicorn carnival head, and peopled with masks like the green goblin and grey wolf. It looked splendid, and by the end had arches set in the decks...
The mobiles and head dresses were popular, and I was pleased to see that folks of all ages and genders were interested, and the mobile I made to set the ball rolling drew much praise. (Still a kick, having only been any kind of maker relatively recently.) As ever, some smaller folk decided to make the willow rings themselves, while some teenagers and adults bottled out and requested to have pre-made ones or us to make them - never predictable who chooses to or not. Some made wonderful trailing head dresses, and others fairy crowns. Some from organza fabric, and others from curling ribbon. As ever also, by three o'clock, I felt I had been cutting up fabric forever... However much stuff ready cut up you go with, people always tear through it, and as fast as you make more, they vacuum it up, like (as said in a previous blog) guests at an endless feast, some calling for beer, and some for cake, and all for cheese and biscuits...(again, to use the same book as analogy as in a previous blog -) like Bilbo in 'The Hobbit' when the dwarves come visiting...
Willow rattles/dollies/torches or whatever one wants to call them went down well in the afternoon, small children to adults taking up the challenge, but for the faint hearted of every age, we still offered mobiles and crowns, and got a couple of people wanting wings. And of course a few desperate for swords, again, as always.
Perhaps we should, as Wayne pointed out, review offering an interactive boat sculpture however, as every time we've done it so far, the weather has tipped it down! The weather was distinctly changeable - luckily dry when we set up, and sunny on taking down and clearing up! but grey and misty during parts of the day, and pouring with rain twice. The Pavilion of course was packed, and Deor performed the Inca flood myth as the rain pelted down. We also did Bulgarian and Swedish tales which made everyone laugh, and then Deor finished with a dark but haunting and beautiful tale of 'when King Hal shall ride again'.
I didn't even have time to stop for lunch, as folks came in wanting to make things as I took my first bite of the burgers being handed out to those working there, and didn't stop till after every other attraction had finished either, as folks kept wanting more! The very last being a couple making a mobile to hang in their baby's nursery...

We all lay about on the grass dazed and in my case confused as well, after the last bits of fabric and willow were gone, the camera's charge exhausted and the Pavilion packed away...and were paid promptly (always pleasant!) and praised a great deal - 'we think you're wonderful' said the organizers, 'so flexible!' They loved how popular we were, how we offer things both simple and complex for every age and competency/confidence range, the sheer number of things we offer, how we entertain folks when the weather's foul, and generally how we always think of something. At one point it rained hard enough that only two things were still going on! Of which we were one. They were pleased and impressed with us as usual, and said things like 'another reason you're amazing is -' which always goes down well!
Tired but pleased to be appreciated and glad to see some of the wonderful rattles and crowns and mobiles folks had made, as well as marvelling at the lovely boat, we all trundled back to Devon to have supper at a pub we knew, before the others made their way back to Cornwall, and ourselves to the city, and me to bed!

The last thing that was REALLY nice was that Ann of PlayPlus, who had bought a copy of 'Porlock the Warlock' last time, had read it and so said 'I loved your book' and had also lent it to her daughter who also liked it a lot - it's always so great to hear when people have enjoyed it.

BIG Thanks to Ann, Carol and Sarah of PlayPlus for booking us and all involved in setting up the event!

Hatherleigh Festival

2010-07-24T16:48:00.015+01:00

Another week, yet another festival... this was rather special though, as I was going to support Deor of Widsith and Deor Theatre in his other aspect as Matthew Hammond The Stand Up Philosopher. We had performed at the Tally Ho! pub before, a couple of years ago - a storytelling show called 'North and East and Down the Road' in the gardens, after a willow workshop by other members of the Collective. From that, I knew it was going to be very crowded! As it proved. Arriving early in the beautiful July evening, with an amazing golden light over the moor and shafting into the churchyard, there was a marquee in the square opposite the pub, and the two armchairs by the fireplace were free, so that was where we had the book stall. Liv Torc (slam winning Wondermentalist and host of Taking the Mic) turned up later, and the show began - she braving the packed and rowdy pub crowd to do the first set and introduce the next. Not the easiest of venues and audiences! And she did well despite the obstacles.
Then it was the Stand Up Philosopher's turn, and he started with Kant's 'What is Enlightenment?' - reactionary or revolutionary? It was amazing, and he did actually capture the attention of at least half the pub! with the rest dipping in and out (although as an essay is a narrative, it seemed a pity in the sense that with philosophy, it's good to catch beginning, middle and end! as one rather leads to another!). However, after that, he performed Marx (and one of his trademarks is to perform to some degree AS the philosopher/writer in question). As Kant was stuffy and a trifle cross, but thunderous about how emphatically he meant it, Karl Marx on the other hand was done (as Matthew likes to surprise people) as a young man, full of passion and yelling into the microphone in a way that actually caused moments of silence (in a pub as as packed and full of drinkers and diners as that!). It was hugely impressive, and ended as a call to arms.
After that, came a singer, Nicola Clarke, who did well, (though I reflected, it was an easier environment for music than spoken word). Then after the interval, the three acts in the same order. Again, Liv started the second half, managing against the wall of noise to be heard and to entertain. The second Stand Up Philosopher set comprised Cicero and Aquinas. Cicero was lordly and earnest as he told us of how he had lost his life in Ancient Rome, and of the ideals of the Republic, how it had paved the way for our latter day constitutions, and exhorting us not to turn our backs on our own systems lest anarchy prevail! And Aquinas was done as a duologue - as Tony Blair requested of Aquinas exactly what was involved in the mythical 'just war'? and so showed how it was that Britain ended up invading and occupying Iraq - just what the philosophical and historical 'justification' of that action was - again, parts of this - as well as making folks laugh at the banter between the two characters - made the pub go silent. The show ended with another excellent set of music from Nicola, and all in all, how could a show set in such an environment (the opening of the Festival, hordes of noisy people up for fun and piling in after the Silver Band) have gone better?
The crowd even requested encores! as at the end of the Stand Up Philosophy (and as they do make you think), Matthew (having begun with a couple at the start) asked if anyone wanted more Anglo-Saxon riddles (from the C10th Exeter Book in which are also found the poets Widsith and Deor) and 'YES!' came the roar of reply. So he told two more, and finally - all impromptu - said 'My colleague here does them properly!' (meaning only that I stick to the word order of a single translator generally, rather than improvise on the original) and so I got up sheepishly and performed the celestial Riddle whose answer is thought to be (and almost certainly is) the Sun and Moon. I could see the link - as people had to give thought to what they were listening to with philosophy, and had to listen to the riddles in order to think up what the answer might be, but was surprised and pleased the mixture worked. Hats off to the Stand Up Philosopher!

And all power to Liv Torc who also did a tremendous job in a tough brief having come straight from work in Somerset and like ourselves, hot on the heels of festival work, and in her case one of them hundreds of miles north! It's harder work than it looks, being performers.

Big thanks to Jamie for booking the Stand Up Philosopher, to Daniella and all the Hatherleigh Festival team for their hard work making it happen!

Check out the videos at;
http://www.cartwheels-collective.co.uk/Performance_Philosophy_.html

Buddhafield Festival

2010-07-18T19:58:00.009+01:00

The picture is of Deor as Troll, in the Majical Youth Theatre opening ceremony parade to open the Buddhafield Festival (before the rain started!).
Another week, another festival...this time a much smaller one. And talk about work! When Widsith and Deor started off doing festivals with the visual arts and crafts skills based members of the Collective, years ago, mostly right at the beginning because they said 'do you want to come to...?' at first we told tales to workshoppers to keep them amused while they were making things, or told tales to folks waiting to be shown what to do, or to parents waiting for their offspring to finish making whatever it was, then soon sold ourselves as a sequential package, with folks doing a workshop and then wearing and brandishing their theatrical items during a following performance....we considered ourselves a great team sharing and preparing the Pavilion in good turnaround time over and over again, as we learned to pitch and unpitch in less and less time, and of course all about all the clearing up that goes into getting the site back to normal once it's all over. Over gigs, we also picked up how to help in the workshops themselves. Whether cutting up fabric in the right way, or being shown how to tie the wings onto participants...next how to weave willow and actually help make the stock. Then about how to decorate it, then making something to start off with in order to show folks that something was going on, as much as how to make it...then one started showing people how to from scratch...then doing so much that one had to cut one's own willow, learn about the growing season, about how to soak it and the different types...then setting about storing the fabrics, and how much was needed...and at last having ideas for our own workshops (leather) linked to our storytelling gear and costumes. Then having our own structure (the tipi currently), and now, (due to the visual artists pulling out of this assignment), we now have done everything ourselves, from start to finish.

Our gallant helpers did their best at stepping into the breach, but one was a juggler not a craftsperson, and who had two children under five to boot! and no transport so was reliant on trains and a tent (including in torrential rain and the charming force 8 gale which blew away one of the music venue marquees on Thursday night!) and the other was double booked in any case, doing her wonderful tree people on stilts act elsewhere on Saturday, dependent on a lift to get there, and meanwhile having had her van broken into so having to leave early... Lastly, Circus Ben (it was so good to see a friendly face not long after we arrived!) helped cart stuff up to the craft area, and looked in from time to time, and did sterling work pushing the corners of our marquee upward to let down some of the heavy rain in the downpour which threatened to set the marquee awash at one point! but after all, was there working for Swamp Circus, and so again, was only there when he could spare a moment.
So we pretty much did the bulk of it all by ourselves. And I can definitely say that six hours craft workshops daily in willow and leather, storytelling out of doors (against the usual festival racket), carting loads of stuff up hill and down dale, cleaning up afterwards for over two hours (around 24 hours in total over the five days not including preparation, set up and take down), coping with a near flood, bailing out water, and taking up the floor for the organizers whose tent it was afterwards, is utterly exhausting. We offered leather plaited wristbands, gauntlets, eyemasks, pirate eyepatches, willow wings, crowns, headddresses, mobiles, flags, swords and then den and tipi building as well as our usual storytelling...including a flood tale as the rain lashed down and the wind rocked the marquee, and folks cheered as the story ended along with the worst onslaught...AND (as the organizers were crew short themselves) even hosted a painting session as well (not something I'd choose to offer - paint all over the floor - visions of purgatory...).
I can also say it's the world's worst way to sell books as the weather made even getting them out of the van out of the question, until day 3 when I was far too tired to even think of trying to do anything else at the same time, and the idea of a pitch in the middle of the lower field when the sun came out after clocking off past five just appealed about as much as a mud shower... There must be easier and better ways of doing this...I thought.

But if nothing else, we've proved what a long way we've come...from working with artists of other disciplines to absorbing their skills to replicating (in common work areas anyway) their competencies... And that must mean 'one can do anything', surely? I remember when I thought that folks who could make all this stuff and/or teach it were just amazing...and here I was doing it all my/ourselves... But spare a thought for the folks who work at the festivals if you are going to any but not working at them this summer! It's very far indeed from Bilbo Baggin's 'pony rides in May sunshine'...I just wish that such work, (as he wished about adventures), was!

Big thanks to Circus Ben, Trees on Stilts Sadie, Lizzie the juggler, Crafty Clare in the marquee next door, Cecelia the facepainter with whom we shared the marquee, and Helen and the Majical Youth folks for wanting us there. And lastly to the participants who made such amazing things - especially all those who made such fantastic gauntlets, wristbands and masks! Wow.

Oxford Professor of Poetry

2010-07-13T21:53:00.015+01:00

Having waited on tenterhooks to know who would be appointed Oxford Professor of Poetry (after Geoffrey Hill's name was mentioned as a candidate), it was wonderful to hear that Geoffrey Hill had indeed been appointed. What can I say? at seventeen I did some things my fellows did, like hang round the city centre at three o'clock in the morning spray painting walls and throwing bottles at plate glass windows, sleeping on doorsteps and generally living the teenage urban life. But while other A Level students were off to the pub, sometimes I would just go to the library and pick out any interesting looking books I 'hadn't read yet'. A crazy aim, as I had read so little - but more than most people I knew, who weren't adults so it wasn't quite as stupid as it sounded. The poetry section particularly attracted me (having been raised on Keats, de la Mare and others, and having written since 11, non-stop since thirteen). One day I came across a slim black volume with silver script in an unusual style. 'Mercian Hymns' it said. Well I certainly enjoyed hymns, was probably the half-baked thought, and so I opened it. I was at once struck with how beautiful and strange the language was - 'wergild', 'marl', 'gleemen' - I was at first intrigued, and then enchanted. Not long after I bought a copy - not that you could buy a copy of the book by itself, but I bought a 'Collected Poems' - which had plenty more wonders in store. I knew from the first that I was only skimming the surface of everything the collected books had to offer, and another poet was my 'favourite poet'. But I also realised, even then, that more would be made plain later. That with more reading, a better grasp of history, and simply growing up, that I would comprehend better the jewels within, as well as merely marvel at their sparkle. Within two years of graduating, it was proved true, and he became and is still, my favourite poet.

I never felt wronged, even then, as some writers or critics seem to, in not understanding everything at once - when I first discovered 'Mercian Hymns', (shameful or incredible depending on mood, as it seems now) I had very little but the vaguest notion of who Offa was. But it didn't matter - I still caught the general atmosphere, the juxtaposition of past and present, the time synch nature of the book (reflecting classic fantasy like The Dark is Rising sequence), the brilliance of the language, from the quirkiness of 'moldywarp' to the beauty of 'vertebrae of the chimera' to the startling and wonderful dropping in and out of modern colloquialisms or expletives to ancient words long unused, the archaeology and fauna and flora and geology all weaving past and present as much as the near-visions of the past or ghosts or whatever manifestations they are, with the identifications of the modern landscape 'overlord of the M5' and the present family of the 'staggeringly gifted child' the one 'always sick on outings'...(also redolent of fantasy serials). All bound together in a delicious and sophisticated yet obtainable tapestry.

After that 'Tenebrae' especially delighted with its 'Splendour of life so splendidly contained'. It rewarded and wove with a growing love of modern art as it filled in and expanded the 'colours of the mind'. 'Canaan' seemed to speak to me alone (of course it didn't, but as much great poetry, felt as though it did) as a 'constrained spirit'. Waiting for the 'strange legends to begin' (and reading of 'Praise and lament' at my Father's ashes scattering) at last came 'The Triumph of Love' (took me years to appreciate that one properly), 'Speech! Speech!' of which the most apt review was 'this will blow your head off', 'The Orchards of Syon' (I think one needs to be at a later stage of life perhaps not to find it depressing though?), 'Scenes from Comus' - pure masqued perfection! 'Without Title' which I've yet to get to the bottom of and 'A Treatise of Civil Power' which I love. It helps that he seems to choose some of the historical backdrops I love best as canvas to the poem's paints - Milton's light fantastic of the masque and Inigo Jones' set design being one of my hobby horses, also Stern Oliver (Cromwell) and the English Civil War, (Offa and Dark Age Britain now of course it goes without saying).

