Mslexia Women's Poetry Competition

Mslexia Poetry Competition 2012

The 2012 Mslexia Women's Poetry Competition is for previously unpublished poems of any length and in any style.

JUDGE: Gillian Clarke

1st Prize: £2,000 plus two optional extras: a week at the idyllic poets' retreat of Cove Park and an afternoon with the editor of premier poetry magazine Poetry Review.
2nd Prize: £400
3rd Prize: £200

17 other finalists win £25 each.
All winning poems will appear in issue 55 of Mslexia, published in September 2012

CLOSING DATE: 18 June 2012

Entry fee: £7 for up to three poems.

Please make sure you read the rules and guidelines thoroughly before submitting your entry.

Poetry Pamphlet competition

This year Mslexia are launching their new poetry pamphlet competition alongside their single poem competition. This new competition is for short collections of 20-24 pages of 18-20 poems, and is open to any woman poet who has not previously had a full-length collection published. The prize is publication of the pamphlet by Seren Books plus £250 and the deadline is 18 June 2012.
 
Submit to: Mslexia, Freepost NEA5566, PO Box 656, Newcastle upon Tyne NE11 1BR
or visit: www.mslexia.co.uk/poetrycompetition

Writing for Personal & Spiritual Growth

Today I led a Creative Writing for Personal and Spiritual Growth workshop at Wisdom Moon Holistic Centre, located in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. Wisdom Moon is devoted to individual spiritual development and healing through an enlightened education programme, presented in calm and peaceful surroundings allowing the heart to open, the mind to still and the body to relax.  Wisdom Moon provides a place where like-minded souls can meet and offers a warm welcome, help and advice on the path and a range of services, therapies, classes and resources to aid wellbeing, spiritual work and personal growth as well as a lovely shop and tearoom.

Attendees on the workshop learned how to tap into their personal and spiritual path using creative writing with a focus on poetry and keeping a journal. 

Workshop Content included:

Short Meditation "Be here now" (courtesy of Ram Dass, author and spiritual teacher)
What is a Spiritual Path?
The scope of writing for personal and spiritual growth
Writing Forms - Poetry
Keeping a Journal
How a Journal is Different from a Diary
Journalling Tools
Online Journalling

This was the first creative writing workshop that the attendees had participated in and judging by their feedback they all felt enthusiastic about attending follow up writing workshops so plans are underway to establish a poetry writing course/workshop.

To find out more about writing at Wisdom Moon, call: 01933 770494

Hair Power Skin Revolution - International Women's Day

On 8th March 2012, Shangwe Creative Arts and Nabru Enterprise held a Hair Power Skin Revolution Relaunch and Book Reading Event to celebrate International Women's Day.  The event took place at Bailey's Wine Bar in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.

I shared the inspiration for the book, which was a hairstories blog http://www.hairjournal.blogspot.com/ that I did as part of Black History Month 2008; my role as Editor and the publishing process and the future of e-books.

Readings followed from Christine Collymore who read two of her contributions: a poem from the skin section called U HEAP of SKIN and a personal essay from the hair section called Unwritten Rules.  Leaya Collymore read her poem Black from the skin section and an updated version that she had written that day especially for the event.

Networking followed and discussions led to the possibility of establishing a Writer's Support Group and monthly Poetry Club night.  Watch this space...

Photos in ascending order:
Leaya Collymore
Christine Collymore

6th National Black Writers and Publishers Conference

Saturday 24 March 2012

The 6th National Black Writers and Publishers conference: an informative and thought provoking day drawing on published writers and industry professionals from the UK’s most innovatory publishers and agents.

Get an in-depth look at how key black and Asian writers got publishing deals, and how major spoken word artists developed their careers. The day’s programme includes panels, Question and Answer session and informal ‘salon’ sessions looking at social media and writers, and Reading Habits of Writers, as well as lots of opportunities to network.

Followed by an evening’s entertainment featuring the Speakeasy band, Young Authors and Poets and special guest Kei Miller.

Venue:


Zion Arts Centre
335 Stretford Road
Hulme
Manchester
M15 5ZA


The programme for the day is as follows:

11-12pm
Spoken Word: What Next? The Way Forward
Poetry Futures

12pm-1pm
The Book is Dead. Long Live The E-Book
Ebooks and social media

1pm – 2pm
Salon Session
Salon Host: Segun Lee French

2pm-3pm
Writing For Children & Diversity: Why Are So Few BME Writers Published In This Genre?

3pm -4pm:
How To Get Your Novel Published

4pm-5pm
Salon session
Salon Host: Jennifer Makumbi

Evening Show begins 7.30pm
Ticket prices as follows:

Standard : Conference only £20 / Conference + evening event £25
Concession (unwaged/student) : Conference only £10 / Conference + evening event £15

Standard : Evening only £10
Concession (unwaged/student) : Evening only £5

For more information contact conf@cultureword.org.uk

Sagra Delle Words - A festival of Words

Welcome to sagra delle words. A festival of words.

When: From 3rd to 10th of June 2012.

A residential creative writing course which aims to challenge, inspire and transform your writing.
A week-long residency will be held in the beautiful and idyllic Lazio region of Italy. Home to the capital city, Rome, sagra delle words takes place in OZU, a residential cultural centre close to Monteleone Sabino.

Sagra delle words provides a nurturing environment where both newcomers and experienced writers can write and expand their craft. With expert tuition and the support and encouragement of a writing community, all our participants grow through the experience of collective enthusiasm and the power of the word.

This is your chance to escape from everything that prevents you from writing. Run away and indulge your inner writer as you enjoy the time and space to shape your ideas into that story, or a poem, or a three hundred page novel that you've been itching to write. Through daily workshops and one-to-one consultations, we will aim to give you the skills and confidence needed to take your writing further.
Suitable for beginners as well as experienced writers. Because you're worth it.

How much? The all-inclusive price for accommodation, transfer, tuition, trip to Rome is 465 Euro.

For more information: http://www.sagradellewords.wordpress.com/
http://www.ozu.it/pagina_open.asp?id=67&lin=eng

Email: sagradellewords@gmail.com

LA Experience!

Los Angeles (LA) is often billed as the “Creative Capital of the World”, due to the fact that one in every six of its residents works in a creative industry. So, it was with much excitement that I arrived in LA on Thanksgiving (24th November) and spent 10 days there checking out whether this fact was accurate. It is!

The performing arts play a major role in LA's cultural identity and I felt that almost immediately – well the 2nd night actually, when I went along with my friend Mekada Graham, to Santa Monica beach, a very cool place where we came across a few talented street performing artists. First up was Naia Kete http://www.naiakete.com/ who sang and played guitar with two other musicians – fabulous! Then something completely different in the name of street violin performed by Josh Vietti http://www.joshvietti.com/ who is on his way to becoming the world's premier Pop violinist. Josh brings the two worlds of classical music and pop together in an original manner that has not been done before. He crosses genres, ethnicities and age – brilliant!

Next it was the California African-American Museum (CAAM) http://www.caamuseum.org/ Walking through the doors at CAAM and into the galleries, the impact of history, beauty and discovery can take your breath away. It began with Women: Game Changers, the giant banners celebrating 70 women of colour and achievement, their names and greatness undervalued, lesser known and here celebrated. In the Gallery of Discovery, we honoured the nameless, faceless ones who made it possible for African Americans to grow in power and beauty. Miguel Covarrubias was enchanted by the sights, sounds and colours of African American people. He captured that throughout his career.

In Places of Validation, Art and Progression, history and art kept unfolding as we looked deeper into what the world was like for Black artists, collectors, galleries and other institutions between 1940-1980. Just walking through, standing, looking and soaking up history, ancestry, I was left with a great insight into just what these people had done. It felt triumphant.

A thoroughly wonderful historic experience was a visit to The Getty Villa, which is dedicated to the arts and cultures of ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria and modeled after the Villa dei Papiri, a Roman country house in Herculaneum buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Because most of the Villa dei Papiri remains excavated, many of the Getty Villa's architectural details are based on elements drawn from other ancient Roman homes in the towns of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae.

Over 1,200 works of art from the J. Paul Getty Museum's permanent collection of Greek, Roman and Etruscan antiquities are on view at the Getty Villa. The galleries, organised by theme, include Gods and Goddesses, Dionysos and the Theatre and Stories of the Trojan War, among others. I particularly enjoyed the gardens; the Outer Peristyle, Inner Peristyle, Herb Garden, and East Garden, which are planted with species from the Mediterranean region.

On 29th November, my friend Mekada had arranged for me to do a talk at the California State University Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) http://www.csudh.edu/  where she is an Associate Professor. I shared a summary of my freelance work in the field of literary arts over the last 15 years, which included studying, writing, editing, community development/activist work, guest appearances on mainstream radio, book productions and readings, hosting monthly Shangwe Poetry events at the Poetry Café and much more.

CSUDH is located in a 346-acre campus and educates the most ethnically and racially-diverse student body in the US. Hispanic people comprise 40% of the student body, and African-American people 31%. White people represent 18% while 6% are Asian or Pacific Islander people and 0.6% are American Indian. CSUDH serves one of the poorest areas of LA County.

One totally unexpected and pleasant surprise was discovering that one of my favourite icons of the 70s was appearing at Hammer Museum http://www.hammer.ucla.edu/ on 1st December – what a great start to the month! The legendary Angela Davis and author Robin Levi participated in Hammer Conversations debating recent work, which has focused on incarceration and the criminalisation of communities that are most affected by poverty and racial discrimination. Angela Davis' most recent books are Abolition Democracy:Beyond Prisons, Torture, and Empire and Are Prisons Obsolete? A book signing followed the conversation, where I made several attempts to take some pictures.

Then it was a quick look at Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles 1960-1980, a comprehensive exhibition, which examines the vital legacy of the city's African American visual artists, who – through their work and their connections with other artists from a variety of ethnic backgrounds – made up an important part of the creative community. Including 140 works by 35 artists, many of whom are not well known to the public, Now Dig This! expands the art historical record, placing the work of these African American practitioners within the context of the movements, trends, and ideas that fuelled the arts in Los Angeles during this period. Many of these artists also responded to the civil rights and Black Power movement, and their work reflects the changing sense of what constituted African American identity and American culture.

Photos in ascending order:
Naia Kete;
Naia Kete and her band;
Josh Vietti;
Nicole Moore at California African American Museum;
Nicole Moore at the Getty Villa;
Angela Davis at her book signing at Hammer Museum.

The Digital Way

On 8th November, I attended The Digital Way, a Spread the Word's Writers' Autumn Programme event in association with Foyles at Charing Cross Road, London.  This was a discussion on digital opportunities for writers. 

The Panel consisted of:

Charles Beckett
Relationship Manager - Digital and Creative Economy, Arts Council London.
Charles helps organisations and writers take advantage of digital technology.  He has worked with a number of publishers and writers on their digital projects and commissioned a report from the Institute for the Future of the Book on Digital Possibilities for Literature in 2008.

Dan Franklin
Digital Editor, Random House.
Dan is responsible for direct-to-digital commissioning, cross-group digital publishing initiatives and consultant to the publishing divisions on various digital projects.  He was previously digital editor at Canongate Books.

Danuta Kean
Publishing Analyst and Cultural Commentator.
Danuta's work appears in national media, including the Financial Times, Independent on Sunday and Daily Mail.  She is currently Books Editor for Mslexia magazine and Deputy Director of The Creative Enterprise Cenntre at Brunel University where she teaches the Creative Writing MA.

I soon learned that there have never been so many opportunities for writers to reach readers.  E-books, apps, social media, podcasts and self-publishing have enabled writers frustrated by traditional publishing to find a market for their work that is alive with creative opportunities.  Along with these opportunities are the challenges as many more writers are using innovative ways to create and produce their work making this just as competitive as the more traditional publishing methods.  It is therefore important that you judge the best route for yourself.

Content is important; a strong voice is essential and targeting communities is one way of getting your voice heard.  Using social media, e.g. Twitter, Facebook, etc, can ensure you engage with your audience in ways that can open up all kinds of opportunities.  Blogs can also help as you can post a sample of your work and request comments/feedback.  Readers then become much more valuable to you as you interact with them in your specialist field.

As for self publishing, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that publishers are interested in new writers particularly those who have a successful writing platform already, so it is worth getting in touch with them.

To find out more about Spread the Words' Autumn Programme visit:
http://www.spreadtheword.org.uk/