Annual General Review: 2012

At the beginning of 2012 I was feeling a little bit nervous about the year ahead so I wrote my first annual general review. I’d just left the security of a permanent job to become a full-time freelancer and I didn’t know how things would work out. I hoped looking back would give me some confidence.

This year it’s different; I’m beginning the year with warmth. Quite literally – there’s a wood burning stove crackling away beside me. It’s new and I love it. I don’t have central heating so I’ve spent the last five winters feeling a little cold. Now, at last! I can afford to be a bit warmer.

I’m beginning 2013 with an inner warmth too. Perhaps it’s an assurance that things do work out when you step out in faith. Or a warmth that says it’s worth making sacrifices to pursue the things you really feel called to do.

I’m not long back from Kidscreen in New York. It’s a big children’s TV market (I wrote about it here) full of people from all over the world with ideas. They‘re there because they want to make something beautiful and something they believe in. It reminded me that life really is too short not to go for it!

And now to look back over 2012, here are my highlights. Click on the links to read more.

Children’s TV Commissions

• Writing 5 new series treatments for CBeebies science show Nina and the Neurons
• Developing 4 new science programmes for CBeebies
• Storylining 5 episodes for CBeebies science show Nina and the Neurons
• Screenwriting 2 episodes of CBeebies science show Nina and the Neurons
• Developing an Eco Comedy Drama for Visible Ink Television (and writing the show bible)
• Working with CBeebies online on an exciting new science project

Training Commissions

• Training Edinburgh Secondary School Pupils to make videos and become social reporters at the Changeworks Make Waste History Summit
• Training 18 teachers in West Lothian to become storytellers
• Training third sector organisations in Digital Storytelling at the Social Media for Social Good Conference
• Training community groups and active citizens in Inverleith to become digital storytellers in partnership with journalist Tom Allan
• Training secondary pupils to make litter films as part of the Litter Innovation Project
• Training staff at Leith Library to blog and tweet as part of my Residency
• Facilitating reminiscence and creative writing workshops with Generation Arts
• Training after school club leaders and youth workers to become Crafty Storytellers in collaboration with educator Jaimie McDonald.

Audio and Video Production 

• Live tweeting and creating audio and video content at the Parenting Across Scotland Conference (including interviewing the Minister for Children and Young People)
• Producing a podcast about home insulation for the Energy Cooperative
• Creating and sharing audio, video and photos during Book Week Scotland for Leith Library
• Greener Leith Zero Waste Podcast series (12 ten minute podcasts to engage people to reduce waste – I finished the last of these in 2012). Funded by the Waste Action Grant.
• Producing six litter and dog poo films for Greener Leith (Funded by L£ith Decides)

Live Performances

• Featured Poet at Blind Poetics at the Blind Poet, Edinburgh
• Storyteller for Electric Tales at the Stand Comedy Club, Edinburgh
• One of Ten Performance Poets with a ten minute slot at Ten Red, Edinburgh
• Spoken Word Artist / Storyteller during the Scottish Mental Health and Arts Film Festival at the Lapidus event at Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow
• Featured Poet at ‘Pea Green Poetry’ Fundraiser Gig for Theatre Paradox at Looking Glass Books
• Performer at Happy Verse Night, Inky Fingers and Illicit Ink event at Pulp Fiction Books, Edinburgh
• Performer at The Portobello Book Festival Opening Gala: The Library at Night (wrote a stop frame animation script for a competition)
• Science and Poetry Poet and Ukulele performer (Inky Fingers Minifest during the Fringe Festival)
• Digital Storytelling Workshop at Social Media for Social Good conference (Live streamed)
• Guest speaker at the Literary Salon (speaking about Readers in Residence)
• Recycler / jar washer on the council recycling promotional videos (featuring my hands!)

I was almost physically sick before my first comedy performance. I was so nervous but I actually really enjoyed it once we got started -the audience were fab. Here’s a Chris Scott photo to prove I really did it (thanks Chris).  Find previous and upcoming gigs here.

For the Love of It (Voluntary Work)

• Commissioned by Artist Alastair Cook as one of twenty poets to write a piece of flash fiction for his PechaKucha film project ‘Twenty Second Film Poem‘
• Cycled down Leith Walk with camera attached to my bike basket to make an Indiana Jones style adventure film about the terrible potholes.
• Volunteered as a social reporter at the Poverty Assembly
• Wrote my last blog for Greener Leith in August 2012 after 2 years of volunteering (70 blogs in total!).
• Organised some get-togethers for freelancers called Freelance Friday
• Wrote my first stop frame animation script as part of a call for submissions on the theme of ‘The Library at Night’. It was selected to be performed at the Portobello Book Festival Opening Event.
• Helped to lead a weekly community group in Leith (that’s ongoing)
• Continued as trustee of the Speygrian Education Trust (artists, scientist, writers and educators interested in outdoor learning) and helped them to set up twitter and Facebook

I was one of 12 writers to be selected to take part in the CBBC Lab, a competitive entry training course on how to write for CBBC run over 4 days by the Scottish Book Trust and BBC Scotland. It was brilliant.