So it is that he is the poet whose books I look forward to and get as soon as they appear. I am now looking forward to 'Oraclau/Oracles' to be published by Clutag Press later this year. I can't think of anyone who writes so consistently work of such beauty, interest and endless fascination that rewards reading, re-reading, reading around the subject, chasing up allusions (I would never have read any of Disraeli's novels had it not been for a quote at the beginning of a poem!), reading aloud and generally growing up and maturing, than Geoffrey Hill. I am so pleased and delighted that he has been made Oxford Professor of Poetry because it seems to me such works cannot be given too much recognition, even in our 'diminished age', in a country however beloved with 'so many monuments but no memory'.

To order, got to; http://www.clutagpress.com/

Spoken/Written Comes to the End of its Funding

2010-07-09T12:32:00.010+01:00

I - Spoken/Written

Just one thing after another (and of course all one really wants to do in weather like this is go and sit in the Sea! to cool off). Now that Spoken/Written has come to the end of its funding, it was time to contact the Arts Council, as the funding was in part to cover the period of changing landscape and uncertainty in the regional lit scene. Many things have happened over the six months since the last smaller award was granted; Arts Matrix was bought by Plymouth College of Art, Cyprus Well got a new director (Tracey Guiry of the former organization) and started up its blog and calendar, the Literature South West website was closed/archived in favour of the aforementioned; and all in all, the scene changed a great deal. It was now time to see what the funders thought, and whether or not Spoken/Written still (as I believe it has) a place worth preserving on the lit scene. But the Literature and Visual Arts Officer was away on maternity leave - the one who had seen and been aware of Spoken/Written from its inception...my heart sank. Especially when central office said that there was no one who had yet been appointed with her caseload... However, mercifully, they were wrong, and my calls through to an answerphone message with a name I hadn't recognized (before asking at central office) were replied to! So I rang back in turn, and there WAS someone who had taken over the role! Thankfully, I explained where things stood...and heard that meetings were to be held over the coming month, and that things might be clearer after that.

So - as things stand, it doesn't look completely hopeless, but having said that, there is definitely no guarantee that the Arts Council will fund Spoken/Written a fourth time. Its vision was always of independence for the Bulletin, and I have tried to persuade folks to contribute a small sum to the service if they value it. But while a number of really public spirited and wonderful folks have given money, and tried to cover the shortfall left by those who have given nothing, not enough people have paid for their subscriptions. Forwarding? as it's an e-mail newsletter. Too many newsletters in the inbox, to remember which ones were the ones that were useful? Hobbyist approaches by those who like to keep 'in the loop' but aren't quite committed enough to bother with paying for it? There are many reasons or possible reasons.

II - Three Roles...

Whether an alternative source of support can be found is also still an open question. And all the while the admin and uncertainty sap energy away from other vital tasks such as research for the newsletter itself (I usually like to pack folks off with a bumper edition for the summer break), and my other jobs - selling our books, doing workshops and performing at festivals and events. (All much harder work than they sound! There's a very good reason why 'everyone' who can write a book or perform a story doesn't publish and sell their books or become professional storytellers!) Just as 'everyone' who has a craft a skill doesn't end up running workshops... No one ever tells you of all the getting there, getting back, packing up, storing stuff, carting stuff, finding homes for piles of materials, some really messy (pva/plaster figures, anything with ivy or holly - ouch!), some that need soaking beforehand (willow), collecting materials (from tanner, cobbler, theatres), writing up evaluations for lots of events and workshops for funders/organizers, loads of admin (for every festival think two forms per person you're taking), phonecalls (nerve wracking if you're a bit shy), dozens of e-mails, thanking, explaining, confirming, requesting, reminding, drawing attention to....setting up stalls, taking down stalls, putting up marquees of various types (with varying levels of stress depending on how many are on hand to help, which one it is, and what the weather's like). I could go on.

Selling books and storytelling theatre, doing festivals and workshops might sound great, but believe me, as most storytellers etc. will tell you - it isn't all pony rides in May sunshine! And stress over Spoken/Written's future sometimes just seems like too much...especially when everything is on such a shoestring. To cap it all, some of the Collective team have pulled out of the coming Buddhafield Festival, and we're having to find other artists to replace them. All the rest of our usual team are busy - two at the Pilton Festival, one at the Golowan Festival, one coming anyway but with Swamp Circus, not the Collective...but happily, we have a great bunch in the Collective, and the folks going to Pilton have found us one replacement artist (another Bicton College graduate!), and our circus member has found a second...now it's just getting all their details to Majical Youth (the ones we'll be working for) in time!

Here's to some time off somewhere near the Sea...

Who'd Have Thought It?

2010-06-30T17:31:00.004+01:00

The things you find in this job! Even more tired and stiff today than yesterday (apparently the adrenalin has worn off) I went back to work on Edition 49 (suspended due to festival commitments) and found some extraordinary stuff...from a wonderful re-use/recycle day in Dorset, where folks bring stuff they don't want, and everyone gets to choose what they do want, with no money involved! What a brilliant way of avoiding landfill. Also, artists are on hand to transform and help folks change any junk into something useful or beautiful...add some storytelling and you have one fun day. Reminded me of the Collective's Junk Carnival crossed with the 'yard sales' they have in America, where everyone sticks their unwanted items in their front gardens, and everyone strolls down the road and chooses what they want. Why doesn't every council or community group in the country hold these events??

- To a day long workshop for 'Invisible Theatre', i.e., where you learn to create a piece of theatre in a public realm (say a railway station) that the public don't realize is an act!! and don't know therefore, that it's not for real...(the possibilities sound quite scary if you ask me). - To a bursary for activist/interventionist art at a climate summit (a bursary?!? Great idea, but I didn't think ideological art ever got funding!). An amazing melting pot of opportunities for all artforms...I just wish I could take advantage of them all...

Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts

2010-06-29T17:15:00.010+01:00

I - Setting Up and Taking Down / Performances & Workshops

Strange to be back at the computer, indoors, and with a faint buzzing in my hearing that everyone else assures me they can't hear...also not to be covered in dust.

Five of us went up in a convoy of two vans, and after various unavoidable detours and delays, we arrived at last on site last Tuesday (a week ago now, incredibly) to try and pitch a 16ft. high tipi (which none of us had ever done before). So we were already tired by Wednesday lunchtime... We had brought far too much stuff, and Wednesday was spent sorting the camping gear from the storytelling bodymasks, the carnival heads, and all the props and visuals that go with the shows, from the willow workshop stuff from the leather workshop stuff from the cooking gear from the book stall.....then getting the vehicle to the off site car park that had only a short stay pass, making wings and swords for the next day's workshop, and generally being really grateful it wasn't raining or cold, as there was so much to do! (It reminded me why I love doing gigs at indoor venues, because the body masks are great at tearing holes in cushions and sleeping bags, and add a tipi including huge poles on the roof rack, step ladder and lanterns to decorate the venue and you have inevitably got damage. It's so nice when promoters invite you to do an indoor gig and put you up as well...so much less stuff to take.) But this was Glastonbury, and, as the biggest performing arts festival in the country, we wanted to do things properly.

The next day we held a willow workshop and did storytelling at the same time, and in the evening we did a special adult storytelling set (as none of the bigger stages had anything on yet, so it seemed a very good time). We also were lucky, because as well as the four of us and two other members of the Collective who had come working for other areas, Clive Pig the Storyfella was also performing there! and so we hooked up, and invited him as our special guest star to the evening show (which we had been invited to do by the Daylight Studio opposite, very kindly). It was a great success, Clive doing an amazing tale involving accepting people's quirks, and being grateful for what you have, as a useless man swapped places with a buzzard, and soon was replaced when the buzzard married his wife! And we did two of our trademarks tales, ending with a literal bang as Lady Mary let off her blunderbus! In the following days, we held a longer willow workshop, programmed for the Ancient Futures marquee, making swords, headdresses and some folks made amazing wings! and a leather workshop involving friendship wristbands, small gauntlets, and eyemasks. Our performances included a set in the Permaculture Garden adjacent to the Tipi Field, and a walkabout as a Goblin and Troll stalked about and then sat and hobnobbed by the fire discussing the best ways to cook humans... Plenty of folks took pictures of our new unicorn and company (four carnival poles of unicorn, bear, giant bird head and horse's skull) and the two biggest bodymasks, especially the big green Great Dragon Kraa. We were delighted, as it wasn't as if there weren't a hundred other amazing things to look at and photograph! on the site, so we were chuffed to say the least. And we got plenty of kind praise for both the performances and the workshops. By Sunday we were distinctly dazed and confused, as were many if not most other people, in the heat and dust (and fermenting toilets) as it had really got a lot warmer on Friday morning and then built up from there... Everyone smelt and everything was either dusty or positively rancid! But Deor gathered the energy for a stirring closing tale at the central fire/gathering area of a Native American story called the Flying Head, which went down extremely well. Monday morning and we took down everything, dismantling camp, and packing it all up again...

II - Bookstalls Now and Then

And of course between workshops, up to forty minute round trips to the lav, performances, trying to keep any kind of order to know where anything was when based at three sites (tipi and two vans), longer suppers when we all came together to cook and debriefed afterwards, AND meeting up with the other two members of the Collective working at other areas, (never mind going out from 9 till 2 every night trying to see and experience as much as possible of a site the size of Bath) of course I had neglected to bring any kind of outdoor display unit for the books (a table on top of the rest of the pack had seemed like madness, and so it never made it). So much for hoping to knock something up on site... How stupid did that feel? With all those potential customers going past... In my defence I can only say that it's very stressful putting up a large structure never before tackled (the old tipi belonged to one of our members who now lives in NZ, and only one of us had ever tried to pitch it with her! and that years ago), and also - well, it had been some years since I had been there last.

The last time I went to Glastonbury was under the auspices of the late, great, poetry pioneer PVT West, founder and then organizer of the Poetry&Words Tent; the first year I went as a performer, and the second year she had asked three other poets to put together different quarters of the Tent's programme, of which I was one. The poets I asked worked really well together as they were a great variety of different approaches, and we called our sets 'The Lords of Misrule'. 'The Lords' being Matt Harvey (currently Wimbledon Tennis championships poet-in-residence) Nii Parkes (British Council UK writer-in-residence), Farren Gainer (of One Minute Theatre from Canada) Marie Stanbury (a soulful singer who half sings poetry, with her own band) Re;Leaf (a DJ poet/activist/sampler/mixing duo since disbanded) and myself. And the book stall was all ready and set up, where we all took turns to staff it.

III - The End - Thank You & Goodnight!

All in all, it was worth all the dust and heat, stress and shifting stuff miles. The workshops went well, Widsith and Deor Storytelling sets garnered some very favourable remarks, and it was a wonderful coincidence that the two other members whom we would have liked to bring (if we had had a team of six instead of four) had come working for other areas! Liz (textiles/flags/signs/carnival floats of www.merrymaker.co.uk) working in the Kidz Field doing flags etc. workshops and Ben (juggling/fire juggling/hexagonal marquee) in the Circus area. It was really good to be with them all, and to meet up with Clive Pig there too - all dedicated, gifted professionals whom it's always a pleasure to work with.

And then of course, there were all the amazing things to see and do...(but those are in the Performance blog). Huge thanks to Tara of Hearthworks for booking us, to The Daylight Studio for hosting our adult set, Clive Pig for performing with us, and all our lovely neighbours in the Tipi Field! And indeed everyone who performed, curated, created, organized, invented and made possible the marvellous acts and spectacles there to combine in a magical City of Wonders for four days. It was great to be part of it.

The Edge of Chaos

2010-06-13T18:31:00.016+01:00

Just come back from the Edge of Chaos live art event in Exmouth in Manor Gardens, and what an amazing afternoon it was. After last summer's event (at the Voodoo Lounge) I remember thinking it must have been some kind of dream (as written up in a Performance blog), and thinking - it's not likely I'll get a gig like that again... but happily, I was wrong, and Ric White the curator of the Edge of Chaos project asked me to participate in the latest event, this time not only with musicians and painters and dancers, but another poet as well. I said yes at once (and again, overworked when June came, arrived dazed, but soon woke up!).

The other poet was James Turner, popular and witty poet, author of 'Forgeries' (available from Sam Smith's Original Plus publishing house) and experienced improvisor with Children of the Drone (some of whom also participated in the event). The weather was great, the outdoor stage shady, lots of folks enjoying the gardens, and then...the dancers didn't turn up. But we started regardless, and, having nearly joined in with the dancers last time, while I had drawn a deal of inspiration from them, this time I felt I had to step into the breach (and in the imaginary parallel universe so many artists have recourse to, am a dancer as well as a visual artist). We started with the music first, and the painters got going, one with a big blue block, another with a circle; I as last time, had been given a projector on which to write words for the backdrop screen (which didn't show up as much in daylight against glass, but was more visible whenever it clouded over) and started writing whenever the music made or paint strokes evoked a thought or impression. Squiggles, symbols and words echoed the tempo or mood, and when it seemed right, I came out from the desk, grabbed the microphone and whispered or shouted or simply spoke into it, moving about the stage.

James alternated between percussive noise - he had some wonderful gear, like a gong, that he played using a bucket (very effective), something that sounded like the Clangers, and a variety of other instruments - and speech. He chose poems that went with the music, and made rhythm out of the interface between them. At times, we spoke responding one to the other, me responding to a line from him, or taking up a theme, and him changing the emphasis of the next line or perhaps choosing another in response. It seemed to work really well - a mixture of thinking on one's feet, and creating a dynamic, yet also oddly relaxed and often bordering or crossing into the gently comic. I danced from time to time, caught up in the sound and colour as if in some altered state (no, no chemicals or herbs were involved!) and even got a scarf to wave about at one point (though I wasn't quite sure about it in retrospect). There was some wonderful cello and keyboards, and Ric is something of a master on the sax, the drums wove things together, and of the paintings, all complemented each other really well. And if I had worried about having no dancers to bounce off, it seemed that doing a 'duet' (as someone called it afterwards) with James and not worrying about getting in other's way, more than made up for it.

There were three sessions, and it seemed that quite a number of the picnickers in the park were looking our way and listening. At one point (thinking of Kandinsky and Kostelanetz) I wondered - either everyone's au fait with experimentalism, or very relaxed, or we will at some point be lynched...one man, burly, came up at one point and said 'Scuse my asking, but what was that all about?' and it turned out he was a musician himself. One of the musicians got four children joining in enthusiastically with percussion for a while at one point, inspired by their responding to it, which was good, and great to see it reaching out to bring in the viewers as participants. Another really nice response was when, after the last one, a group of students (from Bicton College! as it happened, who were doing Environmental Education, the course that sounds like it's replaced the old Environmental Arts & Crafts course which many of the Collective went on) who had been sitting listening, applauded and shouted 'more!' several times, but everyone needed to pack up and go home, so they ended chanting as we thanked them for being such sports. All in all a wonderful afternoon. The others said they had really liked what I'd done, and what James had done, how it had held together, which I was really glad about, and we agreed that the whole thing had that strange hypnotic beyond-self, caught-up-in-others/mediums sensation that was so special and had brought us all there...like stepping up to the next level... We thanked Ric for putting it all together and bringing us all together, and then it was time to step off the cloud and onto the grass...

And we even got some video of parts of it. HUGE thanks to Ric White, for putting it all together, and to James Turner and all the other artists for making such a fantastic happening.

Edge of Chaos;

http://www.edgeofchaos.org.uk/

The Trouble with Marketing?

