A spring of writing, performing, and geese!

Hello!

I hope you are having a nice April. I have been eating lots of Easter chocolate, watching spring arrive in Manchester, and hiking in the Lake District. 

Since my last blog post in December, a huge amount has happened in my writing life. From performing my first hour-long, one-person show at Hope Mill Theatre, to being accepted for Magma Poetry, to doing a residency at The Poetry Business, I'm really happy to be able to share it with you. 

The Reason for Geese at Turn On Fest

Last year, I was selected for the First Dibs programme by Dibby Theatre, and wrote my first one-person stage show, The Reason for Geese. I debuted an extract at Push Festival at HOME, where it impressed Superbia, the arts and culture branch of Manchester Pride. 

Superbia then sponsored me to debut the show in full at Turn On Fest at Hope Mill Theatre in February. It was a wonderful opportunity, and I worked with Greg Thorpe as my Director, to explore and develop the play and increase my confidence in performing it.

Going into rehearsals again was great - it is something I really enjoy. I also love that the theatre is by the canals where I was inspired to write the play - it felt like coming home.

It was good to be part of the festival, and to see two of the other shows - Dungeness and The Regulars, both of which were brilliant. On the day of my performance, I got to spend the day in the theatre - I had my own dressing room! - and it was really fun. 

Huge thanks to the tech crew, Tom and Fran, who were incredibly generous and patient, and helped me to get the lighting and sound effects as good as they could be.

It was a special evening, with my lovely friends coming to support me, and I'm very happy with how the play went. I hope I get the chance to do it all over again. Watch this space (and if you are interested in a queer play about time travel, mental health and geese, please get in touch)!

More scriptwriting shenanigans

I was very honoured to be asked by Oldham Coliseum to be one of the writers for their Secondary Partnerships Scheme, writing a short play for pupils to perform at the theatre in the summer. My play Happy Place involves music, baking, mental health, TikTok, and some very flamboyant teachers!

I also had a script chosen by In Parallel Productions for their Launch Night in January. The brief was for one-minute scripts, and mine, Strings, is a monologue from a character who finally feels that they have found a home, and have accepted their queer identity.

The Launch Night was really fabulous - Saskia Pay performed my script wonderfully, and I got to meet lots of new people. It was very pink!

Finally, I was surprised and delighted to be a winner of Ergon Theatre's Get Heard competition, with my monologue Batty, about climate change, bats and mental health. 

I had a lovely whirlwind of a day, working with the other four winners to professionally record our pieces at Contact Theatre, and then curate a radio show together, which aired on Earth Day on Reform Radio. You can listen to it here.

We also went to see Nora: A Doll's House at The Royal Exchange, which was a really intense and memorable experience. It was such a nice group, and the whole Get Heard experience was one of those unexpected magical things that can just come along sometimes - I'm so glad it did.

My residency with the Poetry Business!

I was thrilled to be invited to be Digital Poet in Residence for The Poetry Business for the month of February. 

I chose to use my residency to explore February as a time of change, a transition between winter and spring, as well as writing from my walks around the canals and industrial areas of Manchester.

My first post was 'Shadows and Sky', a collaboration with January's Poet in Residence, Jasmine Gray. 

I suggested we each send the other a photo we'd taken on a walk in nature. Then, we would write in response to each other's photos. From Jasmine's photo, I wrote 'Too much sky for the octopus'. From my photo (below), Jasmine wrote, 'I'm wondering who is wondering if I'm lonely'. 

The overlap in the themes we wrote about - isolation, existence, hope - was really interesting.

For my second post, I created 'Writing the Spaces Between', a series of writing prompts using my photos. These were shared on the Poetry Business' website, and on their social media. 

For my third post, I wrote a personal essay, 'Wandering and writing - What I've Learnt', sharing my experience in the form of writing tips. This one took me a while to pin down, and I'm proud of the final result.

My fourth and final post was 'My February Diary'.

I kept a nature diary every day, documenting signs of spring, from changes in temperature and light, to seeing crocuses, bats, and a heron. It helped me to be aware of my surroundings, and feel connected to nature, even in the city. I hope it inspires readers to try something similar.

On the page!

I have had to pinch myself recently, after being accepted in a trio of long-term dream journals - Under the Radar, Popshot and Magma - as well as a number of brilliant newer indie journals.

My poem 'Satisfied' was selected for Issue 28 of Nine Arches Press' Under the Radar, with the theme of 'The Elements'. It is a gorgeous publication, and I can't quite believe I am part of it. 

Rosie Garland also shared this poem on Twitter and said she is a fan, which is amazing.

Also on the elemental theme, my poem 'Fluid' was published in Issue 35 of Popshot, which is 'The Water Issue'. My poem explores fluidity of body and identity, as well as trying to find a place you belong. It was gorgeously illustrated by Esmé Alice Mackay. 

This is my third publication in Popshot, and I love the narrative of my trilogy of poems. The first was about accepting my queerness, the second about my future and the possibility of having children, and this third is about embracing my fluidity. I hope these poems comfort and inspire someone out there.

It is always an honour to be part of a project from indie zine-makers Coin-Operated Press, and seeing my poem 'Sky belly', and one of my photos, published in the Depression Walks zine, was very empowering. Walking is key for my mental health, so this was a zine I really hoped to be in.