Outdoor Adventures

• Wild Swimming on the Isle of Eigg
• Walking and wildlife watching in the Highlands
• Exploring on the Isle of Skye
• Being a bridesmaid at my sister’s wedding in Glencoe

Things I Started

• My first residency at Leith Library (September)
• The Leith Library Blog
• The Leith Library Twitter
• Festive Furballs Christmas Pets Competition
• Growing tomatoes on my windowsill
• A log pile (for my wood burning stove)
• Wearing wellie socks

Things I tried  

• Sick Kids Writer in Residence
• Heliotrope Writing Residency
• Olympics related poetry job with West Lothian Council
• To get mentoring with The Scottish Book Trust
• Internet dating

This is just to point out I’m definitely not successful at everything. There are plenty of things I hope for but I keep learning and trying. I applied for 2 residences before I got the one I’m doing now at the library but this one is just perfect for me so it goes to show things often work out for the best in the end.

People Who Really Inspired Me

• Elspeth Murray, a wonderful freelance poet. My poetry mentor and friend.
• Peter Hynes, a brilliant screenwriter and creative thinker. My screenwriting mentor
• Josh Selig, creative genius and President of Little Airplane Productions. Encourager.
• The women in my writer’s group, wonderful talented Marianne Paget and Mairi Wilson
• Sara Harkins, Head of BBC Scotland Children’s. Sara is wonderful.

I want to thank the people above as well as everyone I’ve worked with in 2012.  Also to my friends and family and to everyone who’s supported me on this journey – you’ve been amazing!

2013: What’s ahead?

The good news is I’m booked up with commissions and projects until early September. So far I’ve completed my tax return, got a stove put in and I’ve been to New York to pitch some kids’ TV shows for Visible Ink Television.

I’m working 2.5 days a week at Leith Library as Reader in Residence. Over the next few months I’ll be writing the Leith Library blog and working with teenagers to make podcasts about young adult fiction. I’ll also be supporting the library staff as they get blogging too.

The library part of my residency finishes in June and then I have three months where I still get paid but I do my own practice. What’s that? Well… I’m considering:

• Starting a series of science related young adult novels; I have 13 planned.
• Rewriting my first attempt at a sitcom using feedback from the BBC and screenwriter Adrian Mead
• Writing picture books. I showed drafts of a science series idea to Agent Lucy Juckes in 2012 so I’ll work on her suggestions.
• Cycling around Scottish Libraries on a ‘Banana Me Beautiful on a Bike’ book tour. My paperback should be out by then and I’d like to go on a journey and help to promote positive mental health.

This March (a sample month):

I start working as a digital storyteller with older people in Govan for the Britain from Above Project - can’t wait for that!

I’m writing some episodes on commission for CBeebies (that’s secret – will blog about it when I can).

I’m visiting Flora Stevenson Primary P1 classes for their Book Week – hurrah for children!

I’m working for Third Sector Lab to create audio and video content and run a training session for the 2013 Poverty Assembly. Ross is brilliant, looking forward to working with him again and on something so worthwhile.

I’m working with P6 and P7 in Mid Lothian to help them to create Haikus for their litter bins (for the Scottish Poetry Library).

I’m developing and pitching some ideas to promote fish in nurseries on commission from Seafish (the fishing industry) with writer John Stoddart.

And I’m working at the library – I love it!

Busy!

So as you can see it’s pretty busy.

I’m looking forward to working with Elspeth Murray at the Solas Festival in June and with artist Alastair Cook on the Dunbar North Lights Arts Project in August.

One of my best friends gets married in September, so can’t wait for that (and I need to organise a hen do).

Hopes for 2013

I’m hoping to do the Great North Swim in the Lake District in June with my friend Judith. I hate wearing a swimming costume and I figured training will force me to overcome that fear. Plus I’ve never been to the Lake District and I like Judith. I also ate too much chocolate over Christmas. And exercise helps with creativity. I’m trying to talk myself into this!

I’ve written four children’s TV science shows so I’ll be pitching them to channels and independent production companies in 2013. I’ve especially enjoyed working with puppeteer Josh Elwell (and Bounce) on one of these shows so I do hope we make it!

Hopes for the Future….. I want

• to encourage others.
• to have an ideas box that I add to throughout the year.
• to make one day a week my day for writing.
• to write a list of things I’m thankful for every night.
• to go walking more.
• to start painting again.

I don’t want to EVER stop doing things that scare me.

And One Day..

I’d like to write an episode of Doctor Who and a bunch of books and some screenplays. I’d like to live in an eco home in the mountains with a cat and a man and perhaps some kids.

Finally a few numbers from 2012….

Blog posts on this blog (40), Blog posts produced for Leith Library (30), blog posts produced for Greener Leith (8), Dog Poo and Litter Films made (6), guest blogs I wrote (4), Cocktail naming competitions won (1) and I attended 4 weddings and a funeral.

Read my annual general review of 2011 here.