2010-06-12T19:07:00.016+01:00

The trouble with marketing is that it requires a broad brush approach to something that might be as complex as mesh wire studded with tiny pieces. People ask me how come 'Porlock the Warlock' hasn't been picked up by a big publisher? or why don't I send it out to them more often? and so on and so on. My reply is that it falls between stalls.

On one level, as something kept just simple enough for eleven year olds (or at least ones who read a lot) to read, it can be classed as a kid's book. On the other hand however, its inspirations were historical documentaries and the more popular history books such as Michael Wood's In Search of... documentaries, and C.V. Wedgewood's 'The Trial of Charles I' or Christopher Hill's seminal but highly readable 'The World Turned Upside Down'. Also J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' (like countless others, but at least very aware of the debt/homage), H.G. Wells' 'The Time Machine' as much as Dr. Who, and Richmal Crompton's Just William series (all 38 books of them). Those were its antecedents.

Its inspirations in terms of what the book is about however, are weaving together the destiny of two very real and ancient artifacts: The 3rd Millennium BC Epic of Gilgamesh, from ancient Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) etched on clay tablets and 'discovered' in the ruins of the Library of King Assurbanipal in the 1800's, arguably mankind's oldest story and obviously predating Homer's Iliad and Odyssey - and the 1,000 old Exeter Book, chief among the four codices of Anglo-Saxon poetry that we have left, and the largest collection of Dark Age pre-Christian work, and the oldest written example of what we would now recognize as 'English' in existence. It is worth more than the Cathedral and probably the whole of Exeter, and both are arguably of equivalent significance for literature as Stonehenge and the Pyramids are for monumental architecture. And finally adding some Viking culture taken straight from the oral history later recorded in the Medieval Icelandic Sagas. I.e. writing about three of the things I love best - the Exeter Book, The Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Icelandic Sagas.

Add some genuine astronomy, locally produced quality food, an environmental skein, moments of high comedy and plenty about what it means to destroy heritage, and you have 'Porlock the Warlock' - a historical time travel adventure? a kid's book? A historical adventure that kid's can read as well? Sci fi? Fantasy? Or a book about the moment of inscription, the elusive and mythical instant when the oral became the written, when poetry that had been spoken and handed down for generations, travelling with scops and skalds, singers and tellers across kingdoms and continents, became recorded by scribes on the orders of quixotic kings, seeing farther into the future than their fellows, or church authorities on a whim to catch up the past and passing savage age they felt themselves to be replacing...

Hang on - moment of inscription? That sounds either academic or some piece of text artist whimsy...doesn't it?

When people buy it and read it, they seem to love it or even if they don't like adventure novels or it's not their usual fare, find it 'addictive' and 'a good read'. Others have called it 'so poetic', 'captures the sensations of the past', 'we loved our journey to Saxon England and Ancient Iraq - where are you taking us next year?' 'she loved it - learnt a lot too!' and so on. Most buyers have been adults, with only about a quarter buying it for their children or to read aloud to their children, but everyone who has got back to me (and let's face it, most folks when buying anything just walk off with it once they've paid and you don't ever see them again), has said they liked it a lot or loved it.

But, like 'The Hobbit' and the first book in the Earthsea Trilogy (and many others) the first 30 pages start simply (author thinks; got to keep language simple for target younger market). By page 30, you, like many others before, have got really interested, know where this is going, have it all mapped out, have fallen in love with all the characters and have taken off writing a novel - not for kid's or for anything, just a novel, the one that's been desperate to get out and fly onto the paper. Except of course that it's the first 30 pages that agents and publishers ask for...and the pages are fine - perfectly good as a set up to what happens...but representative of the book as a whole? Well, kind of, but only that. When I've threatened to change the beginning, people who like it have threatened me back. And to be honest, I haven't the time, and there's nothing 'wrong' with it.

The Harry Potter books and the 'His Dark Materials' books are read by people of all ages, as are 'The Hobbit' and 'Just William' - the last of which are much funnier as a grown up! But how can you market something for 'everyone', when the publishing mainstream industry needs to categorize things in specific groups? So if the query letter is the most important part of any submission, and you're not sure how to frame it in a short space (before the agent/publisher loses interest and throws it in the slush pile, i.e. 90 seconds), then maybe (despite folks saying and believing it could sell as a mass market paperback) you should stick to issuing it yourself. So I do, pretty much. Having written, proofed, edited, typeset, and printed it, it's enough work selling and promoting it, let alone thinking of 'the right thing' to say in not more than a paragraph for the lottery of mainstream publishing as well...(given the many tales of one MS. being picked randomly from each pile of twenty or more). If I could think of a broad brush phrase for the slightly complex recipe that is 'Porlock' I would, but...hey I've got forms to fill, gigs to rehearse for, book stalls to hold, workshops to.... And yes I've visited Query Shark, but you have to have a succinct query letter to submit to begin with. (Succinct? You mean LESS than a page?!)

Anyone have a better idea? Answers on a postcard please.

Marketing is simpler face to face when you're yelling 'wonderful historical adventure novel! All ages, lots of local links! Saxon Exeter! Exmoor! Crediton!' at festivals in the summer. THEN folks come and part with cash. And guess what? You get to keep the profit! Unlike big publishers and their £1 a book if you're very lucky...

The trouble with marketing is...not having a quality product, but getting folks to hear about it. Mainstream publishing is really useful at that point as they have the marketing machines and the money, but if you have to be great at marketing the work to them in the first place...might as well try it yourself. 'In the meantime' or otherwise.

The Vibe Extravaganza II

2010-06-08T19:19:00.006+01:00

Another showcase from the all-arts group The Vibe last Monday - with Widsith and Deor Storytellers headlining! at the excellent venue that is the Picture House. Julie Yount of The Sidewalk Anthem was again a splendid host and played songs that were a star of the evening. There were stalls of cards from a portrait painter - one could believe they looked exactly like those they depicted! some lovely colourful postcards of paintings from Alexandra, and Lisa's truly beautiful handmade wax design cards, decorative flowers and boxes, plus Japanese calligraphy demonstrations and even massage tasters by Isca Therapies! Sets included ones from Peter Farrie and Gabriel Collins (who played at the CCANW fundraiser we organized earlier in the year), this time on electric piano, and ourselves. We chose a single new story from the Caucasus called 'Anait' a wonderful tale in two parts - half fairytale, half horror story, and as before, it amazed us how quiet the bar went, and how folks just passing through, or coming up after a film not expecting a mixed arts showcase to be going on, stopped and listened. In some ways the Picture House as an arts cinema with regularly changing art exhibitions is an ideal place to host such an event - but in other ways, it is of course a cafe bar, and hence many people pass through wanting a drink after or to go with their film/popcorn or meet friends...as such, all acts had to attract what you might call 'passing trade' rather than a formal audience. But it worked! which is, for us, one of the marks of a good story. Our sword, ghoul head and spooky hand all drew attention, and our flail a gasp! People said kind things - including one who said she was on the edge of her seat, wondering what would happen next! And another who praised us for our high energy performance. The book stall also attracted interest, and all in all, the whole evening was a success.

Big thanks to all the members of The Vibe who performed or had stalls, those who came to support the rest, and especially to the ever good-humoured Julie for putting the event together and hosting it so well, as well as running the group so admirably.

Check out the group and maybe even join! at;

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52103916247&ref=ts

Lunch with a Unicorn

2010-06-07T16:00:00.016+01:00

Last Sunday I was sitting having lunch and opposite was a unicorn...or to be more accurate, the head of a unicorn - another new figure for Widsith and Deor's storytelling shows, following hot on the heels of a ghoul's head and a severed hand. That evening I had supper with one of the inspirations and founder members behind the idea of the Collective, who was over from New Zealand (where she now lives). And as ever, her visits meant sorting out piles of stuff, running up and down stairs, selling things - this time at the boot sale - and generally an action-packed time, a whirlwind of movement, alternating with positive exchanges, an injection of adrenalin, followed by a sudden showering of gifts, as she decides promptly that this or that thing would be of more use or pleasure to you than to her. And then she is gone. Back for a few weeks, this was the fourth visit and the last...leaving one exhilarated, empowered, inspired...and yet also bereft. But to be saddened by knowing it will be a long time the chances are, before you see such a friend and colleague again, would be to renege against the inspiration she's given you. Knowing that, you throw yourself into the admin. you need to catch up on, as I did, filling in forms for the coming festivals like the Buddhafield and the Beautiful Days, replying to queries from the likes of the Porlock Arts Festival, contacting the rest of the Collective to get vehicle registrations, lengths, times of arrival and all the other details needed for promoters...

And gaze on the new seat, the giant shell of many colours, and other things, washed up by the storm and found at the floor of the rainbow.......

Things might be really tough for Spoken/Written (it may have to close if more subscribers don't pay soon!) and things are looking dark on some fronts, but there are some things that are just too good not to be happy about. Ever in the darkening sky comes a single shaft of piercing Sun.

The Books of...Trilogy

2010-05-25T17:30:00.013+01:00

As 'The Books of..' Trilogy looks like it will have a fourth member soon (!) it seemed a good time to explain something about the project and what it's trying to do. To quote the back covers 'The Books of...Trilogy are satirical, topical, comical, powerful and sometimes startling takes on the state we're in'.

As the Indictment of the Month (a poem-of-the-month section but themed around The Books of...Trilogy) on the website has now stacked up quite a few pieces, some of which seem to naturally hang together, it seems they are organically fashioning a fourth in the series. Why 'Indictment of the Month'? Well firstly I reasoned, loads of people have a Poem of the Month - how could you possibly know which of the thousands you wanted to read? You certainly couldn't read all of them. Secondly, a month timescale implies topicality, so it seemed natural for it to reflect The Books of... project, which is current affairs-inspired. Also choosing such a theme means they're more likely to get written! if the criteria or brief is new work because the News is always full of terrible things and worrying facts, so the material for them is always appearing/happening. Lastly, 'Indictments' were chosen, as Contentions or Offences weren't as appropriate.

To enlarge; 'The Book of Contentions' is really a different kettle of fish to its siblings - it is only 2,500 words in total, (twenty minutes in performance) and while it is in over 150 parts, most of them are very short, and they are actually a serial poem in that each part is meant to follow on from the previous one and lead to the next in a tight order. The work was fashioned out of the issues arising from the invasion of Iraq.

The Book introduces the reader to three characters - the Book itself, the Shepherdess and the Shepherd. 'The Book' i.e. the character/voice, ranges from the one who is innocent - the one to whom the awfulness of the News is put before - to the one who quests or questions for answers or a way out of the quagmire. The Shepherdess is depicted as 'Holly Hobby' (a child's cartoon figure printed on harmless toys with a giant bonnet) but with a kalashnikov; thereby denoting her status as a meta-being, and one whom one doesn't mess with. Everyone must be 'nice' - or else! And the Shepherd is both a foil to her and an everyman, lost in a world that he on the one hand feels to be not of his own making, and yet has a lurking suspicion that he is also not guiltless in its perpetuation.

'The Book of Indictments' and its sequel 'The Book of Offences' are 'serial' poems only in the sense that they expand and develop the theme and expand on the characters, but other wise they are stand-alone poems titled as chapters. They change the role and voice of the Shepherd, and he becomes both more critical and more central in the dialogue, as he and each Book try to decide what we should all do to solve the world's problems. The Books themselves also take on part of the Shepherdess' role, in that their expectation is for people to act for the common good - and when they don't, to identify this and challenge it in some way. The Shepherd then takes on the role of the cynic, but a far from unconstructive one.

'The Book of Offences' as the name suggests has slightly more of an emphasis on challenging solutions or identifying problems that are overlooked, whereas 'The Book of Indictments' starting point was continuing the what-does-it-mean-to-have-invaded-Iraq? theme. But the 'Indictment of the Month' still seemed the best title for the section on the website, as it seems to cover what most of the poems are inspired by / about. However, the fourth Book will take the baton on from 'Offences' in that it also will be dealing with the knock-on effects of Iraq/Afghanistan following on from the areas of civil liberties, citizenship, etc. to deal with immigration, cultural imperialism and so on.

Why I've also been inspired to work on a fourth is because the first edition of 'The Book of Indictments' has sold out! The last copy was bought at the last Taking the Mic event, which was very heartening. Like much political satire and political cartoons like 'Thin Black Lines Rides Again', unfortunately much of work like this doesn't seem to date quickly - only the odd specific reference. But that is at least a convenience for printing, if a tragedy for the world as a whole.........hmm!

Lastly I guess what's kept me going on with it is hearing that a friend who works with disadvantaged teenagers in North Devon has been using The Books of Indictments and Offences as a means to explore issues such as citizenship, civil liberty, etc. with his clients. When I started writing 'urban' (as opposed to literary or pastoral) works as a teenager myself, the idea of the work being there for folks in tough situations to see other angles on it and highlight stuff that needed to be highlighted, was just the kind of really good use I hoped that the work could one day be put to. I was much moved therefore to think that someone else had thought them useful enough to be put to the test.

Big thanks to him, his clients, and everyone who's bought a copy!

Loudmouth Show

2010-05-15T17:16:00.009+01:00

Had just got my breath back from the Bath Japanese Festival Launch, when it was time to head off to the Phonic FM basement studios as a guest on the Loudmouth Spoken Word Collective monthly Friday show hosted by VJ Vittoria, and this month's guest co-presenter - gifted musician and singer Kimwei Westbury. Other guests were Fin Irwin of the Bike Shed Theatre, Richard Thomas, Totnes poet and regular performer on the Totnes and Exeter scenes, and hosts Kate Wilson and Adam Brummitt of the spoken word night at the Bike Shed Theatre called Poetry Underground. It was a fun couple of hours and especially interesting to hear from Fin Irwin about all the many things which the new Bike Shed Theatre venue and folks have been doing, are putting on and planning. A completely packed series of events and runs for plays of all kinds - from classics like Strindberg to new writing. Things really are taking off as 'artists are doing it for themselves'.

When they came to interview me, I hadn't intended to mainly talk about The Books of...Trilogy, having brought a copy of 'Porlock the Warlock' and also meaning to highlight Spoken/Written, but after the earlier performance of the week, we ended up pretty much discussing The Books of... and Vittoria and Kimwei got me reading several pieces from The Books of Indictments and Offences (The Book of Contentions really being a continuous single piece serial poem no more than 2,500 words in total of around twenty minutes in performance). They were extremely kind and laughed at all the jokes! as whilst The Books of...project deals with serious issues, it treats them with a good dose of satire.

There was also quite a multimedia theme, as not only were the presenters involved in more than one artform, but Fin Irwin spoke of happenings of all kinds at the Bike Shed Theatre, Richard Thomas was mixing his words with musicians and making video forays, and of course I work with the Collective and as well as words, am a theatrical storyteller, maker, do photography, occasional video, have also performed to music, with dancers, etc.. So quite a convocation of those interested in many of or all the arts and mixing them together, which was interesting.

All in all much good humour abounded, and there was a really nice atmosphere. When I listened to the show later, I couldn't help wincing at all the time-to-think phrases that one uses when one hasn't rehearsed answers for radio ('like', 'y'know' and 'sort of like' seemed to comprise most of one's vocabulary!) but it was a great show with lots of interest, and all power to VJ Vittoria and Kimwei! they did a fantastic job.

