Some news etc.

Hello folks

No resolutions again for me this year. Instead I’ve got into the habit of choosing a word of the year to try and guide my interactions. This year’s word is kindness. To myself as well as to others.

It’s a word to keep in mind even when I want to rage at injustice. I don’t have to stop being angry but always reacting with kindness will keep fatigue and despair at bay. Hopefully.

If the notion takes your fancy too, here’s a gift link to an old New York Times article on How to Pick a Word of the Year. 

Some poetry…

It’s freezing outside. Which reminds me of spending a very cold and windy February afternoon on High Level Bridge to record this poetry film. It’s part of the Adrian Brinkerhoff Foundation’s brilliant Read By series, and was directed by Matthew Thompson. The poem was originally written for a Poet in the City project that responded to the Unfinished Business: The Fight for Women’s Rights exhibition at The British Library. You can find the text of the poem, and some notes on the women mentioned, here.

Some things to apply for/enter…

• Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP) - deadline: midday, 11 April 2024Arts Council England’s Developing Your Creative Practice fund supports artists to take time to focus on their creative or cultural development. I applied unsuccessfully for a DYCP grant in the Before Times and I’m thinking of giving it another go. Doing a PhD has helped me to acknowledge that I actually do have a creative practice (whatever imposter phenomenon may tell me) and I need to figure out what that looks like moving forward. Perhaps writing a DYCP application will help think things through so it’s a win/win really. If I get the grant, brilliant! But if I don’t, at least I’ll have the beginnings of a plan...There’s plenty of time to mull it over though, applications open on 14 March.

• Magma 2023/24 Poetry Competition - 31 January 2024I’ve never had much luck with poetry competitions but I might dig around in my notebooks to find the bones of a poem to work on for the Magma comp. There are two parts to the competition. The Editors’ Prize for short poems (ten lines and under) and the Judges Prize for longer poems. This year’s judge is the brilliant poet Raymond Antrobus. Details here: https://magmapoetry.com/magma-2023-24-poetry-competition/

Some thoughts on creative practice… & jigsaws

I got another jigsaw for Christmas. Claude Monet’s Water Lilies 1906. It’s not going well.

The Christmas before, I received a jigsaw of the interior of St Peter’s Basilica. I spent hours and hours on it when I should have been writing the first draft of a theatre piece that was going into rehearsal in five months time. I was paralysed by the thought of all the work that needed doing, and I just couldn’t write anything. The jigsaw required focus and although I knew I was procrastinating, it was okay because I was doing something.

One of the benefits of being a writer is that you can claim any activity as being part of the writing process. Completing that jigsaw was part of my process. The first thing it taught me was that you won’t get anywhere unless you start. But you can’t just blunder in and hope for the best. You have to study the picture, figure out which bit might be easiest. You have to separate out the pieces. Go for the easy wins. Find all the edge pieces. Find all the corners. Take it piece by piece.

Another thing I learned (or was reminded of) was that you need to give yourself the tools to succeed. I had a puzzle mat that meant I could move it to a position with better light. Or I could roll it up and put it out of sight so that it wouldn’t be sitting there calling out - why aren’t you working on me? 

On this year’s jigsaw, the picture reproduction isn’t great. Even with my varifocals on it’s hard to see the nuance of the brush strokes that would indicate where a piece might belong. After three days of struggle I realised I could look the image up online. With a hi-res image, I can zoom in and out. Identifying the location of the pieces just got a whole lot easier.

So here’s what I’ve learned about the creative process from completing jigsaw puzzle. Trust the process. Make decisions. Come up with a system. Break the task into smaller chunks. Occasionally stand back and look at the bigger picture. Occasionally zoom in, focus. Be prepared to make mistakes. Bit by bit the picture will reveal itself and the work will be done.

Something else that caught my attention…

These are really difficult times. There is so much to grieve for. Last year I saw a beautiful project from Company of Others that gave a moment’s pause for reflection and healing. Set on King Edward’s Bay in Tynemouth, Grief Floats is “a protest, an honouring, a remembering”. It’s a beautiful show that allows us to hold our grief, and take strength from it. Here’s a short film of their R&D to give you a hint of what it was like.

That’s all from me for now. Thanks for reading.