 

The Next Big Thing

Last week Roy Gill asked me if I would like to be tagged in his blog as part of ‘The Next Big Thing’. I said yes. It works like this:

A writer answers ten questions about an upcoming publication and they tag five more writers. Each of these writers answers the ten questions by the following week and they recommend five more writers. It grows, week by week.

Before I get to my post I’d like to point out that Roy Gill is ace. He’s an inspiring and talented writer and the best person I’ve found at any literary event to talk to about Doctor Who. I recommend his new young adult book The Deamon Parallel. You can read all about it on his post here.

Now, onward. I’ll answer ten questions about Banana Me Beautiful. The e-book came out last year through Chipmunka Press but the paperback is due out for Christmas so it still counts as new.

What is the title of your new book?

Banana Me Beautiful

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I sent three children’s stories to mental health publisher, Chipmunka. The stories were going down well in schools and I wanted to get them published to help children and teachers to promote dialogue around positive mental health through story.

Chipmunka asked me about my experience with mental health and I explained a bit about my past and sent them a few poems as part of that explanation. They liked them and asked for 50. I said I didn’t have 50 good ones and so they asked for 30. I hadn’t really planned to write a poetry book so I was a bit taken aback!

Then I remembered a conversation I’d had with a close friend a year or so before where I told her I wanted to put together a collection of poetry I’d written as a child, teenager and adult. I realised this was my chance.

I was first published when I was 10 so I’d kept all the poems I wrote back then. I was so bad at spelling though – I’d given up the dream of being a writer by the time I’d got to secondary school. I ended up focusing on art and science instead. I still wrote but in secret. I wrote lots. I also painted depressed bananas – they’re in the book too. The one above is Van Gogh’s Bedroom at Arles with a depressed banana on the chair. The one below is a depressed banana in prison (imagine a person sat on the floor, sideways on and with their knees bent).

What genre does your book fall under?

It’s poetry with added stories, songs, artwork and photographs.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Hmm. I’m not sure anyone would want to make ‘My Life In Poetry’ the movie.

But if they did… me as a child would be Lucy from the Narnia films (Georgie Henley).

Me as a teenager, Aimee Pond from Doctor Who (Karen Gillan).

*I might just be choosing people I like rather than people who would be like me*

Feeling a bit embarrassed about this question, was just getting carried away and wondering if Maggie Smith could play me as a Granny!

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

A journey of poetry, art and photography.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

It’s published by Chipmunka Press, the world’s leading mental health publisher. I’ve been working with a couple of agents but not on this.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

I started when I was 10, I finished at 28 so that’s 18 years.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I don’t know of any other poetry collection that contains work from the same author as a child, teenager and adult but Peggy Hughes compared me to Edward Lear, Dr Seuss and A. A. Milne when I appeared at the West Port Book Festival.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I think it was always in me. But more recently I wanted to share something of my struggles as a teenager to help others not to feel alone and to talk about difficult things. The things I’ve written as an adult are a celebration. They’re about self acceptance and they highlight the wonder I see in the world around me.

People who’ve seen me perform have said some lovely things – that my work is life-affirming and an expression of joy. It makes them feel good about themselves. If I can do that even a tiny bit then I’m happy.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

The book tells a story of so many journeys; progression of themes in writing, growing up, insecurity, self acceptance and much more. The book forward describes it as this:

It’s a journey by poetry, art and photography.
It’s a journey of ages and stages.
Of fascination and fun,
Of hope and despair,
Death and life.

It’s a journey from Banana Slug to Beautiful Bug.

So the combination of media. Also the art science cross over. There are poems about puffins and the physics behind starlings. There are energy saving lightbulbs, a comedy horse songs and a story of a little oak becoming a mighty tree.

Hopefully there’s something for everyone. Find out more on the Banana Me Beautiful facebook page here.

The Writers I’m Tagging

I’m super excited to introduce you to these writers. They will tell you about their new projects on their blogs next week (drum roll please)….

David Bishop is writing a Swedish comic (super-exciting!). I know him as a fellow CBeebies screenwriter, and he’s also a screenwriter for Doctors and a lecturer and many other things.

Marianne Paget keeps winning competitions and her latest triumph was being selected for the Scottish Book Trust and BBC My Favourite Place anthology. Marianne and I have been in a writers group together for over a year now and we first met through CBeebies.

Max Scratchmann is about to launch his autobiographical book The Last Burrah Sahibs. I just met Max last month at Portobello Book Festival but I thought his book sounded really interesting and I’d like to know more.

Marianne Wheelaghan has just launched a new crime thriller Food of Ghosts. I’ve known Marianne as a fellow Leither on twitter for a long time but recently got to know her better at a social media training session I was running at Stockbridge Library.

Sharon Meiring-Jones is a brilliant writer, currently working on her second book. She used to live in Edinburgh and we were in a writers group together for a couple of years. Sharon was published through Chipmunka and that’s how I heard about them. So if it wasn’t for Sharon I’d not be writing this post!

Click everyone’s name to be taken to their blog.

 

Lessons from Liz Lochhead

Today I met Scotland’s National Poet, Liz Lochhead. We were performing at a Lapidus event at Kelvingrove Art Gallery as part of the Scottish Mental and Arts Film Festival.

Liz did a sweep of the stalls just after she arrived. When she reached my stall she complimented me on my depressed bananas. Her exact words were “I love your bananas”. Here’s my stall:

I thanked her and gave her some postcards of the depressed bananas. Not long after that she took to the stage to close the event.

I enjoyed her poetry – she has such engaging bright eyes when she performs. I found it really interesting to hear her talk about her own journey with regards to mental health. There were two things she said that really stood out to me as good advice and I thought I’d share them with you:

Do something creative and allow yourself to be bad at it….

Liz showed us her sketch book and explained she wasn’t good at drawing but she loves doing it.

When Liz draws it helps her to find the words and solutions she needs for her poems. You need more than one creative outlet. If you’re not a professional writer then you have an advantage – you can write things without people expecting them to be good. If Liz writes people demand it’s good. When she draws there’s no pressure.

The second thing she said that stood out is this:

If you’re feeling depressed don’t write about your feelings, write about something else and the feelings will come through anyway..

Liz observed that we’re told so often to write about our feelings but actually, if we’re feeling down then we should write about other things. It’s much better to take the focus off ourselves and our feelings will always come through what we write anyway.

I totally agree with that. It’s good to get feelings out on paper just to understand them better but if you’re looking to shift your mood then writing about something else is the way forward.

Recently I wrote a poem about maths. It ended up saying so much of what I’ve been wanting to say but in a simple form and with a structure that wrote itself. My feelings came out without me trying to write about them – I was writing about maths.

So Liz was right. What do you think?

 

Talking Tomatoes

I’m growing tomatoes on my windowsill. I traded them for coriander when they were just 2 inches tall and in a very little pot. I’ve watered them every day, fed them every week and taken the dead leaves away from time to time. I built them a bridge between pots with sticks from an old blind, it helps them stay up. One plant makes yellow tomatoes and the other makes red. The photo above is them today, four moths after they came to me.

Here’s what I love about them

• The smell, they’re so big I can’t help but touch the leaves when I water them. It suprises me later on,  perhaps when I’m on a bus or drinking tea (I do wash my hands eventually though!)
• The taste, they all ripen at different times so there seems to be a never ending supply.
• When the tiny ones appear, they’re so small and perfectly round – no bigger than a pea.

A friend watered them for me when I went on holiday and I wrote her a thank you card from the tomatoes. I even loved writing a card from them. I like that there’s a crowd, a tomato collective who are grateful for care.

I love watching them change and grow, they make me think about life. I find it fascinating when a flower appears or a tiny ball of tomato starts. One seed hold instructions for all of this, the plant knows when it’s time to make flowers and fruit. I was writing a poem about maths and the universe the other day, each line has one more word in it. Line 14 was inspired by my tomatoes:

Each seed it holds a perfect ordered story, already told by seasons and time.

They make me think about creativity. Spiders spin webs, birds make nests, wasps make hexagons and tomato plants make tomatoes. We were all made to create something – strategies, computer programmes, safe working spaces, paintings, music, cars, babies, poetry, recipes, stories…. the list is endless. I ask myself what was I made to create?

 

Poetry, Science and Harry Baker

On Monday I’m performing at the Inky Fingers Minfest opening event, ‘Science and Poetry’. It takes place at Pulp Fiction Books on Bread Street, Edinburgh at 6.30pm. Here’s how Inky Fingers describe it:

Seven incredible spoken word artists present brave new explorations into strange worlds of experiential double helixes, the perfect sine wave bounce of squirrels, love between prime numbers, and more, all conducted to you, dear audience, via electric words and catalytic poetry.

There will be a robot called Sarah. There will be the startlingly incredible presence of Harry Baker, current World Slam Champion (and with that, probably a love poem to a dinosaur). There will be a geophysics hokey cokey. Hosted by yours truly, Rachel McCrum.

Just a few weeks back I wrote a blog trying to explain ‘What is Spoken Word?’. I posted a video of Harry Baker performing a bumble bee poem, he was my example of brilliance – the world poetry slam champion and I get to meet him, we’re in the same show! Harry if you’re reading this I hope I’m not freaking you out – you stayed with my fab friend Reuben over the festival a while back, he can vouch for my sanity.

This weekend I’ll be practicing the Ukulele version of the Geophysics Hokey Cokey. I’ll also be practicing Starling My Darling, Sine Wave Squirrel and a yet to be confirmed science experiment. I’d love for you to join me and the rest of us at Pulp Books and the event is free.

The Spoken Word Artists for the evening are Anne Connolly and Anna Dickie, Russell Jones, Kate Adamson, Sarah the Poetic Robot, Ruth Aylett, me and Harry Baker.

Read all about the event and the artists on the Inky Fingers Blog. RSVP to the Facebook event and check out the rest of the Inky Fingers Minifest Programme. 

Image Credit: Harry Baker Poetry

 

Memories Are For Remembering

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of working with Generation Arts, a retired arts group from West Lothian. I last worked with them on National Poetry Day as part of the Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. This time I was running a Creative Writing and Reminiscence workshop for the annual Generation Arts Celebration Day.

My brief was to facilitate writing memories of old West Lothian and to share these with the Generation Arts participants at the end of their Celebration. There were 80 people coming to the event with an average age of 80 years. They did not all know each other so I needed to facilitate a space safe to encourage people to share with each other.

To help spark memories I had old photos of West Lothian and a box of objects from the West Lothian Museum. The objects included a miner’s helmet, a wage slip, a pinafore and an old brush. I also brought along some smells that I hoped would help recreate childhood experiences. A sweet shop, wood varnish, Brasso, coal tar soap…

The workshop was to be 45 minutes and it was brilliant to talk through my ideas for the session with my Poetry Mentor, Elspeth Murray a couple of weeks beforehand.

The plan was to do an ice breaker, to share an encouraging poem, to pass round some objects and to set a simple writing task. I had paper and pens and luggage tags.

I totally changed my plans once the workshop started, here’s what happened. There were eight participants and we sat in a circle. I introduced myself and asked people to share their name and one of their earliest memories as an ice breaker. The conversations that followed were wonderful. Memories shared would spark off one another and I realised my role was no longer to try to jog memories. Instead it was to say things like “Hold on Robert, Anne’s talking just now. Carry on Anne!”.

I dropped plans to tell them more about me and to share a poem. I was going to do that to help encourage people to share but they were already doing that. I didn’t want to break the wonderful atmosphere of sharing that were experiencing. Instead I thanked them and explained I had a whole bunch of objects and photos I brought along to help jog memories, but since we were already sharing so brilliantly that we didn’t need props to help us to remember.

We needed to capture some of their wonderful stories to share at the end of the celebration event. Several members of the group said they were enjoying the conversations so much they didn’t really want to write. I asked if they minded me writing down some of their memories instead. This worked well and I made sure I wrote down at least one memory from every person in the group. Some members of the group did write. We passed round the photos and objects and continued the conversations together.

After the session finished Robert came over to thank me. He showed me the picture of his Dad that he kept in his breast pocket. He also carried a threepennie piece. He told me more about what these objects meant to him. He said “memories are for remembering.” Robert’s words ended the poem created from the wonderful memories shared during the workshop.

Generations Arts Co-coordinator, Joanne Brown read the poem to the assembled masses just before the tea dance started. She did a brilliant job and we laughed and smiled as I hope you will:

These are the memories from Marion, Jane, Malcolm, Anne, Grace, Bill, Sib and Robert. 

I remember

I was the first teacher at Riverside Primary School.

I remember

Dancing the eightsome reel in the hall.

I remember

We used to go down on a Saturday to buy paraffin. 

Me, my Mum, my Dad and my dog.

I remember

Every miner had a number. 

When you finished your shift you got your token out of the pit heid. 

I remember

You got a threepennie piece for pocket money. 

You could get a lot with that, back then.

I remember

The bombs were falling..

I remember 

“What the hell are you going to do with that hand grenade?”

And I said.. “Get some fish!”

I remember

The steam trains. 

The kiddies loved-em. 

The steam used to go all over them.

I remember

Gala Day. 

You had a ribbon taped around your neck with a tinnie, hanging… 

for your milk when you got to the park.

Memories are for remembering.

***********

Read more about the event and see photos on the Generation Arts website.

Image Credit: Generation Arts, West Lothian

 

Is This Really Me?

I was one of twenty writers commissioned by Alastair Cook to write a flash fiction response to a film poem created for PechaKucha on 29th June. This was a new challenge for me, here’s how it went.

I received a link with a password for my film, it was number twenty (password twenty). The film was 1960s found footage and it was beautiful. Alastair had edited it to tell a 1 minute story.

I watched a woman in a white dress on her wedding day. She kept looking at the Best Man. I wrote my initial thoughts down and came back to watch it again, two days later.

My brief was to respond with a piece of flash fiction that could be read aloud within 10 seconds. Alastair wanted it to be short, two or three lines maximum, he said just a haiku in length.

I decided to use a haiku format (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables).

I put ‘love’ in the centre of ‘forever’ to represent marriage and put a question on either side, ‘is this really me?’. In just a few words I wanted to show her questioning if she could truly love someone forever.

I was tentative in my submission, here’s what I wrote:

OK, I have a haiku:

Is this really me?
Forever. Love. Forever.
Is this really me?

But could also do a longer one – have got more. Do you want more?
Emsx 

PS Do you want it to be in the third person?

When I was first commissioned I’d thought along the same lines as the bride… is this really me?

• What if I watch the film and have no emotional response?
• What if I can’t do flash fiction?
• What if my piece ruins the whole presentation?

And all of this ran through my head while waiting for a response from Alastair.

Thankfully, I had this reply within a couple of minutes:
No it’s bloody perfect x Baci x

To which I responded:
YAAAAY! Hurrah, so pleased. (:

The next day I had another message and it pretty much made my day:
I’ve just read through all 20. Yours is the perfect ending. I cannae thank you enough x

Here is the film, I’ve listed the writers below. It’s fascinating to watch and hear all the responses. I’m most grateful to Alastair for commissioning me and delighted to be part of the Twenty Second Film Poem project. I hope you respond and enjoy it too:

Twenty Second Filmpoem from Alastair Cook on Vimeo.

Alastair Cook included a transcript in the description on Twenty Second Filmpoem. This Filmpoem is part of a larger project, find more on the Filmpoem website.

Number seventeen of twenty, Robert Peake blogged about the project here. David Bonta blogged about the project and featured this blog on Moving Poems (thanks David!).

Writers involved in order:

Andrew McCallum Crawford, Mary McDonough Clark, Al Innes, Guinevere Glasfurd-Brown, Elspeth Murray, Janette Ayachi, Jane McCance, Donna Campbell, Ewan Morrison, Angela Readman, Gérard Rudolf, Zoe Venditozzi, Jo Bell, Sally Evans, Pippa Little, Tony Williams, Robert Peake, Stevie Ronnie, Sheree Mack and Emily Dodd.

 

What is Spoken Word?

This month I performed at two of Edinburgh’s monthly spoken word events, Blind Poetics and Ten Red. Inviting friends involved me trying to explain what spoken word is. I don’t think I did it justice so I hope this blog will help. A typical conversations went like this:

Me: I’m doing a spoken word gig on Monday at the Blind Poet if you happen to be about?

Friend: What is spoken word?

Me: Some people call it performance poetry…

Friend: Ohhh it’s poetry, so people actually perform poetry? (slightly amused / disbelieving face)

Me: Yeah, there’s a really active spoken word scene in Edinburgh.

Friend: So do people read poems they’ve written or do they remember them?

Me: Monday’s gig includes open mic slots so it’s a whole range, lots of people do read but others remember them…

Friend: Do you read your poems or do you remember them?

Me: I remember them. I’m the featured poet this month (slightly amused / disbelieving face)

Friend: Featured poet, so what does that mean?

Me: Well I have a twenty minute slot. I get paid. The featured poet is meant to be really good (I don’t make eye contact). Last month they were on tour from Berlin. This month it’s me.

Friend: I’m sure you’ll be grand, my wife’s got an exam the next day so I won’t be doing anything, I should be able to make it. Blind Poet Right? Spoken word (smiles, nods).

Thinking about it, I have friends who’ve never been to any of my gigs or any spoken word gig ever. For some of them, the idea of a night out watching someone perform poetry sounds at best dull and at worst, embarrassing. For those people and for anyone else who’s not heard of or been to a spoken word gig, I wanted to try to explain a bit about what spoken word is and what I love about it.

My first exposure to ‘performance poetry’ was watching the film ‘So I Married an Axe murderer’, it was entertaining and intriguing but nothing like seeing it live. A few years later I saw Phillip Attmore, a Broadway actor and dancer perform a poem he’d written called ‘Move’. It included a tap dance, as ridiculous as that sounds it was and is amazing. It wasn’t just the quality of the performance, the clever lines, the rhymes and the rhythm. It was more than that, it made me want to get up and do something with my life. To write, to move, to speak, to express. Here’s a video of this year’s world poetry slam champion Harry Baker, it’s along the same lines. He’s performing a poem about bees but it speaks to the heart, it makes me want to do something, to be something, to change something. Words have power and we can listen and move on or we can listen and move. Here’s Harry with the bees:

That’s a bit about why I love about watching spoken word but what’s it like on the other side of the microphone, what’s it like to perform?

Performing solo for 45 minutes in a packed out book shop during the West Port Book Festival last year was wonderful and intimate and totally different to being part of an evening like TenRed earlier this month. At Ten Red ten poets share ten minutes each in a cosy back room in a pub in Leith. Every other person was a writer and it was as much about sharing a pint, as a poem. I loved being part of a team of performers and the performances I saw were entertaining, challenging and inspirational. This was the line up,

It’s not all good, I feel physically sick before a spoken word gig. Once I’m performing I’m fine. I like to involve the audience, I love chatting to them, for me it’s about connecting, sharing and having fun together. I know spoken word artists who feel energized when they perform, for me it’s the opposite. I feel totally drained afterwards, I’ve given a part of myself and it takes me a day to recover. I love to get feedback, especially from people I don’t know and I’m always really encouraged by it and glad I performed (despite dreading the gig beforehand and wondering why in the world I’d agreed to it).

There are so many brilliant spoken word artist in Edinburgh, if you live here I totally recommend checking out the scene. Why not write something and consider taking part too? Here are just a few of Edinburgh’s amazing selection of spoken word events:

TenRed: Ten Poets perform ten minuets each at the Persevere Bar, Leith. Poets invited to perform in advance by host Kevin Cadwallinder. Cosy back room atmosphere. Check out the facebook page.

Inky Fingers:: Monthly writers group, monthly open mic and a whole host of brilliant special events. Check out their blog, twitter or facebook group for details.

Neu Reekie: Monthly meeting of avant-garde poetry-music-film fusions. Last Friday of the month at the Scottish Book Trust. Supported by Creative Scotland. Check out their blog, twitter or facebook page.

Blind Poetics: Monthly spoken word and performance, first Monday of the Month at the Blind Poet, Newington. Includes 5 min open Mic Slots, introducing slot and featured poet. Big bar, always packed out and a variety of levels of experience. Check out their facebook page.

Illicit Ink: Themed Spoken Word events with food treats and funky badges. Regular events are prose but after a successful ‘happy verse night’ more spoken word events will follow. Check out their website, facebook and twitter.

If you’d like to hear some of my poetry here’s an audio clip of Starling My Darling, a poem about starlings and physics. If you want something longer there’s a 45 minute podcast of my Author Talk at the West Port Book Festival.

I’m the featured performer for child themed poetry event for adults (fundraiser for Theater Paradok) at a new bookshop in Edinburgh, Looking Glass Books on Friday 13th July. Hope to see you there, it’s called Pea Green Poetry. Check out the ‘gigs‘ page on this blog for more info.

 

Find Your Element on the Isle of Eigg

I’m off to the Isle of Eigg this summer with educators, artists, scientists and writers. It’s for a Speygrian Creative Connections course, you’re welcome to join us. The course runs from Friday 10th to Monday 13th August and costs £99. The fee covers accommodation, food and workshops facilitated by the brilliant poet, musician and photographer Gerry Cambridge and the wonderful writer, broadcaster and lecturer Kenny Taylor. Art workshops are provided by the lovely artist Susan Smith and our top teacher Tania Noble is on hand to make sure everything runs smoothly. Find out more about the facilitators here and read about the Eigg course here.

Last year I took part in a Speygrian Creative Connections Weekend at Duiletter Lodge, Argyle. Here’s how I got on….

This blog post originally featured on the Speygrian website.

The Element

“It’s a bit scary to come to something like this on your own?” I thought as I read the programme. ‘Place based learning, storytelling and poetry with Sam Harrison’, it intrigued me.

I was persuaded to put fear behind me when I read Ken Robinson’s ‘The Element’. Ken states we all have an ‘element’. It’s the place where the thing we enjoy meets the thing we’re really good at. Sadly for many people, friends, family, the education system and modern society squash their element away before it’s even been realised. We learn to fit in with the world’s agenda for our lives and we lose the unique person we were made to be. Ken recommends we seek out those who are acting in their element. These people will help us to discover our element and give us permission to express who we are. I decided the weekend would be a good place to put Ken’s theory into practice. I signed up quick, before I could change my mind.

Glen Strae

I first saw Glen Strae in the moonlight, the snow-capped mountains shimmered on all sides. I couldn’t wait to see it in the morning.

Saturday Solo

I woke up stupidly early (6am) with the cold hard ground bearing into my bones. After unsuccessful attempts to get back to sleep I decided to get up and see those mountains. They were breathtaking.

I left the building and bumped into local farmer Donald. He proudly showed me the sparrows nesting in the barn and all the rosettes the cows and sheep had won that year. I went for a wee wander in the glen and took some photos. My grumpiness lifted as I explored, you can’t beat a little mountain therapy, I remembered who I was and felt at home.

Exploring ‘Sense of Place’

I exhausted my camera battery and headed back to join the group for a much needed cup of tea. After breakfast we started our first optional activity: Exploring ‘Sense of Place’ with Sam Harrison. We met outside and there was Donald the farmer, this time with two highland coo! Sam explained we would be taking them up the Glen to the Sheiling (settlement) for the first time in hundreds of years.

I carefully picked my way along the narrow paths and over streams, far in the distance I saw Donald with two cows on a lead, he was in his element! Suddenly I saw it, the tepee, my old friend. It brought back happy memories of the wilderness adventure last year.

Back in time

Two ragged girls welcome us with a penny whistle duet. A woman left her washing and came over to greet us in Gaelic as we crossed the river. She beckoned us into the tepee.

They explained what it was like to live in the sheiling over the summer, 200 years ago. We learnt about their way of life over a hot cuppa. Later we found out she was Julie, the local primary school teacher. Sam had been working with her pupils to make films re-enacting historical battles in the area.

Story challenge

We split into groups and created our own stories. Our group created the ‘story of the baby and the bog butter’. A tale of how the locals came to bury their butter (something they did do to keep it cool). We shared our stories, hilarity ensued, elements were ignited.

In the afternoon we took a difference course exploring ‘creative ways of getting into place’. We embarked on a journey through the glacial valley, we climbed a drumlin, a mound of earth left by a passing glacier.

Drawing challenge

We headed through some trees to the ‘Faultline Falls’, a hidden gem of a waterfall. Sam encouraged us to choose a section and draw it. Art teacher Alistair Thompson, a longstanding member of the Speygrian network, reminded us there are at least five reasons to draw and only one of them is to produce an attractive picture. I kept this in mind as drew the rushing water with difficulty. I enjoyed the process, it helped me to stop and really look at what the water was doing, it helped me to escape the business of everyday life and listen to nature.

