Highs and Lows in the Arts

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/

Starting with a Bang!

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/