Bath Japanese Festival Launch

2010-05-14T20:06:00.016+01:00

Being only able to leave quite late, and just hearing that there was a weather warning out! off I set for Bath to attend and perform at the Launch Party for the Bath Japanese Festival. The evening swapped between beautiful May dusk full of dramatic skies over full leafed landscapes, and pouring rain! Arriving late, I made my way to the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, a lovely building in Queen's Square. The evening alternated with performances of poetry and chill out zone time with sushi, origami, cherry blossom tattooing and other fun, and book stalls (one of which was a Spoken/Written / Cartwheels Collective Publishing one). It was great to see loads of adults all hypnotized by making origami figures! Performers of poetry included Alan Summers, haiku specialist, Japan Times award winning haiku poet, founder of With Words and co-organizer of the Festival, Hazel Hammond (whose book launch was coming soon) of splendid poetry and cherry blossom tattoos, and Carrie Etter's engaging work (latest collection out by Seren Books), Masuda Aika haiga painter and Masuda Junko haiku poet, performance poet David Johnson (also one half of Paralalia), and Lee Coombes, comic actor. There were some great poems (and the last two acts very funny), and altogether there was a good vibe, folks enjoying themselves and enthusiastic about the Festival.

One of the themes of the Festival was to raise awareness of modern slavery and the issue of people trafficking, so I performed a piece from 'The Book of Indictments', Chapter Seven on the Abolition of Slavery, followed by the first part of a chapter in the fourth in the Books of...Trilogy (yet to be named). They seemed to go down really well, people gave kind praise and copies of The B. of I. were sold on the strength of it, and some people signed up for Spoken/Written.

BIG thanks to Alan Summers for inviting me and for organizing what looks to be a great new festival on the South West scene!

And to those who bought chapbooks - I hope you enjoy them!

Check out the Bath Japanese Festival - a festival celebrating and incorporating elements of Japanese Culture including Book Arts, Films, Haiku and Renga - at;

https://sites.google.com/site/bathjapanesefestival/welcome

and the Facebook page is at;

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=369438969544&ref=ts

Storyclub at the Globe

2010-05-06T16:50:00.008+01:00

Last night's Storyclub was a rare treat - it's not often that we get Tyburn Jig AND the Storyfella and Raventales and David Heathfield plus ourselves, Widsith and Deor, all at the same event. We're regulars, and Tyburn Jig run the evening, but the others live a long way off and/or are often busy, so it's quite an occasion to have such a gathering of professional tellers all in the same informal setting. Dave and Jon (of Tyburn Jig) did epic Celtic tales one leading on from the other (you could tell they'd just returned from Outlore!) with their customary aplomb and Michael (of Raventales and fresh from the Lying Competition at the Crick Crack Club in London), did a lovely 'feelgood' Robin Hood tale set in May...I could almost hear the rustle of the trees, (and smell the ordure of the dungeon!) and I loved his interpretation. He set it in the time of Edward II which was also interesting, rather than Richard the Lionheart/King John. A classic rescue adventure full of cunning and cameraderie! And told with Michael's usual effortlessness and unerringly deft touch.

Clive (the Storyfella) told a spooky tale of his own devising, called 'Hawthorn Cottage' and it was splendidly sinister, which contrasted nicely with the seemingly easy-going and gossipy character he chose to play in order to narrate it. It had a dark ending, yet a fitting one too, and we were all on the edge of our seats (as is often the case with Clive's tales!). Also cleverly, it had a traditional feel while being set in the modern day.

Deor told a fairly dark story about a man who chooses Death as his son's foster-father! But there were some good laughs before the grim ending, and it went down well; and I told a rather nice tale I'd meant to tell at some point, but never had (choosing one at the last minute! as is too often the case lately, as things are so busy). But the story was so strong - of hospitality and grace outdoing fear and violence in its power - that I didn't disgrace the company. To round off the evening, David (Heathfield) told a fine - 'who was stupid? the man or the donkey?!' - story, with djembe drum and a sung chorus which we all joined in! I am always in two minds about choruses - some work to enhance and some patronise the audience. This one however I'm happy to say was firmly in the former uplifting category, and made us all just feel more a part of the story! (which is of course the true function of a good chorus done properly). It had a comic ending of the satirical-wisdom variety, which I liked a lot. Finally Jon told a very short cryptic Zen-style word-of-widsom/joke, and then it was time for the storyteller's hobnob! As we all talked of gigs both good and bad, books read and books written, events organized and plans for shows - and what good fun that was.

Having got completely soaked in the rain earlier today, jeans wringing wet, and all layers needing the radiator, (despite a recently-bought waterproof jacket - the second in a useless line of such items!), the storytelling van being away in Somerset waiting to be mended, the Spoken/Written saga, and other stuff to worry about, i.e. despite being in a filthy temper - as I recalled last night to write this blog, by the end of writing the above, the clouds had lifted both from my mood, and the sky...

Just a roundabout way of saying - what a night. How great it was to see them all. And what a brilliant thing is the Storyclub. Thanks threefold to Jon, Dave, Clive, Michael, and David, and our delightful non-teller regulars, for making it what it is.

Spoken/Written Splits in Two

2010-05-06T16:34:00.004+01:00

It was really hard putting together the last Edition of Spoken/Written, and a surprising amount of work to split it into two - a paying full edition, and a shorter free edition. Having said that, so much stuff was sent in for this one, that even the 'shortened' edition was twelve pages... But it felt (and still feels) like a leap into the dark, or setting sail in uncharted waters...

Can the Bulletin make it alone? It needs to make at least £2,000 to continue. Folks who read Spoken/Written's Endpapers, or earlier posts in the blog, will know that it was far from my first choice to split the newsletter. But with only a partial grant, and independence as the goal, after racking my brains, there seemed no other way around the problem. On the one hand, I definitely wanted to keep a quality service that folks considered worth paying for, going. A really useful network tool and opportunity-focussed bulletin. On the other hand, the idea of a public service that all could access and was free to everyone was also important. And the spilt Bulletin is the result of discussions late into the night and much soul-searching.

I can only hope that it works. PLEASE DO go to website - links to the right - and click the Donate button, or e-mail me at; bulletin-editor@blueyonder.co.uk for where to send a cheque.

Big thanks to those who have already done so!

This post would have written as soon as the last Edition was off, but for the imminence of the Dumnonni Chronicles' Outlore event. I was very grateful to have something to take my mind off all the worry... And can't help remembering what some people said when I told them I was starting Spoken/Written...'you must be mad!' 'never edit a magazine or anything like it' and so on and so on......I can only hope that Spoken/Written's subscribers justify my optimism against the doom-sayers...

Tales round the Campfire

2010-05-03T18:22:00.007+01:00

Just back from the Outlore Festival, the third time we storytellers have performed at the Dumnonni Chronicles' largest live action role play / fantasy re-enactment event of the year, set in the idyllic Dark Age settlement of 'Culhaven', deep in Devon countryside, and held at Beltane.

On the way, we looked up warily at the dark grey skies, took against the chill in the cold north wind, and spoke of warm pubs as the rain spat. Arriving at the site however, the van rode over the mud at the entrance (which can be a complete mudbath) with ease. After greeting Dave and Jon and getting kitted out by Dave, we went up to the causeway - but being very muddy, we entered by the back gate instead. At first few people seemed to be about, except warriors preparing for battle, but we told a few tales and after lunch, the wind dropped, the sun came out, the mud dried up and we told Viking tales for delicious ginger cake, around a fine big cauldron full of apple pie! with a courteous clan from Holland and made a healer and her companions laugh a lot, by the central fire, and in return being plied with very warming spicy ginger wine, and a bowl of strawberries... Highlights of the day included visiting the falconer and - following last year's magical encounter with the huge raven on my arm! this time it was the eagle owl. While it stood on other's forearms, I stared at it and someone remarked it seemed to be staring at me too - it's huge blood-orange coloured eyes hypnotised me. And then it was time for it to stand on my arm. What a privilege to have such a large, rare and magnificent wild creature so close. The falconer urged me to stroke it, but I touched it with immense care and not for long, as I know that feathers are very breakable, being designed for flight and air, not contact. I was also grateful that it just alighted onto my arm without any tricky acrobatic turns. It was like a dream, and when it was taken back by the falconer, I was not at all surprised to see the central meeting place filled with acrid green smoke, thick as dried ice! Magic was in the air.

By dusk, we had told many more tales, including round the fire in the atmospheric gloom of the roundhouse, with its shields and horned stag heads, and as the lights were lit and the settlement transformed by many lanterns and candlelight into a faery realm, we made our way into the longhouse to greet and listen to the very fine Goliards. As ever Tracey's drumming thrilling and Lawrence's bagpipes beautiful. The sunset was another star of the festival, with a huge golden sun behind dark trees in the soft dales and hills, with purple cloud and rays of light, then a plume of fiery gold on mauve before it sank, deepening the landscape into May twilight... And finally it was time to go, smoky, muddy, tired, full of images, music, impressions, kind praise and good food and wine...off over the torchlit causeway, and into the night.

Big thanks to Dave and Jon as always for inviting us and organizing such an amazing event, the Goliards, and all who listened to our tales and shared with us the 'sacred laws of hospitality'. The outdoor show season has begun.

Street Poetry - Random Acts of Art

2010-04-17T20:07:00.012+01:00

Just had a great time at the Street Poetry Workshop at the Spacex Gallery, run by the inimitable Liv Torc, and part of the Random Acts of Art project. It was a beautiful day for it, (the sky a literally cloudless blue) and ideal for checking out the nearby streets in search of words.

Having done five years of degrees all told with writing workshops forming some of one and a great deal of the other, and being a workshop host myself, AND being really busy, I don't often actually get to writing or poetry workshops. Which is a pity, because of course, they give one space in order to create that can be really refreshing and a context break away from the way in which one usually ends up working. And so it was!

The aim of the workshop was to write a collaborative poem about and inspired by the West Quarter, the historic and alternative/independent shops area of the city which is home to the Spacex Gallery.

We started off after an exercise involving commenting on each others shoes etc. (i.e. finding words inspired by them) and all trying to be scrupulously polite! with a drama-like exercise/game, all making up characters for each other, as makebelieve residents of the Quarter - and much hilarity and inventiveness ensued, including with a one-eyed glassblower, Roman re-enactor, Somerset settler, bouncer, dodgy gangster overlord and gangster's moll! Short pieces were written about chosen characters, and following that, haikus, some funny, some serious, inspired by the portraits of residents of the Quarter by Lady Lucy, one of the artists in residence for the whole Random Acts of Art project. We then all dispersed to find inspiration and words out of doors, into the West Quarter itself. And how magical that was - because strangely, as both an admirer and sometime practitioner of found text, concrete poetry, site specific text and art and related forms, and someone who loves the West Quarter, it had always been the kind of thing on my 'must do at some point' list. I.e., something I'd love to do, even mean to do, but would never get around to. So it was a real joy to just wander around places like Fore Street, looking in windows, jotting down words from posters or signs, half-catching sentences by passers-by, adverts and cards in windows, menus and labels...and really looking at some of the shop fronts and interiors, really paying attention to the lovely old architecture like that of Tucker's Hall with its fleur de lys railings, and the hidden stream on the other side, down below...absorbing the lively mixture, and so many details I always rush past and mean to make time for but never do. The luxury of legitimately dawdling and going in and out of all the corners and alleys, of spending time in shops I'd always meant to have a look in but hadn't the time to, and all the looking at little things and the delicious finding of random words and phrases that at any other time would be just playing, and almost as out of bounds as getting involved in an addictive computer game! It was seriously fun. I kept bumping into other participants, and we grinned as we crossed each other. So much so that at one point a man stopped me, and asked quite bluntly 'What are you doing? There's loads of you at it.' I explained it was a poetry workshop, and once I'd finished listing the places one could look for words etc., he just said 'Cool!' and walked off. By then I had so many fragments, it was time to get back to the Spacex and choose and order them! Which I did. It took surprizingly little time to order the found texts - a heard sentence, card in window, poster, signs, ads, and they seemed to make the five required sentences in a way I liked. We then wrote them in large letters on big paper strips, and finally Liv decided on an order - the tough job! and stuck them together in a large train like a huge snaky poster. They looked great, as everyone had different writing of course and had chosen different colours (green in my case). Liv then bravely mounted a ladder to stick it to the wall, and then read it aloud with great aplomb. And it sounded really good! Everyone had come up with some excellent sentences, and while all in different styles, it hung together really well, and even had some rhythm. We all had great fun and came up with a piece all were pleased with, with laughs, and much tea, coffee and biscuits too. All in all a really lovely afternoon. And I even met a delightful subscriber to Spoken/Written! - Anna Trussler of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen's Gallery in Bovey Tracey who was kind enough to keep us all in the tea and coffee. Big thanks to Liv for being such a great workshop host, to Anna and all at the Spacex for having us, and to Chris, Kevin and Marcus for being such good fun to work with!

Random Acts of Art Blog;

http://randomactsofart-residencies.blogspot.com/

CCANW Fundraiser

2010-04-05T20:11:00.021+01:00

At last it was the day for the Fundraiser we were hosting/organizing for the Centre for Contemporary Art & the Natural World in Haldon Forest Park. It didn't rain, although the perennial battle with wind vs. sticky tape for posters had it's first skirmish of the outdoor gig season...! I got there first to set up the body masks, sculptural figures etc. to draw attention to the performance - so the stage was flanked with the moon, a dragon's head, little green goblins etc., while fellow storyteller Deor went to collect three of the performers...and the sky looked grey and slightly threatening...I then began to arrange the book and CD stall, and was glad to be practiced at weighing things down...all the same, I thought - why is it that I seem to hold so many stalls on windy days when I'm convinced there are lots of perfectly still, calm ones?!?

And then Jon arrived, the PA was set up, and not long after more reinforcements came until we were nearly quorate. Then the benches were laid, Chris from the Centre kindly offered us coffee, and we began! Despite the somewhat overcast sky and chilly wind, it went with a bang - Clive Adams introduced the event, speaking of the Centre's past and funding issues, the Hub as it was (shacks in muddy glade!) and how far it had come...then we introduced our first act, and Liv Torc, Wondermentalist, performance poet, comedian and host of Taking the Mic, wowed the crowd with her customary energy, skill, verve and vitality, every inch the professional, and dealing well with the all ages audience! (not least as a lot of her material is of the adult variety). Catch her as poet-in-residence at Exeter Poetry Festival later in the year. We had Clive Pig the Storyfella - see him at this year's Westcountry Storytelling Festival - who tells stories like a one man movie (his sound effects as ever had to be heard to be believed!) stopping folks in their tracks. He was the one who showed that storytelling could be a total theatre experience, and hence inspired Widsith & Deor! Jon Freeman (of Tyburn Jig - catch them at this year's Festival at the Edge, English Heritage properties and at Storyclub) doing his fine performance poetry, and Jade Moon (former Green Woman act at many festivals on the circuit including being a Glastonbury regular and also fire dancer) with passion and movement and appropriately enough, her themes echoing some of Liv's. James Turner, popular poet and author of the 'Forgeries' collection published by Original Plus, proving beautifully that there need be no divide between 'page and stage' poetry, with wonderfully lyrical and intellectual (I mean that in its absolutely positive sense of thought-provoking) yet accessible, pieces and delivered with his trademark mixture of humanity, wit and emphatic-not-dogmatic wisdom. Music was from Gabriel Collins, prolific songwriter (some three hundred original songs in his repertoire), a pianist who kindly brought his guitar instead as of course the piano wouldn't fit on the train! - And we were lucky enough to have David Sawyer (well known sculptor of sound sculptures and artist as well as musician) and Annie Quicke (also of The Surf Messengers), musicians who often play with/in the fabulous improvisational group Children of the Drone (more festival favourites!). David with one of his handmade original and haunting instruments an 'electrochord' and Annie with flute and saxophone filled the Forest with hauntingly lovely yet experimental ambience, as they made unusual and delicious improvised music. Towards the end, James (who is also often part of the Children of the Drone) did poetry while they played, and the effect was simply hypnotic. Finally - having introduced the acts with a short tale or poem, and done one of our spooky forest stories, the event was coming to a close...when Annie and David offered to round off the day by improvising music to a story! It was an offer we couldn't refuse, so we told one of our trademark tales, 'Lady Mary' (also partly set in a forest) and it was fantastic to perform with the music changing mood to the tempo all around - a wonderful experience to end the day on, and a real high! It was hard to express one's thanks - we love the performing with other artists and the each art flowing into the other experience.

