Annual General Review: 2011

2011 was a roller coaster. It began with a freezing cold jump into the Firth of Forth and ended with my 30th birthday. In between I published my first book, wrote and presented a CBeebies pilot, appeared in a fringe show, performed at my first book festival, won a couple of awards and near the end of the year I resigned from my job to become a full-time freelancer.

I’ve done things I never imagined I could do and I’ve felt like a passenger holding on for dear life. It’s been exciting, it’s been scary and it’s been hard. At times I know I’ve forgotten to enjoy the ride. I’ve struggled with finances, relationships, self-confidence and health. I’ve spent most of the year outside my comfort zone but I’m learning that’s the best place to be.

Right now I’m a little apprehensive about the year ahead so I’m reviewing 2011 in top fives, I hope this will help me to make new plans and look forward to 2012. If you want to find out a bit more just click on a link.

5 things I started..

• This Blog (June)
• Banana Me Beautiful facebook page (June)
• Greener Leith Zero Waste Podcast Series (July)
• Edinburgh Freelance Friday (September)
• A writers group (October)

The Zero Waste Podcast series began with the journey of waste, I travelled from bin to landfill (and retched).

5 things I made..

• A CBeebies pilot with BBC Scotland (finished in the summer)
• Films as a Freelancer (May and June)
• A poetic declaration of love to the Number 10 Eco Bus
• Snowmen out of socks with kids on the canal (Dec)
• Podcasts, loads of them! (all year)

5 awards..

• Communicate Science Poetry Competition winner with ‘Switch’ (March)
• Inspiring Volunteer Award from the Lord Provost (May)
• Poet of the Week on Poet on Poetry (July)
• Greener Leith number 6 in the List Magazine’s Top 30 Scottish websites (July)
• Greener Leith won the £80,000 Energy Share Award for the Community Wind Turbine (December)

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5 live performances..

• Banana Me Beautiful book launch on a boat (July)
• Leith on the Fringe: Live in Leith (August)
• Ragged University Ragged Talk (August)
• Stone Soup: Poetry Slot (September)
• West Port Book Festival (October)

You can watch the live stream of my fringe show or listen to my West Port Book Festival event as a podcast, click on the links above for more. Thanks to Chris Scott who took the photo below at the West Port Book Festival.

5 close encounters of the animal kind..

• Birds in the bushes for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch (January)
• Go Away Blackbird: terrorised by a night singer and exploring the nature of love (February)
• Wet wildlife ‘IN’ the Water of Leith (June)
• Hello hawk at the landfill site for the Zero Waste Podcast (July)
• Hello Dog! Interview with a puppet dog (August)

Lots of birds! I was surprised to see my campaign to persuade locals to do the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch in the Guardian and I later received a letter of thanks from the head of media at the RSPB! It was only after this that the blackbird started to terrorise my nights…

5 interviews..

• The Edinburgh Guardian: ’Heroes at Home’ representing Changeworks as Education Officer (January)
• Edinburgh Reporter Chats: Emily Dodd (June)
• Clear-Minded Creative Type #14: Poet, Artist & Blogger Emily Dodd (July)
• Scottish Poetry Library Podcast: Emily Dodd (October)
• Podcast of Distinction: A Digital Maven in her own words (November)

I’ve been excited and nervous when people have wanted to interview me. Massive thanks to all of you – you’ve really encouraged me. Thanks to STV local and Edinburgh Reporter for additional interviews too. For the record I’ve never been called a ‘digital maven’ or appeared on an international poetry podcast or been filmed by the Guardian before so I’m still not quite sure how this all happened! Here’s the Guardian film, it’s a project where I designed ‘heroes at home’ engagement cards and masks to encourage pupils and parents to reduce waste.

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5 things I finished..

• Snowboarding (February)
• My first book, Banana Me Beautiful (March)
• Paying for my bike on the cycle to work scheme (May)
• My first three years of a fixed rate mortgage (August)
• Working for Changeworks (September)

Snowboarding stopped when I flipped over and head butted an Italian mountain. The hospital was an experience “Un-dresse!” they commanded and I started taking my clothes off. “No what is your addressa!”. It’s funny now but I wasn’t laughing when I had to wear a neck brace. After four years of boarding, I’ve had enough. At least I had time to read and take these photos.

Sestriere, Italy, posted with vodpod

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5 adventures..

• Jumping in the sea for Greener Leith (January)
• Creativity in a tepee in Glen Strae (March)
• Making Wild Connections on Tanera Mor (July)
• Teaching children on the Isle of Barra (September)
• Interviewing an MSP at the Scottish Parliament (December)

Loony Dook Video

5 things I tried..

• Scottish Book Trust Mentoring Scheme
• Edinburgh Book Festival Story Shop
• Jesting About 2: BBC Comedy Competition
• Get a Squiggle On: BBC Script Competition
• Love

I want to point out there were plenty of things that didn’t happen but it’s all part of learning and growing. I hope this will encourage you not to give up if you experience a knock-back. One exciting development is that I do now have a mentor but not through the Scottish Book Trust, it’s the wonderful Elspeth Murray!

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5 things I became..

• Trustee of Speygrian network
• Co-chair of Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Environmental Education Forum
• Facilitator for a weekly Community Group
• A full-time Freelancer
• An aunty (for the fourth time)

5 hopes for the future

• Make my CBeebies pilot into a BBC series
• Publish a picture book
• Get better at the ukulele
• Make freelancing work and collaborate too
• Use my creativity to make the world a better place

Finally here are a few more numbers from 2011….

blog posts produced for Greener Leith (48), podcasts made (30), blog posts on this blog (26), films made as a freelancer (9), guest blogs I wrote (8), workshops on National Poetry Day (6), blogs I wrote about Mooncups, yikes! (5), Films I made for fun (3), Awards presented to schools (2), times I performed poetry on the street due to ‘venue problems’ (2) and I attended 4 weddings and a funeral.

Thank you so much to everyone who’s been part of my 2011. Your support and encouragement have made my year possible. And for those friends who drank tea and laughed with me, you know who you are, you’re wonderful (: