Power in the Voice was a three year British Council project with volume set out to enable young people in Southern Africa and the UK to find their voices and express themselves under the guidance of international performance poets, rap artists and storytellers. Through the programme, young people took part in workshops, competitions and performances,...
Happy. Got some photos back a couple of days ago. Spent over a hundred quid on processing an obscene number of rolls of film, but it was worth it. I love my Lomo! The colours are great, but the black and white pics really shine. I’ll be setting up a photoviewer in the playground over...
Looking for Chinese expletives a la Firefly (it’s a long story that involves trying to help someone curb their use of colourful language, then setting a personal challenge to have a range of more creative invective at hand…) , and found this: “Words made of the same phoneme, but different tone, usually are semantically unrelated....
So, I made it. The script is finished, and I’m still alive. Still needs tweaking, but the response is good. There’s an issue of control – ownership – something I’m not used to dealing with in writing. As a poet, you write the piece, edit, possibly get feedback from other poets, edit some more. But...
Went down with the flu over the weekend. Grr. Anyone that knows me knows that I like to pride myself on good health. Probably got it off someone at BopGun on Wednesday (no direct accusations, but I have my suspicions…!) Anyway, that played havoc with my script deadline. Trying to catch up, but still feeling...
I no sleep this weekend. I finish script. Seriously though, it’s bugging me. I like working with monologues, but a full on script for a musical…? it’s been a challenge. Redrafting it for Monday. And all I wanna do is write poetry… Did I mention that I finished a chapbook while I was out in...
I’ve discovered a new junk food. Well, not new as in I’ve just invented it, more new as in ‘why did I never think of this before?’ Forget Pringles. Move aside ginger nut biscuits. Get thee behind me, Thai Sweet Chilli Sensations. Original popcorn is the new junk food of choice. Brainfood for writing. I’m...
Back in Blighty. Chicago was a blast. I performed, ran some workshops, and met a range of poets, writers and artists. Much love to the one and only Peter Kahn, Krista Franklin, Ugochi Nwaogwugwu, Avery R. Young, Idris Goodwin, Tara Betts, Toni Asante Lightfoot, Kevin Coval, Daniel Sullivan and every one in Chicago that made...
Black History Month has been good to me so far, but it’s pretty much worn me out. More fool me, though – tired as I feel, I stay up, tapping away, tweaking things, reading old newspaper articles for new poems, updating the website, chasing new music, buying things from Amazon, checking my inbox (but really...
Peredur, I love you. The first time I was presented with the idea of doing an hour long set, I was scared witless (rhymes with…?) Will they stay with me for that long? Won’t they get bored of just me and my poems? And particularly with the kind of pieces I tend to prefer writing...
Just back in from Barcelona. Took the Lomo with me, and came back with a bag full of rolls of film. Came back to loads of metaroar listings to post out, and a phone ringing off the hook with offers of work. It’s good to be wanted… Didn’t manage to get ANY real writing down...
I know someone in Paris that’s hating on London at the moment. From where I’m sitting, it’s looking all good. This weekend is forecast for blue skies – I’m looking out of my window and wondering why I’m here in front of my monitor… For the technically minded, I’ve just finished blogging this page –...