Then it was time for more cake (which we'd brought along for all to share), packing up instruments, books, props and all the rest, congratulating everyone on how well it had gone, talking with Clive Adams and Chris Lewis of the Centre about the afternoon and funding wait, (and of course looking in the collections bucket and wishing it had been warmer!) and them thanking us for putting together such a good show (aww shucks). It was all in all a wonderful afternoon, with a marvellously contrasting array of talents. Huge thanks must go to Clive, Liv, Jon, James, Jade, Annie, David, and Gabriel for being so brilliant and coming along to make it happen, and of course to Clive, Chris and Johanna of CCANW for having us and keeping us in tea and coffee! Fingers crossed for their funding re-application...(I know the feeling)...

Helter Skelter

2010-03-30T16:29:00.003+01:00

I thought things were hectic before! the CCANW Fundraiser is coming together apace - arranging lifts for some of the great acts we've got to perform, posting on websites, liaising with the Rangers, seeing if we can get some fire dance performance arranged... A festival have e-mailed to confirm a venue for the 'Porlock the Warlock Show' but with queries about show times and workshops; I've been asked very kindly by Alan Summers - Japan Times award winning writer and haiku specialist, to perform at the Launch Party of the Bath Japanese Festival in May, and all this just after perhaps the scariest Edition of Spoken/Written I've yet issued...as it gets split into two come May - into free and premium newsletters so to speak. So the last Edition in this format...but it had to happen sometime I guess, with secure funding running out in July. I would have loved to keep it as one and free or voluntary subs only, but with everyone in the arts tightening their belts right now, it just wasn't possible. I can only hope it works...

It feels like being on some weird fairground ride, whizzing high then low then sideways...I just hope it's more candy floss than throwing up...

Highs and Lows in the Arts

2010-03-24T21:47:00.016Z

So much keeps happening, the highs and lows of working in the arts. On the the former front, today a heap of thank yous arrived from Instow School, with lots of words for sound, and material that appeared to be from a lesson or session where the idea had been run with, and the pupils had written more structured poems as a result, as well as photos including a picture of one pupil holding up his list of 56 words - hopefully with pride! but who likes having their picture taken?! It made one feel that the workshops had gone even a bit better than we'd thought.

This followed hot on the heels of a print copy of 20x20 Magazine arriving - and what a delicious addition to any library of literary magazines it makes. Beautifully produced, in its trademark square format, I was as ever really struck by just how good the work is (and not just because I had a piece in it...).

And these followed on from a great review of the stories we did at the Garden of Awen in February, in Tasty Fanzine! Always nice to be appreciated. Apparently Widsith & Deor 'are genuine entertainers' - well, we do (with some tales anyway!) aim to make people laugh as well as think.

We also got a thank you from the person who booked our 'Temptation and Redemption Show'. And 'Not What One Was - A Brief History of the Concept of Justice' a series of political philosophy short snappy essays on current affairs (Cartwheels Collective Publishing's latest book) is starting to sell.

On the downside, the wonderful Northcott Theatre (Exeter's largest theatre) has gone into administration, incredibly. This is very bad news for the arts in E.Devon, as they not only put on a great range of productions from ballet, opera and conventional theatre to contemporary dance, visual/physical theatre and puppetry, but also have a gallery space, massive outreach in the form of a community company and youth theatre, and too much else to mention. It would be disastrous if they were allowed to close. As well as being a huge blow for Exeter University students as it's a resource for drama students and does cut price tickets for everyone who studies or works there.

And of course there are funding cuts everywhere. We storytellers are organizing a fundraising gig in aid of the Centre for Contemporary Art in the Natural World (CCANW) at Haldon Forest Park over Easter, as they, like Spoken/Written, had to resubmit a funding application, and were set the unenviable challenge of raising £20,000 in two months.

Moreover Spoken/Written will, in all likelihood have to split into two with the larger newsletter becoming a paying only service in early summer, as of course, it has only been given funding until the end of July. Shoestrings are getting thinner, and more organizations, groups and artists are having to exist on them. Here's to a spirit of rising to the challenge - it's the only attitude that will keep the arts sector afloat in difficult times.

Check out; 20x20 Magazine

http://www.20x20magazine.com/

Tasty Fanzine

http://www.tastyfanzine.org.uk/gigs64feb10.htm#GardenOfAwen

'Not What One Was' at Cartwheels Collective Publishing's Webshop

http://www.cartwheels-collective.co.uk/Web_Shop.html

Fundraiser for CCANW

http://www.cartwheels-collective.co.uk/W%26D_Host.html

Centre for Contemporary Art in the Natural World

http://www.ccanw.co.uk/

Science of Sound Week & a New Show

2010-03-17T17:10:00.008Z

At last the weather has got warmer, and what better week to be travelling down to Middlesex to do our 'Temptation & Redemption Show' for Lent? The show went well, the hall packed, and many kind comments left in the comments book, and a couple of good friends turned up, but all just the day after a long journey - with a very winding diversion! so taking much longer than it should - and parting with a fellow member of the Collective, as they were off to Nepal for three months to do environmental community projects such as eco-gardens... We had swapped news, filled in masses of detail to one another about our respective artforms and arts scenes in respective counties...and then said goodbye. The day after was spent networking at a social gathering, and then it was back to the West Country and off to N.Devon for some Sound and Writing and Storytelling by Noise Workshops for Science of Sound Week! Which went brilliantly. The children seemed completely engaged and enjoyed the one on noises immensely - without it devolving into a mass of farmyard impressions as might have been feared! My own workshop on Words for Sound went really well, too - we played them sounds, noises and soundscapes, and they really got the hang of it. Two came up with wonderful scenes as settings for the sounds, good enough for film or poetry. One managed to describe what it was about the music that evoked a feeling of x, y or z - which was by far the most advanced point I wanted the workshop to make, and not something I thought we'd cover with the age group in question. And at the end, two boys came up and said they'd listed 184 and 153 words for sound respectively - now that, I think, really is a result! The teachers were pleased, their classroom teacher wanted to use the material for further teaching, the head was there for part of it and was charming, and Yolande as ever made us feel we knew where everything was in no time. Instow School is a school with limited space, but because everyone is piled up together, it means they really have to get on! And so there was the most amazingly friendly air of co-operation and goodwill between teachers, children, catering and admin staff, and the most relaxed head teacher, we'd ever encountered! And who needs more space when you're set on the side of a hill with a ruined windmill to explore just above, and magnificent views of estuary, sea and coastline all around? What a fantastic place. The staff room was laden with chocolates and biscuits as a thank you to all who came in to work during Science of Sound Week, so that made for a homely welcome too. We had tea with Yolande afterwards, and discussed the rest of the Week's events, the ever-present ongoing funding situations which were all too similar, and generally caught up.

Afterwards we had to go up the hill and see the ruined windmill on its wonderful vantage point (on only about the fourth or fifth day one could wear a jacket out of doors instead of a fleece!). It was a lovely atmospheric cylinder of stone, with tiny 'windows' and no roof, commanding a fine panorama of coastal seascapes. And then it was on to another part of the estuary, to have dinner with some newer members of the Collective - a delightful evening, and especially as Andi has been booked to make mosiacs on the beach during Appledore Visual Arts Festival, and Mandy had very kindly made me a gonfalon for the shows! I took pictures of her wool dyeing and spinning wheel for the website, and we talked until at last it was time to go. A very full five days it had been too.

Big thanks to Andi and Mandy, to Yolande for having us again and booking us to work in such nice places with such lovely people! To all the workshop participants who did so well, and the teachers of Instow Community School, especially Mark Gough the head teacher for hosting us.

To ISBN or not to ISBN?

2010-03-01T10:16:00.022Z

Previously, everybody who published a book thought of ISBNs as a must have. For a start, before the copyright libraries got totally overwhelmed with works (some drivel, and others so poorly made that they needed to be held up with an elastic band), bookshops only stocked titles that had them. Now however, sure Waterstones will only stock them if you have one. But who buys books that aren't travel guides or the latest t.v. promotion, 'celebrity' ghost-written books or recipe books in Waterstones? Most of the independent or smaller bookshops are increasingly hard to find and hard pushed. Certainly some famous ones strong on a certain type of book (radical, poetry, cookbooks or whatever) survive, but tend to be specialists. A friend of mine has published many books, and stocks them in Waterstones, where they only ever shift if he holds a signing or related event.

Also, what guarantee have you got that the big retailers will stock (never mind sell) them when you have to badger their distributor first, and they may turn you down anyway?

People say you have to have an ISBN to be stocked on Amazon. This is true, but how many small press publications have you bought from Amazon lately? And what of the cut they take? True they stock obscure and wonderful books you can't get elsewhere, but most of those I buy, for instance, tend to be by authors known in classic circles, like Cocteau, or Kandinsky. And if I do want to buy a poetry book by a fine author whose collection isn't in the mass media's narrow circles a lot, (say James Turner's 'Forgeries') then I already know enough of either author or publisher to contact them directly to buy my copy knowing that they'll get more of the money than if I'd gone through Amazon!

If someone's heard of The Books of...Trilogy, it would be surprising if they also didn't know of either my name or that of the Cartwheels Collective & Publishing arm. Anyone looking up 'Porlock the Warlock' on Google should get the Cartwheels Collective website and hence Webshop. Why bother with Amazon? The same goes for Barnes & Noble.

Most people don't need the 10 ISBNs you have to buy for £110 plus £18 postage. In their dreams they might, but other friends of mine who have bought 10, they have helped sell no copies at all and they've only ever used one. Cartwheels Collective Publishing has eight titles out (well, the last one will be available in a couple of weeks) and two more in the pipeline. It was at this point that we were always going to review editorial policy as to ISBNs. We've thought about it and rejected it - indeed my co-editor is at this moment writing a piece about the decision on the Cartwheels Collective Publishing google site.

People have got to hear about your work (and it should be work) because of your efforts. ISBNs are not a magic bullet to help shift copies. Once sales are comfortably at the next level, then they will have been issued along the way - when to bother will be self-evident. But starting selling books in limited editions, and the way you get people to know about them is at events, small mags, recommendations, word of mouth and via the web - including (see the last post) tools like Facebook. Never ever expect ornamental accessories from a vanished past like the ISBN (and when it did make a book stand out simply because there were less of them) to do the work for you.

Since ISBNs have effectively been privatized (they are now run by Nielson Book Data), it has become about making money out of book publishers and authors not for book publishers and authors. Hence the end decision of CCP's editorial board not to have them.

An independent publisher with an explicit 'no ISBN' policy is Magic Realms Publications. Check out their well argued case at;

http://magicrealmspublications.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/isbn-the-self-publishers-choice/

If ISBNs have done you any favours, I would love to hear from you! Either via comments below or by e-mailing.

Works referred to;

James Turner's 'Forgeries'

http://thesamsmith.webs.com/originalpluscollections.htm

The Books of...Trilogy;

http://www.cartwheels-collective.co.uk/The_Books_of...Series.html

Webshop; http://www.cartwheels-collective.co.uk/Web_Shop.html

To Facebook or not to Facebook?

2010-02-28T19:21:00.007Z

When I've informed people that Spoken/Written Bulletin has a Facebook page, or mentioned that it has 'fans' or that it has information in it that often doesn't fit the deadlines for Editions, some of them groan at me, and ask why should they go to Facebook to find out things that should be in the newsletter? Or alternatively, that even if they like something, they hate the idea of becoming a 'fan'. Or just that they really don't want to join Facebook because they have a dread of being contacted or looked up by x, y or z old 'school friend', hated ex-boy/girlfriend, stalker from some workplace, etc., etc..

Well firstly, you don't have to give your real name! Or why not start a page for your book, chapbook, website or poetry night, story circle, etc. rather than one for yourself? I know friends who have had trouble from people they didn't want to be in touch with, but you don't have to get bogged down in all that.

Secondly, in Facebook terms 'fans' simply means that you're saying you like something. And the more you become a 'fan' of a magazine you think is quality or an arts organization that does work you're involved with or approve of, then the more you come up on their listings, and the more serious you look about your artform. Or the more well informed or even 'connected'. you appear. And they'll become 'friends' of yours too. This all is good for work and getting yourself known as a professional or a writer or whatever with a professional attitude.

Thirdly, Facebook is a vast networking resource - it's a way you can leave comments that might interest editors and other people you might want to know you're around, in you and hence perhaps your work. It has pages dedicated to listings of all kinds like poetry competition pages, and allsorts of special interest groups you might want to join and hear from or network with. It also means that, (because you can be in touch with people who you'd never have had the e-mail address for) you can have professional yet informal conversations with others about important issues which you would never have just e-mailed them about, with the Chat facility.

Like everything else on the web, Facebook is a resource, and if you don't want to get any of the downsides, just follow the protocols! It's like ignoring the online gambling ads when you go on YouTube! You can just watch a rare film you never thought to see again, OR click a gambling site and lose your house through gambling debts - I strongly recommend the former!

Check out Spoken/Written Bulletin S.W.'s Facebook page at;

http://www.facebook.com/pages/spoken-written-bulletin/92213832105?ref=ts

Latest Book from Cartwheels Collective Publishing!

2010-02-26T18:58:00.008Z

And today the new proof copy of 'Not What One Was - A Brief History of the Concept of Justice' arrived! Cartwheels Collective Publishing's latest book with all the required changes, including a red cover instead of blue, and looking good! It should be printed and ready for sale by mid-March. And excitingly, after all the hard work and heartache of agonizing page number layout and font size alterations, the nightmare of Contents page number switches and all the rest that goes with the printing process, we have our first pre-order, having only announced the book a couple of hours ago on Facebook!

There's been a lot of tough administrative stuff lately, and never mind printer-stress, some negative scene things on the work front, as well as more financial worries, so this is all the more heartening and cheering for our tiny editorial team of two at C.C. Publishing!