Poetry challenge

After drawing we were challenged to silently write down words we felt described our surroundings. We shared our words as a group and we were challenged to use the words to write a poem. There was no pressure for a masterpiece in ten minutes, whatever you come up with has to be commended for effort.

Here are the groups words:

• Ancient earth
• White skeleton fingers (silver birch)
• Wind swept trees
• Stop
• Wait
• Thunder
• Rushing chasm
• Roar
• Time well spent
• Still reflections

Here is my 10-minute poem:

As I sit beneath the white bone fingers
I think
It’s time well spent

As I look upon the wind-swept trees
I see
It’s ancient earth

As I think beside the rushing chasm
I hear
The thunder roar

As I stop beside the still reflections
I know
My time is now

As we shared I was stuck by the individuality of each person, from the same starting point we produced such different expressions of place. We journeyed back and the group seemed closer, we’d made new and creative connections.

Saturday Evening

After a wonderful meal we retired to the lounge.

The logs crackled on the fire and the accordion came out to play, accompanied by a cardboard box boran. Jean and Douglas gently strummed guitars and Sam rocked the recorder. An impossible task but he really did, his sight reading of Scottish traditional music at triple speed was a wonder to behold, he was in his element.

Brian Cox Challenged

After the music finished a hardcore contingent remained to finish the singleton malt. Here’s a snapshot of the conversation:

Sam: I don’t understand why everyone loves him

Me: But he’s not a minger?

(Everyone laughed and I felt embarrassed! The conversation had previously been intellectual – the scientific accuracy of the wonders of the universe)

Sam: Well put it this way, as a heterosexual male, I wouldn’t want to look like Professor Brian Cox

Me: I think passion and intelligence are attractive

Sam: Right so if you had a choice of Paolo Nutini or Brian Cox to come round for tea, well who would it be?

Me: Brian Cox every time, I’d want a good conversation. I can put on a CD if I want to hear Paulo.

Jean was with me too; Julie was on Paolo (and Sam’s) side. Alistair was sitting on the fence as the five of us continued. I’m all for showing everyday people how fascinatingly beautiful the world is through physics.

David Attenborough Challenged

Another debate forced me to stay awake to defend David Attenborough. The argument – he portrays nature in an unrealistic way, apart from people. In the real world people and nature are not separate. Two intelligent and strongly opinionated men with loader voices then me didn’t give much space for my opinion. They were in their elements. I was trying to argue that if people were there, they’d scare the animals off! To me what David is capturing is that moment of privilege you get when you spot an animal, say an otter, that’s not seen you. You watch it, it’s totally unaware and unaffected, its natural in its element. I wasn’t having much luck. Julie kept piping up that spiders were nature too and Alistair finally came to the rescue with an example of ‘if the Tay beavers lived in Glen strae’. I threw in the towel at 4am.

The morning after

It was sad to say goodbye, I’d miss my fellow debaters and it had been a thought-provoking weekend.

If you like outdoor learning, mountains, creative sharing and optional debates, why not come along to the next Speygrian event on the Isle of Eigg? I’d recommend you search for you element too, you’ll never know where it might take you.

See more photos of the weekend here.

If you enjoyed this post you might like to read about about my wilderness journey on Greener Leith, the SpeyGrian Creative Connections course on Colonsay and the Wild Connections course on Tanera Mor.

 

CBeebies Glasgow and Edinburgh Gigs

I started a new job at BBC Children’s Scotland last Friday. I’ve been commissioned to develop some new science programmes after pitching a science related idea during the Scottish Book Trust CBBC Lab. This is an exciting new step for me. I’ll be working in Children’s Development until the beginning of May.

It wasn’t too long ago I blogged about missing science. I’m delighted to say we’re now back together. Since the projects I’m involved in are in development I can’t tell you about them, sorry.

I can tell you that I’m staying with lovely @suddenlymum and her family. I can also tell you I’m very excited to have a BBC email address. I can now work the printer and I DJ-ed on the water cooler today and felt quite pleased with myself. That is I filled up my tea-cup with boiling water at the same time as filling my water bottle with cold water, I’m working that water like a BBC pro…

I owe a big thank you to BBC Children’s Scotland the Scottish Book Trust for training me to write for CBeebies and CBBC in their writer development labs. If you want to find out more Anita Gallo wrote a lovely piece about the recent CBBC Lab we both attended on the Scottish Book Trust Blog.

Edinburgh Gigs

I’ve a few performances coming up, it would be lovely to see you there! Just click on the links for more info.

April 24th: Electric Tales at the Stand Comedy Club Edinburgh: I’m doing a 15 minute storytelling slot, I’m also bringing along my solar-powered bees…

June 11th: Blind Poetics at the Blind Poet: Massively chuffed to have been asked to headline this, I’m doing a 20 minute performance poetry slot, yikes!

June 13th: TenRed Spoken Word at the Persevere, Leith Ten poets, 10 minutes each, should be fun!

If you’re a West Lothian Primary or Early Years Teacher I’m running storytelling training on the 11th May, you can book it through the Council CPD.

If you’re part of the Lothian Association of Youth Clubs I’m running Crafty Storytelling training on the 23rd June, book it through their website.