The new book is a project I'm really proud of. 'A Brief History of Justice' by Matthew Hammond, is a brilliant series of 67 short snappy essays, charting the history of the concept of justice in bite sized pieces from Plato to pretty much the present day. As illustrations/practical examples, the essays take each week's news from last year (and some of the year before) and show how they're influenced by philosophical ideas. It's a completely unique take on both current events, the political landscape, and how the media presents us with the news! Think Roland Barthes' seminal book of popular essays on pop culture 'Mythologies' combined with the lyricism of Walter Benjamin's terrific 'Illuminations' and then mix them with a dash of Pierre Bourdieu's iconoclastic 'On Television' with a dollop of the wonderfully perceptive Michel Foucault, and you may have some idea of what the book's like. It's a great book to 'dip into' as each essay is short, and a fantastic bargain at £9 for a 426 page paperback plus 50p P&P.

The author is an inspirational lecturer, storyteller and stand up philosopher, who has lectured in universities and cafe bars, delivered papers at many academic conferences and performed at many festivals. The essays are taken from his 'Rants of the Week' essays on the Cartwheels Collective website, so if you want to check them out, go to;

http://www.cartwheels-collective.co.uk/Ping_Pongs.html

It will soon be available to order from the Webshop at;

http://www.cartwheels-collective.co.uk/Web_Shop.html

(alternatively e-mail me at; bulletin-editor@blueyonder.co.uk)

The Fencing Philosophers & Poi Poetry

2010-02-26T18:12:00.006Z

Oh wow! So much seems to happen at the moment. On Sunday I performed in a couple of slots for the 'Cabaret Theatrique' at the new Bike Shed Theatre with fellow performer Deor. Our first set was trying out our new 'Fencing Philosophers' act, where we clash swords (literally!) delivering philosophical aphorisms, maxims, propositions and bon mots in the characters of two C17th contemporaries - the philosopher Benedict de Spinoza (described by Gilles Deleuze as 'the Christ of Philosophers') and the extremely and wittily cynical Duc de La Rochefoucauld. It was the first time we'd shot it past an audience, and they seemed to like it with lots of laughter and applause. The next slot was another recent idea of ours - that of Poi Poetry, as I delivered a fast rhyming piece with tight rhythm, plus fast moving poi twirling. No tricks, just speed (I'll work up to the former!). The space is just a great new venue for the city. The decor of white stage plus pillars, and ice cube style lighting of the bar counter, then red walls and fairylights with comfy sofas and leather squares for the bar - well done to everyone involved for all their hard work in making it such a great space!

Gathering Momentum

2010-02-23T19:23:00.006Z

It's been all go - the nightmare of proofing or at least having another proof read of, Cartwheels Collective Publishing's latest book, a Brief History of Justice, has been continuing, as author and printer negotiate what went wrong with the galley proofs. As I've observed in previous blog entries, no one publishes a book without being crazy or at best prepared to deal with a lot of stress. So another morning has been spent changing the layout and font of the main text, which in turn necessitates changing all the page numbers...for some 67 chapters...plus the prelims...and then noticing with horror that the last chapter doesn't seem to have been proofed at all! so of course, it has to be done too...Never mind finding those places where a word has been put into 'find and replace', and of course the computer has found a word within a word - say 'rent' in 'apparently' and changed them all regardless so you get a word like 'appatornly' as it takes out the said rent and replaces it with a 'torn' just to use an example. Printing a book is a nightmare, and printing a philosophy book, with all its complex use of language and names of philosophers and philosophical terms, (even in an accessible book of short essays!) is doubly so. Expect a deal of shouting and wondering how your co-editor could possibly have missed this or that.

The answer is of course you/they did. Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason' or J.R.R. Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' spent years, decades indeed before all the typos were gone - a single work, especially over three hundred pages or four hundred pages long will suffer from such mistakes until printed more than once, possibly more than several reprints. It's far too big a task for anyone with three jobs, or for two people with three jobs, to ever get right first time. But the thing is that it is getting done.

Despite (as I've also written before) the easy bit being the writing, the printing being the nightmare, and the actual selling the real hard work, I'm looking forward to seeing a shiny new book by the press ready for sale.

Days Out of Time

2010-02-08T18:44:00.011Z

Just returned from Bath and Bristol, and a packed weekend. Not long after a brilliant warm-up night at the Storyclub, on Wednesday, on the Sunday, we storytellers were performing as part of Awen Publications' and Icepax Productions' Garden of Awen cabaret night at the Chapel Arts Centre in Bath. The event was beautifully decorated and the venue a really nice one. Unlike many religious buildings converted to other uses, it had intimacy and wasn't draughty. The stage area was quite high, and a nice size. Black and a few white circular bistro tables with upholstered chairs filled the rest of the space, with a bar at the back. Candles were lit on the tables which made play of the mirror-like surfaces, and the house lights were globes on the walls above, shedding a soft indirect glow.

The stage was a vision in red panels which glowed with the lighting rig changes, adorned in red roses for the love theme, with bird cages like Cocteau-style aerial scribbles, all surreal and hanging at different heights behind which were remarkably effective. The evening was excellent with a good turn out, great turns from the likes of Kevan Manwaring (of Awen) who was launching his latest book of poetry, and Saravian a very fine singer/songwriter who sang hauntingly of the theme. The lighting turned the backdrop from crimson to magenta, darkened the background to make everything vivid... Our own couple of sets seemed to go down well, and we had brought plenty of red fabric and pink organza for the theme!

By 2am, I was ready to collapse, having caught up with the ever-hospitable Kevan, renewed contact with two other members of Fire Springs storytellers who I had not seen in too long, had a quick look round beautiful Bath, lugged prop and book boxes to and from town and van, and all in suspense (more of that in a moment). The next day, up early and onward to Bristol, to meet a philosopher friend in the Arnolfini - the perfect place for it, and much catching up was also done! Before finally returning to base, tired but full of good coffee, and a succession of images and conversations...

I had hardly put down the boxes, when I got a call. I had applied, not without concerns as to how possible it would be with 3 jobs, one of which being Spoken/Written with all its attendant commitments, plus another two newsletters to research! - for the post of Apples & Snakes S.W. co-ordinator. The interview had been before the weekend, involving a panel of questioners and a presentation. The decision was to come on the Monday, and so while I was equally divided about concerns for giving the fullest attention to this or that role at any one time, the news came. In a way the best of all outcomes - Spoken/Written and my own role in the scene, the work that it and I as editor do were called 'inspiring' but I was not going to be called on to attempt to juggle four roles, and possibly (and agonizingly) pass on the editorship (of Spoken/Written), even temporarily to another, nor to leave key administrative tasks for the Collective to the others (who had expressed mixed emotions about possible changes).

I felt that perhaps an opportunity of another kind had opened up - a mental space to take with even more seriousness the three tasks which are already mine. And it had clarified the areas on which I (as many artists) need to expand and work to better hone - those of marketing, fundraising, and turning key relationships with the likes of promoters to better account.

I had already learnt so much just from the process of writing such an application, a presentation, answering key questions put by those involved in a large arts organization, perhaps most rewardingly, calling on those I admire or have worked with to give testimonials in favour of the skills I offered...and debriefing with another artist who had applied for the same post. So the whole thing felt worth having done.

And after a weekend of architecture, events and catching up with friends to take my mind from the suspense or uncertainty, it was ended. Another extraordinary weekend. Big thanks must go to Kevan, fellow performers, Will, and Chris, Jon, Dave, and Clive of the Storyclub, Kirsty and Anthony, all those who have made Spoken/Written what it is from readers, subscribers, donors or the Arts Council, and finally to A&S for a most interesting experience.

Starting with a Bang!

2010-01-12T15:41:00.017Z

What a New Year it's been already! From Spoken/Written having it's funding secured for another six months, to a book FINALLY coming out (after a wait of years) with a chapter in it that I (with my proof reader hat on) had proofed at least three times in different formats, and so felt almost as precious about as if I had written it myself! To having a story published in a really excellent online PDF magazine, 20x20 magazine, and another online publication too. All in the space of a week - it really took some of the bite out of the freezing temperatures, having to miss the Storyclub due to going out in the evening making a cough (that was bad before Christmas and came back directly afterward) worsen, and made up for the fact that the pipes on the bathroom had completely frozen...(don't ask!).

The book which had the chapter I'd proofed was a philosophical reader entitled 'Deleuze and the Fold: A Critical Reader', essays on modern French philosopher Gilles Deleuze's textured and complex book, 'The Fold: Leibniz & the Baroque'. And so the first time I'd proofed it, it was as a paper to be delivered at a conference. This meant of course that I could leave in some speech elements, rather than be heavy on the grammar. The second time was when it was requested for publication, when it had to have all the formality of a written text, plus a full bibliography. The third time was when (having seemed as if it would never get published) having changed editors, the new editors sent it back with comments in Dutch...I eventually figured out what they must mean (being standardized in boxes and hence from the programme itself) by the context...And so at last it's out and I've actually held a copy in my hands! What a relief. It's so good to have it exist in 3D at last! Check out the links below if interested to see what sort of book it was. The chapter I proofed was the last one.

20x20 magazine is a beautifully laid out PDF magazine, and the artwork in black and white is stunning. It had an architectural quality that I really liked and (for the first time ever!) my own story was put next to images I thought were wonderful and also actually complemented the text! The other work was all of a very high standard and all in all, I was really impressed. The previous issues online had made me think it looked a really interesting project with high quality work, but I was amazed how the theme of this issue ('Harmonia Mundi') had attracted such an interlocked body of work. It seemed to me almost as if most of the contributors had discussed beforehand what they were sending, and so it all fitted together as harmoniously as the title suggested! I've rarely been so favourably impressed by the whole of a magazine before - not just the poems, or the fiction, or the artwork or the photography, or the cross-artform 2D works or the lay out or the juxtapositions of work, the way each piece is placed on the page, but virtually everything. I can't recommend 20x20 too highly, (and not just because I'm privileged to be published in this issue!) but because it really IS a work of art. All tribute to the editors, Giovanna Paterno and Francesca Ricci.

All this and workshops and gigs being confirmed and requested - and that despite the weather and remains of hangovers!

Here's a raised glass to the rest of the month, I hope it brings you something long-awaited.

Check out;

Deleuze and the Fold: A Critical Reader

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/0230552870/ref=dp_olp_1

20x20 magazine

http://www.20x20magazine.com/

A Happy New Year!

2010-01-06T19:34:00.007Z

Good news! The Arts Council have granted Spoken/Written Bulletin S.W. and related newsletters six months funding. To say that I'm relieved would be an understatement. This project is not only about keeping Spoken/Written afloat in a swiftly-changing period for the literature scene and its organizations, nor only about expanding Spoken/Written, but also covers research into two sibling newsletters - one for performance arts (theatre, dance, music etc.) and one for visual arts (sculpture, painting, 2 and 3D art, textiles, crafts, photography, video art etc.). Why? Because one of Spoken/Written's original models were the Arts Council's previous three newsletters under those rough headings. And a very fine service they all provided.

It's wonderful to be able to report such positive news, and this success is a tribute not only to the service itself, but to all those subscribers who paid their fees, donated money or sent in testimonials. This is your triumph as much as it is the Editor's. Thank you. The Bulletin and I could not have done it without your help. The word gratitude seems too small, but the cup that holds it is overflowing.....A Very Happy and a Prosperous New Year to you all. Bless you!

Big Thanks to Spoken/Written's Contributors

2009-12-30T16:11:00.007Z

Spoken/Written and I should know by mid-January whether it has six months grace or not. This is just a quick post to say a HUGE THANKS to those subscribers who have sent in money either by cheque or via PayPal - it means that due to their efforts - check out the Roll of Honour to see who these wonderful folks are! - Spoken/Written has earned 10% of a year's funding by purely voluntary contributions alone. A big achievement, and obviously completely due to these subscribers being willing to support it.

Spoken/Written currently has 86 fans on Facebook. Which also (considering I realize that many subscribers have little internet access, either using only e-mail, or using the web sporadically or in a limited way, and that many have no net access at all, but are passed printed copies in writing circles and groups!) is a good thing and reflects something of just how much support Spoken/Written has.

In a stressful and sometimes oppressive time of waiting, it has been incredibly heartening and often moving, to receive these concrete proofs of how much Spoken/Written is useful to people, and how much it is valued by those whom it serves. Your Editor is immensely grateful. I wish you all a really Happy New Year.

Please keep your fingers firmly crossed for Spoken/Written - and why not make it your new year's resolution to pay a sub fee if you haven't already?

To see the Roll of Honour of those who have made the step to support the Bulletin, check out;

http://www.cartwheels-collective.co.uk/spoken_written_bulletin_Legion.html

To become a Friend of the Bulletin on Facebook, check out;

http://www.facebook.com/pages/spoken-written-bulletin/92213832105?ref=ts

Why Should Spoken/Written Charge?

2009-11-30T11:59:00.007Z

Why should anyone pay for Spoken/Written? Because of all the lateral searches the Editor does on your behalf. Hours spent trawling through newsletters that most people give up on as junk mail or spam, looking for the nugget that’s an opportunity. Combination word searches in dozens of different mixtures through Google to get what can be found out there on the vast and ever-expanding web. Going through huge websites with a fine tooth comb seeking the news that’s of relevance to the South West or writers of this or that genre. Choice zines from the plethora of stuff. As many competitions that are free or via e-mail as can be found so you can enter them with maximum speed, minimum hassle. Trawling through what gets sent in and then standardizing its format. Keeping pace with an inbox where you can hardly keep up with where to put e-mails in folders so they're where you need when you want them...hoping you neither miss something vital for the Bulletin, nor other work coming in. Checking entries for dead links or dodgy small print. The work that I would have liked to do for myself if I had the time. Except that I don’t. And neither do you. Which is why the Editor has to be paid. And why if you value what makes this service different, I’m requesting you send some money. Being Editor, it’s amazing how many times I think – I must chase that up – and then with time so tight, and the last edition out of the way, rarely do. Efficiency is what some people know me for, yet when trying to go for five things from a couple of editions, early in the year, an application to one was found all filled in, stamped, unposted, too late. Another arrived five hours after the deadline to be rejected. I looked up editions from this time last year to check whether some event was still running in December – couldn’t believe the things I hadn’t gone for in it. There’s never time. And with Spoken/Written taking up a third of all working time in a year, and the last six months yielding half the amount in sub fees etc. that four days workshops work brought in…That’s not something the Editor – however much I care about this service – can afford to keep up much longer unless MORE PEOPLE PAY SUB FEES. At;

http://www.cartwheels-collective.co.uk/Spoken_Written_Bulletin.html

I hope this explains the position of Spoken/Written a little better. Massive thanks again to all those who have contributed, you are high in Spoken/Written and its Editor's esteem. Bless you all.

Spoken/Written Bulletin S.W.

2009-11-30T11:30:00.005Z

Four days after the 50 page proposal and form and supporting material were sent off...they came back. The application was ineligible, due to having downloaded a dead link from the website. Mercifully, they had sent a new application back in with the package. So that was all of Thursday. Taking the opportunity to put in a word about something I'd forgotten (the whole Spoken/Written network is surprisingly complex, once sitting down to write a proposal for what is essentially a service that can be summed up in a few words) - an important 'partnership' aspect. And some potentially critical feedback, that I'd not put in the right folder, and then remembered once the package was posted. So while Thursday was gone (mostly filling in a 40 page A5 form rather than the 25 page A4 one), and Friday morning, by Friday lunchtime it was a better application than it had been. And I thought that was the end of it for now. But that meant being really behind with the next Edition, which I'd hoped to get off by Friday. Sunday or Monday were the very last days, and with The Vibe coming up too...no time to make anything new to sell. And then writing the Endpaper - what to say about the position of Spoken/Written? It's so complex, and could end up in so many different avenues. I am (perhaps stupidly) still committed to trying to carry it on somehow. It could carry on as it is, for which it needs money. It could carry on as two or three newsletters covering all the arts (like the old Arts Council newsletters) for which it would need R&D time. It could become a paying only service - but then some of the levelling aspect that many so value in the Bulletin would be lost. (Although six to eight pounds for a year is still not prohibitive to the majority of people). It could remain free, but become part of another organization, - thereby losing its independence. It could ask people to pay, not enough pay, and thereby as in duty bound, carry on a service for those who have paid or contributed until summer, and then fold... It could become more commercial taking a deal more advertising but losing some space for opportunities. And who knows which of these are actually possible avenues, until they are tried? Hence the outcome being still clouded in uncertainty.

One thing is clear. I as its Editor have a love/hate relationship with the Bulletin. It both allows me time to do the other things I need to do and is closely allied to my main branch of the arts. But it also stops me doing things I need to do, and obviously as things stand, does not bring enough return...But ultimately its future is not up to me alone, nor to the Arts Council, but to its readers...

I don't know why it was so strangely hard to finish this last Edition of the season.

Check out The Vibe!

2009-11-23T12:15:00.017Z

The last show of the season...? Followed by a mad dash to put together a 50 page case for six months of funding for Spoken/Written, which has just been sent off this morning...but rather than catching my breath, it's time to refresh one's knowledge of Dark Age Anglo-Saxon poetry, specifically that of the Exeter Book, for an interview tomorrow with BBC Radio Devon, then as soon as that's done, the last Edition of the year has got to be off by the end of the month, i.e. preferably the end of the week, and it's preparing new posters with the edition of the second cover and latest reviews for a stall at The Vibe Extravaganza on Monday the 30th of November - where I'll be having Spoken/Written stuff, Porlock the Warlock novels, The Books of...Trilogy of serial poem chapbooks, and craft stuff like Viking braids, willow wreaths, and anything else I and fellow Collective member / storyteller Deor can make in the meantime! Not to mention rehearsing as we're performing there too, and after that it's more cutting local willow and dogwood as yesterday we got a booking for Evergreen craft and storytelling workshop-sessions for people with mental health issues at CCANW in December! Meanwhile, just as I'm reciting 'The Ruin' (beautiful ancient poem) and glancing at history notes, while trying to work on the next Edition, an e-mail arrives from a festival interested in the 'Porlock the Warlock' show, (talk/storytelling/workshop event for the adventure novel - see the website if interested, links to the right or click the 'Porlock' cover) for next year, with a host of questions to be answered about venues etc.!

Time to write a second Porlock or time off? Not any time soon. Time to make cards will be tough enough! How busy can you be?

Do come along to The Vibe Extravaganza at the Picture House on Bartholomew St. West in Exeter - it should be good fun! The Vibe is a networking group of artists from every and any discipline which usually meets once a month at the Picture House in the Cafe Bar, with the aim of hearing news, working on projects, and putting on regular mixed arts showcases, of which this is the first. It features stalls selling affordable art, books, CDs and crafts for Christmas - including popular artist Brenda Lambert's jewellery and cards, and yours truly's books and stuff! Free gifts for anyone who buys a book (or pays more than six pounds for a sub fee!) There'll be various kinds of music, storytelling by Widsith & Deor Storytelling Theatre, performance poetry, acting - allsorts! It starts at 7pm, and goes on till 11pm. The Picture House Cafe Bar serves a great range of cocktails, beers, wines, juices, coffees, teas, hot chocolate, cakes, sometimes pies...all in a chilled venue with a great ambience, sofas, and regularly changing art exhibition on the walls. (All this and an arts cinema just underneath!) And it's free entry!

(And hey, it all stops me having time to worry about the proposal and form!)

Check out; The Vibe at;

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52103916247&ref=search&sid=1816006865.2579917633..1

Picture House at;

http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/new_cinema_home_date.aspx?venueId=xtr

Brenda Lambert's Art at;

http://www.inspirart.net/

Halloween Play Day

2009-11-06T18:38:00.017Z

The Halloween show is over, as is the Play Day at Beaminster, another edition, and a whirl of other things making up one of the most hectic weeks of the year. The weather was good at the Play Day, and after we put up the Pavilion, people started arriving. Collection of all the willow and materials and leaves from the vans had to be done at once, and the interior set up. I hung up the leaf mobiles I'd painstakingly made (having got the idea from something Sonia of the Collective made ages ago) and started making a headdress. Over the other side, my fellow storyteller and maker of many craft objects showed people how to weave themselves a crown and decorate it with Autumn harvest. In no time the place was filled with boys looking like woodland creatures, girls like faery folk, and even some adults looking like a picture of carnival! Others wanted to make pumpkin wigs, many wanted to combine the two, giving themselves crowns with trains or veils. A few opted to make the leaf mobiles, as they were rather more complex. One small child did really well, and made one mostly by themselves, tying the string onto the leaf stalks rather than piercing the leaves, but I judged it was much better for them to do more and do it their own way than have someone else do it for them. Another older child merely needed to be shown how to do it, and then did everything themselves, even getting the leaves balanced and at different heights, only needing a little help with the hanging string. Couldn't have been done quicker by an adult. Another participant was a lad with either learning or socialization difficulties attended by a carer. After working out together that he wished to make a mobile, I tied the string around the top but then encouraged him to choose the leaves himself. He chose the first by accepting or rejecting leaves shown to him, but then was choosing them properly, clapping with the fun of it. I asked him what length each should be, and then the attaching of the leaves - the really fiddly bit - I asked him if he'd like to do? and showed him how and then he did all the rest himself. It all took some time, but he made a fine-looking mobile, all perfectly balanced, and was so proud of it - as I was proud too, if one can be proud of an action or an event or even someone one doesn't know. It was an amazing moment, seeing him walk away with the completed artifact, and one I don't think I'm likely to forget. Someone said they saw him later looking at leaves, considering, as if he would make others in the days to come. It was a rewarding day, and (while I missed getting pictures of all those wonderful crowns because I was too busy showing people how to make things, or being surrounded by fabric) it was strangely special. The wings and swords in the second half went down a storm as always, and Deor did some fantastic storytelling - despite having a cough! with bodymasks, to much appreciation. Another good moment toward the end of the day was seeing one of the grown ups swanning out of the pavilion wearing a crown, trailing a train, with wings, and an armful of withies tied as a Christmas decoration...

The organizers were delighted and told us so. Apparently their screensaver is the Collective's Pavilion - with one of the organizers standing outside it wearing wings, arms outstretched! and she wanted a bundle of wings for a forthcoming party, so Wayne obliged. People have them over their beds as well! (It has to be said, I've seen some really beautifully decorated ones, the imagination can really run riot during a workshop! when I thought about it.) I hadn't had time to set up a book stall, and had also wondered whether many of the participants might be of too early a reading age, but then the organizers all bought copies once the book and other workshops we offer came up in conversation at the end of the day! And then we took down the pavilion, cleared up the debris, took pictures of the remaining leaves, like paint on the green grass canvas, and then met up at a pub in Bridport with another Collective member, having a laugh and debriefing before coming back to HQ, where Wayne requested the pavilion be stored over the winter. Much shifting of stuff later, it was done.

This job is full of surprises and new skills. Despite having to be in a 'craft head' instead of a 'storytelling head' (new material/lots of props etc.) three days before the show! which I found hard (not having been a craftsperson long! and having to concentrate, with my head full of newsletter admin and rehearsals) it was really worthwhile. And still so strange to be one of those who make things that people (adults) came in saying - 'that's lovely!' and 'oh that looks too difficult for me'. I longed to coax them into making one themselves, but many were mainly there to oversee their children making something, and so wouldn't have a go. Something I made or 'designed' drawing praise? Being coveted even? Once being an 'oh how complex! I couldn't make that' person, it's so good to be on 'the other side' - one of those who make.

After a misty start (that part of Dorset is always misty!) the day turned fine by the end, and the sun set the leaves on the trees on fire, and I too saw those leaves in a different light, as I think all those who came to the workshops did, by the end of the day...

Huge thanks again to Carol, Anne and Sarah of Playplus for having us yet again, and to all the participants who made such great stuff!

Publishing a Second Edition

2009-10-08T12:11:00.008+01:00

Well, the second edition of the Porlock novel has been sent off to the printers at last and it's too late to change any errors now... Decisions, decisions. The first cover was rather too dark and emphasized the sci fi aspect, so the second by contrast is probably too pale, but at least concentrates on the historical side - which is the main thing. But I'll almost certainly quarrel with it once the boxes of books arrive.

It's a queer business publishing a book. One always imagines in the abstract that of course you'll have time to proof read it the requisite three times, not just the once over an intense and irritable fortnight. You think that of course you'll print out the cover to see how it looks BEFORE sending it off to the printers. You believe in good faith that the second edition will have no typos. Forget it. Unless you only have one job (rare in the arts at the moment, seemingly!) and have the time management skills recommended by 'life coaches', there'll be one proof read. If you haven't the experience yourself of doing that and done it for other people, then it's best to try and cajole/coax/pay someone else to do it. Even if you are good at it, and don't farm it out, it's extremely unlikely that one proof will pick up everything, and even if the typos aren't there, there'll be spacing issues leftover from transferring the document from Word to PDF, and changing the size from A4 or 5 to a standard book size like 132 x 197. Of course it would be great to actually have time to go through the first edition and make all the changes you'd like before the second one...well yes it would, if you hadn't been so busy selling the first one and doing all your other jobs from writing workshop host or assistant willow workshop host to dealing with festivals and... Printing the cover out to see what it looked like would have been great, and of course you will next time...except that the printer doesn't do 132 x 197, or at least not without throwing a tantrum which you really can't face at this stage. Not with a newsletter to edit and... You get the picture? In reality the second cover may well be as 'too something-or-other' as the first, and by the third print run, you may actually have had time to do another proof...hopefully. Because being your own proof reader, editor, page layout designer, typesetter, promoter, marketer, copywriter, rep, bookseller, and having at least two other jobs is always going to get in the way. As for a book that you know perfectly well has typos - surely it's too much for a perfectionist to bear? Not if you're paying for the corrections and are quoted a ludicrous price, and then only quoted five pence a page when it's far too late... - no one's yet minded if they've noticed, and anyway it's imperative to have stock to sell at an imminent event - getting it done vs. perfection? The choice isn't hard at that point. Especially not when one thinks of all the things that never got done because they couldn't be or would take too much time to be, perfect. It's a recipe to cripple an art, a job, or even a life. Of course you should always do everything the best it can be, but if no one's going to notice except yourself, and it's between getting something done or not doing it...No contest.

It's obvious why folks publish their own work and set up their own companies in an overcrowded market filled with ghost written 'celeb biographies'. But what's also plain are that the roles which publishers and agents do execute take time and effort. And if you'd 'rather spend the time writing', then firstly, don't expect to get published this side of doomsday unless you send out two MS.s a day, and secondly - you never know, the many other tasks involved might end up teaching you a whole load of new skills, and there might even be some fun in amongst the hard work. What's more, you'll be doing something you believe in. Does that have a price?

Storyclub Upstairs at the Globe

2009-10-03T19:50:00.016+01:00

October's Storyclub upstairs at the Globe is coming up, as well as a meeting of The Vibe - all arts network forum informal group, National Poetry Day and a couple of things so important to get done that they make you want to write a blog instead...but it's September's Storyclub I'm still remembering... As well as the very wonderful Tyburn Jig Theatre, of Dave Oliver and Jon Freeman who run - brilliantly - the Storyclub (and us regulars Widsith and Deor) there was the matchless Clive PiG the Storyfella. What a treat. Well first of all we all met up downstairs and caught up on what sort of summer season each of us had had, swapping tales of rain and shine, festivals, charming and crazy audiences... (I must admit to feeling like 'one of the big boys' when at a gathering of Dave, Jon, Clive, and also when Michael Dacre of the splendid Raventales turns up! - incidentally all hosts or former hosts of storyclubs.) And then the five of us went upstairs to tell our other tales. Last to arrive amongst the storytelling fraternity was David Heathfield, who does a lot of work in colleges and educational settings as well as at other events. The audience began arriving and carried on until it was a respectable size and the festivities began. Dave and Jon are always excellent, but often perform separately. This time however, they did turns together, and some chemistry was in the offing, which I was delighted to see. Dave is entrancing as a solo performer, but when he was (and from time to time still is) in the Guild of Fabulists with Clive, they have an incredible team chemistry which is always a pleasure to watch and hear, and worth paying good money to see, with each taking up the other's jokes, and the one doing the narration and the other the 'special effects', i.e. creaky doors, floors, weird noises and unexpected eerie voices! Dave and Jon had a different chemistry, and it was great to hear them working with the same story. There's a lovely feeling attendant on a storyteller's changeover, that isn't there in straight theatre, because the lines are learnt in the latter. In storytelling on the other hand, most of the time the cues are flexible, polished improvisation, even spontaneous, and always changing, so there's a trust involved that you don't get in other kinds of performance. Not like watching a trapeze catch exactly, but...! Jon brings more and more offbeat quirk to his tales, and you can tell Dave has worked in television. When Clive took the floor, it was with one about creepy 'Uncle Wolf' and a greedy kid who ate the pancakes intended for the said Uncle...He moved about the space and did the characters so completely 'in character', as well as the special effects of Uncle Wolf trying to get into the house, that at times it was like watching a one person film. He cranked up the suspense till we were on the edge of our seats, until finally and unexpectedly - the greedy boy got eaten by his hard done by if sinister Uncle! David Heathfield delivered his tales professionally with his customary mixture of fireside engagingness and quietly emphatic meaning, with flair and polish. We ourselves did two of our current favourites, including 'Lady Mary', a variation on Bluebeard and not a story I would have warmed to, except I liked our take on it (which evolved out of one choosing it and the other making suggestions until it became a duologue). Mixing grim horror with laugh out loud comedy. It was brilliant to shoot it past such a professional audience, as you know if they laugh, you've got the thing right! And we'll be doing that tale in our coming Autumn Festival Show 'Goblins and Ghouls, Fairies and Fools' (check out the Collective's website if interested - W&D link then Diary or New Show). Needless to say, in our version, Lady Mary gets the best of it... We all did two tales, and after the stories were finished, the rewarding audience stayed on - until we all told jokes and short tales until finally being ousted at closing time...What a great evening. One of the best nights out - and that's born out by friends I've brought along - in the city, and still only £3 for listeners, and free for tellers. Huge thanks to Clive for running the Big Potato as was, Michael of Raventales for running the Storyclub at the Globe, and Jon and Dave for taking it over a while back - and all of them for being such inspirational storytellers, and being responsible for so many cracking nights out!

Sunrise OffGrid and Beautiful Days

2009-09-01T13:30:00.012+01:00

I was beginning to think it couldn't possibly all come off...having been booked without much notice by one festival, and with very little notice by another - how would it all work out? In the end, twelve of us all told went - six each to the Sunrise OffGrid and Beautiful Days Festivals. Seven members of the Collective, a FreePlay allied artist, two family members and two who were getting their van converted by Wayne live during the OffGrid! Mel and Wayne went down on the Tuesday, Andi, Mandy, Liz and us storytellers met at the station before we waved off the other three, plus kids, off to the Beautiful Days to meet up with Lewis (of the legendary Bicton art course), as it happens, the one bestowed my ticket when I decided that being booked for six hours storytelling and leaving only one member of the company to perform it all on their own, wasn't on! And then off we went to the OffGrid, to meet with the others, including Andrew and Anya, the couple having their van transformed.

All of Thursday and Friday, I was worrying about how those who had only just met would get along with one another, at the other festival. It's all very well to be recommended artists by those whom one holds in high regard, and all very well to have met and enlisted new people in different regions, but to pack off three sets of different artists to a festival who've not met! Two from N.Devon had only my say so, that the Penzance member was gifted and good company, she likewise only had our assurances that the family were charming and excellent, and I had to have faith that the person who had my ticket - recommended by Andi - would get on with everyone else... Would the Collective survive packing off a group of strangers who hadn't all lived together at some point (as the original eight members had done at different times and combinations) to a festival for four days?

We ourselves girded our loins for the six hours of storytelling (having been programmed as entertainers, not as full on theatre, so doubting they realized what a punishing schedule it would have been for only one performer!), and Wayne had already begun stripping out the removal van by the time we arrived, and the Pavilion was already resplendent, as was a Vantastic (Wayne's company name) awning and signage, with the flyers we'd done on display. And it went brilliantly - people were in and out of the van and show van from dawn till dusk, admiring, asking questions, seeking advice, taking flyers, from time to time a concrete booking for a van conversion, customization or specialist welding commission... On Saturday Mel did a den building workshop all day, and in no time part of a field was covered in what looked like a mini tipi enclosure, with kids and adults making rag bunting to hang between them, and even using it as a chill out zone once the workshop was over. Our own marquee was pretty packed from time to time, and we shouted against festival noise and loud music. (A mic is a rare commodity at smaller festivals!) By the end of day two we were hoarse enough to gratefully accept some honey from Mel for the throat.

On Saturday I texted Liz to check how things were going at their end...- Yes! a reply came swiftly; they were workshopping to packed marquees and having great fun, with a good slot giving them all decent time off! Was I relieved?? That evening I could relax at last, going to see the fire dancers - eight in one performance space! and all different. And then did the usual round of venues and attractions, hypnotized by trancey dance in the dance dome. Classic moments included once the van was finished, with LED kitchen lighting, cupboards, the works, including space for Andrew's - a musician as well as having a first in Renewal Energy - harmonium, a marvellous bellows-powered piano like keyboard with a sound like a small organ! He played it at the end of Sunday, and it sounded simply magical...

On Monday we returned to HQ, followed later in the day by Mel and Wayne, then Andi, Mandy, and Liz. And what a gathering, we all greeted, swapped stories of workshops and performances delivered and feedback gained, congratulated each other for getting everything done so well, and generally caught up on each one's perspective of both festivals, everyone talking to at least two people at once. There was a lovely atmosphere, and after all the seemingly endless hard work of ringing festivals, and filling in form after form, negotiating everything from money to meals, and issuing everyone with flyers for the Collective, and all the rest, it made it all seem worth the effort and hassle, and I couldn't help being moved. Especially when everyone gave everyone a hug on parting, even those that had only known one another for four days. One's faith in feeling that even quite different artists, once one knew they were gifted, and felt them to be really pleasant people, would hopefully be able to work together! was justified on this occasion. No common pleasure.

The Beautiful Dayers as we had come to call them, also came bearing recycled gifts - swathes of gold and silver big thick card from the end of the festival, and no less than fifteen metres of crimson fabric that I could think of three uses for at once! A fine prize. And Andi said they had been been called 'the best thing for kids there' - to which I replied 'That's what I like to hear!' - their leather and poi and textile workshops and decorated spaces had flown the Collective flag proud!

Big thanks to Lewis to stepping into the breach, Rosie of the kid's field, Helen for having patience with the sudden change of line up, and of course to the wonderful other members of the Collective, Wayne and Mel for doing a great job, Andi for organizing his part so well, Mandy for being a peach, Liz for being so game, and the support crews! Sam and Alex, Andrew and Anya. Well done everyone!

It's so nice with all the uncertainty about Spoken/Written and delays in the forthcoming books by Cartwheels Collective Publishing and other stresses, to have ended the summer season's gigs on such a high.

Play Day Mayhem

2009-08-06T15:47:00.023+01:00

What a week - having got back from London on Sunday night, two Collective Cornish members turned up for dinner the next day, unexpectedly (first inkling was a call - 'Are you there?' 'Er...' 'Because I'm here' 'You mean...?') we talked of festival stuff, planned for the Play Day booking, caught up with each other. The next day more members (from N.Devon) turned up for dinner (planned this time) to talk festival workshops and be shown what the leather workshops involved. Eight guests all told plus a visitor - it's been a while since HQ was so full! It was good to sit and all be making things sitting on the floor of the Studio - reminded me of earlier days in the Collective when Sonia (now in NZ) used to sit us down and show us new skills. But it was hectic, having so much to communicate, arrange, sort out, a form to fill (of course), and skills to share, and socializing, all in a short space of time. Intensive is the best word for it all.

Then up early the next day for one of my not exactly favourite gigs of the year - a packed family fun day for National Play Day. I had nightmare memories of crowds of children all asking to be tied knots for, refusing point blank even to attempt to plait the simplest of plaits, the Pavilion heaving with people, trying to entertain the queue, and all the while trying to convince workshoppers that knots and plaits were some of mankind's oldest and most basic skills...as easy as they were important.

This time, as before, it threatened rain, and the road 'liable to fog' as it says on the sign was beautiful - full of shifting cloud and low mist as we travelled through the veils and the smoky drifting dreamscape of half-seen hills. We got there, put up the Pavilion, got out the willow and fabric, and before you could finish setting up, people started arriving. Like last time, it got warmer and less damp until the sun came out and it was hot, humid and then blue sky. And like last time, the workshops were extremely popular, the Pavilion varying between busy, crowded and heaving with people. There was a large heap of cut fabric, but I'd also brought some from the Collective storeroom as Wayne had said that more would be good. And I was glad I had! As pale pink/white netting was all the rage, and I seemed to spend hours just cutting the stuff into strips, and as fast as it was cut, it disappeared, as countless children only wanted pink/white netting...I cut and cut, sometimes made a small pile of strips, but always they came, and more asked for it, at times faster than I could cut them almost, and still the hordes streamed in...I glanced up from time to time, and saw fellow workshop hosts showing kids how to make wings or swords, bows, arrows, magic wands, making hoops, kids deciding they wanted to make something else, one a door! from willow... Some lovely wings were made as ever, a couple of striking swords and a huge bow... One child asked me - as the fabric I was cutting flowed on for metres, snaking across the ground, when I would finish? i.e., how long would it take to cut it all up? I replied that I was only cutting up what people needed, and had no intention of turning it all into ribbons in an afternoon! but it made me think of impossible tasks from old tales, like the king who made some hapless subject gather all the down feathers from a punctured feather pillow before they could leave the tower...! Time seemed to slow down, and every time we glanced at our watches, it was an hour earlier than we had thought, and the mess grew and grew, as of hosts that had invited a whole town to dinner, and the guests had started with throwing the food around, and then progressed to walking off with the furniture...by which I mean that bits of fabric and broken withy carpeted the grass, and adults came and helped themselves to three pre-made sets of wings in one go, to decorate them at home for their children (which wasn't quite the idea!).

I suggested people could make headdresses, crowns, and mobiles too, and made hoops and decorated one as a mobile-cum-headdress and hung it up, to illustrate what else one could do with the materials, and when children, boys and girls alike saw that, a number chose to make those, which made me glad. Having had no or little confidence with visual art or craft as a child or for a long time (indeed, up until what still feels like comparatively recently) it's a real thrill when someone wants to own or make something like a thing I have made up myself. Some of the headdresses looked lovely, as workshoppers really got the hang of it, and one or two of the mobiles worked rather well, a splendid crown. Towards the end, the Police popped in (who had been stationed at the Play Day like the First Aid tent) and one requested and wore some fairy wings over her uniform! The organizer also appeared at the end, wearing her wings from last year! in shocking pink and dark purple.

As we finished, the place looked like the scene of a shipwreck, and the three of us were left to clear up, two of us at least, yawning our heads off. The day went really well - we heard (as we often seem to) that our workshops were 'the best thing there'. I couldn't still help feeling though, that when I started off as a poet, this kind of work was about what I'd had in mind, as much as some literary poet from the 1930's would have had in mind as what they wanted to do...viz not at all. But we all went for a drink on the way back at a pub by the beach, and it was dazzlingly blue and clear and cheering. Once back at base, someone asked how it had gone, and I replied - 'Well, if we're all not flash for cash in early August and aren't double booked next year, I guess we'll all be going again.' To which she replied 'That's the spirit!' which made me laugh. (And all the while knowing I had an important meeting the next morning, and another form to be filled by the morning after that!)

Yes. And however much it wasn't what I ever had in mind, it did go well. We taught folks new skills, all the workshoppers including the carers/parents/playleaders had a great time, the organizers were so delighted they booked us there and then for next year... And there were some laughs along the way - like Wayne dancing to the music while showing folks how to weave a piece of willow, or my fellow storyteller telling a tale while making some wings, so not doing all of the movements, and telling sitting down! something he never usually does. The enchanted parents, and the pride of those who had made good designs and those who had not realized they could make things...not being able to resist taking photographs when everyone had gone, of the mobile in the wind, as the effect that that kind of fabric makes on film is just remarkable...

As Hope Clark says - don't just look forward to your longterm ambitions, enjoy the getting there, enjoy the journey! to which I can add - yes, and enjoy the detours along the way too, and all the parallel pathways...

The Grass is Always Greener

2009-08-01T12:34:00.009+01:00

You learn something new every day. A platitude yes, but one of the best writer's blogs on the web is Hope Clark's, and she's full of words of wisdom that sound familiar and common sense...but you read them thinking - but how often have I acted on that principle which it is so obvious that I should act upon? But back to the point. I met up, last weekend, being in London for a brief break (!) with a good friend and his partner, a multimedia artist, producer, curator, live artist and video maker. We got talking about art/work related stuff...and only stopped when the clock chimed eleven meaning they had to catch the train home! Apart from being a really interesting artist who's into many live art and related things and artists that we have in common, from the wonderful Merce Cunningham who sadly died this last week, to various theatre companies and allsorts of experimental stuff, she also is 'living a life of art'. Earlier in the year, she and he turned their flat upside down and inside out, shifting all their own stuff out, papering chairs white, you name it, until the entire space was an installation and no longer a living space. Then it was videoed, and put on her website, and people came to view the space as one would an open studio event. She showed me the video and it looked great - one could see what a lot of work it must have been. She also finished a residency recently in Manchester, works for the Live Art Development Agency, is on a mentoring scheme which means she gets to meet folks working for the Royal Opera House and Royal Ballet... I sighed, telling her of my one chance this year to do something really experimental at Richard White's Edge of Chaos (written about on the Performance Ephemera blog), and admitted it was easier to concentrate on things that brought money in like the newsletter, storytelling, and admin for the Collective... To my surprise, she agreed with me, saying she knew just what I meant. It turned out that she didn't especially want to be a producer or curator, organizing exhibits, making snowstorms, or working in set design for a theatre company - in fact, she'd made a decision to try and make a break from it, for the very simple reason that she, as an artist, had not enough time to create her own art while doing that kind of work. And of course that meant sporadic opportunities, eking out previous earnings while waiting and applying for the next thing, and all the insecurity that goes with it. So there was I thinking it must be marvellous to do all this stuff, - set design! curating! wow. But there was she wanting to do more multimedia performance installation and video work...which I understood completely. When I thought about it, it gave me an insight into why people sometimes say - an Editor! wow. Or administrating for an arts Collective! hey. To me, they are things which must be done because writing and performing just don't provide enough consistent incomings.

But of course, one must be grateful to do something that is at least related to what one most cares about. For instance, working as a willow workshop assistant for National Play Day may not be creating live art theatre, but hey, it pays the bills and I get to work with the other members of the Collective, a really great bunch. As for the Play Day itself...that'll have to be the next blog.............

Festivals and Form Fillings

2009-08-01T11:03:00.009+01:00

Festivals are tricky beasts. Earlier on this year I sent off dozens of proposals to, and filled in forms for, various festivals, for the Collective - offering everything from storytelling and leather workshops to willow sculpture, lantern making, fire juggling, and the rest. Some lost it in the pile of applications, some booked acts they'd had for years...you get the picture... and some...waited right until the wire until getting in touch. Meaning that despite four weeks of planning and form filling in January and February, the Collective is double booked over mid August! Wayne, Mel, etc. to the Sunrise Off Grid, - Andi, Mandy, Liz etc. to the Beautiful Days...and me still trying to decide which to be at! We have been at different events over the same weekends many times naturally, but this was a first, as both festivals wanted more than two members, i.e. a group of us over exactly the same four days. And of course after the initial phonecalls, festival organizers are usually so overworked, they want the details of who does what all over again - mercifully a shorter e-mail this time! Although more frantic phonecalls to the newer members as what I don't have is an on tap encyclopedic knowledge of everything they do yet! (As everyone does more than one thing, often quite a few more). And then MORE forms to fill in with everyone's name, registration numbers, meal allocation if appropriate, tent size...

With two members in NZ and two busy/away, the current twelve members of the Collective are back up to eight active ones - and it's just as well! The fourth ticket for the latest festival: We need to know what all the others are doing to see which of them can make it. A fire dancer, performance poet, artist etc. as they'd like Devon artists by preference? but she's working over those dates... Another of those who was on the Bicton art course who's Devon-based? but he's already got a ticket...and the festival wants the form by Wednesday... All I can say is, thank God three artists joined up and two others came on the scene within the last few months! Four to cover one event, and three of us to cover another... The Collective really has kept on growing despite the absence of two of it's original core members and inspirations. They are of course still valued members, but obviously we're not able to do events together because of a small matter of some thousands of miles! Not that I was worried about the Collective just winding down exactly, but such groups often do have a short shelf life - and we've had our share of things to resolve! where a mixture of money, friendship, couple dynamics, professionalism, work, creativity, who's idea was x?, organization, travel, meals, and all the things too nefarious and various to mention, can and do collide together to make things difficult.

That the number of reliable and pleasant artists we find we can work well with and who want to become part of 'it' in some way, is expanding, makes all those bloody forms feel not such a complete grind of time and effort, and all the hassle - including phonecalls every five minutes just as you're on your way to grab six days off! and e-mailing and ringing round arranging stuff when you're actually technically on holiday and all you really want to do is muck around on a piano and do other relaxing stuff...feel not quite so relentless.