I was in Queerlings last year, so to see that Poetry Editor, Scott Aaron Tait has started their own journal was very exciting. I submitted some poems to Powders Press, and was really happy to have two, 'What happened' and 'Strawberry', chosen for Issue 2, with the theme of 'Wasteland'.

'Strawberry' is a very personal poem to me, looking at my experience with PCOS, and 'What happened' is a very old poem I've recently reworked, about the environment, and I'm so glad they have both found this safe, perfect home.

Irish magazine Impossible Archetype has some really strong queer writing, and I had so wanted to see my work there - so it was wonderful to hear that my poem 'Hunger', about food, loneliness, and desire, had been accepted for Issue 11.

Another poem I wrote a while ago, 'The Road from Hebden Bridge', has been published in Untitled Writing's Voices Volume 4. 

It's especially nice that this is out at the same time as Gentleman Jack in the UK, as the poem tells the story of my visit to Shibden Hall, with someone who really helped me to accept my queerness. 

I've been responding to Visual Verse's monthly image prompts, and I hope you enjoy my poems 'Dawn', 'Here you are', and 'Red rock...'.

Finally, I was overjoyed to have my poem 'The attic years' accepted for Issue 83 of Magma - 'The Solitude Issue'. It really is a dream come true, and I'm so proud of how far I've come as a writer in the last ten years. The Solitude Issue will be published later in the spring.

On the stage!

I've had some great poetry outings this year. I performed for the first time at Word Central at Manchester Central Library, which was a nice, warm, supportive event. 

I also had my debut at Switchblade Society at The Peer Hat, a night where we perform both our own work, and each other's. It was a cosy venue, and I loved the range of poetry.

I travelled to Bolton on a gorgeous spring day to perform with Northern Poets Society at Breaking Barriers Café, with the charity Manc Spirit. 

I shared some poems, as well as performing an excerpt from The Reason for Geese, which went down especially well.

I then returned to Clitheroe Castle, having last performed there just before Christmas. Being there in April was lovely, and I heard work from so many poets I know, as well as some exciting new voices. 

I also just had to visit The Chocolate Works - my favourite place in Clitheroe!

I also visited Write Out Loud in Sale, which is always a special space. Jolivia Gaston guest-hosted fantastically, and we all got to know each other, and took turns sharing poems and stories.

Coming up: I have been invited to perform a ten-minute set at Pride on the Range in Whalley Range, Manchester on 6th May, and am looking forward to it. Do come along if you can!

Workshops and resolutions

I started the year with Kim Moore and Clare Shaw's Resolution/Revolution workshop series, writing for an hour every day in January. There were some days I couldn't make it, but I tried to do at least a third of them, and it helped kickstart my poetry for the year ahead.

I've also been enjoying Poetry Business workshops: writing about water with River Wolton, looking at prose poems with Suzannah Evans, being inspired by letters and correspondence with Liz Berry, employing animal helpers with Pascale Petite, writing from paintings with Phoebe Stuckes, and talking about trees with Laura Scott.

I had two really nice Writing Squad workshops at The Burgess Foundation - looking at semantic fields (and writing about Love Hearts!) with Keisha Thompson, and planning novels with Francesca Haig. 

We are still having some Zoom workshops, which is really good - we looked at sensationalism in the news with Gabriel Evans, and at the nitty-gritty of form with Lydia Allison. There were also some Squad panel events about self-employment, which were really insightful.

Finally, there are the Pathways workshops from Oldham Coliseum, where we read plays, do writing exercises, and just catch up every two weeks. It is a fab group of creative people - writers, actors, directors - and I'm learning a lot. I can't believe I only discovered the Coliseum last year - it has become such an important part of my life.

Out and about

I attended the Manchester Pride Conference at The Lowry in Salford, which was a really interesting day, and it was cool to catch up with so many friends who I hadn't known would be there.

I had a great time watching Box of Tricks' play Last Quiz Night On Earth in an actual pub - Derby Brewery Arms - and my team won! The way the setting and audience were integrated into the play was really well done.

I attended the launch of Rebecca Kenny's collection Crash and Learn from Bent Key Publishing, and enjoyed a fun line-up of poets. I was really happy to get a copy of the book signed by Rebecca, and am looking forward to reading it.

It was a real privilege to attend a potluck event at Islington Mill, to see two pieces of new artwork created to commemorate the Mill collapse in 1824 - a quilt by Sarah-Joy Ford, and a garment by Astarte Cara - and to hear more about the collapse from Greg Thorpe.

Finally, I enjoyed watching The Jungle Book at Oldham Coliseum with the Pathways group. The show was well-acted (with some impressive doubling-up, where I didn't realise it was the same person), and I particularly enjoyed the songs, which it was hard not to sing as I made my way home!

Baking, hiking and linguistic adventures

The Village Bakers have been meeting every month. This is my third year on the Committee, and I love writing the newsletter, meeting with the other officers and, of course, baking! Here are a couple of my recent creations - Jammy Dodger blondies and chocolate orange brownies.

I've also been doing a lot of hiking - I had a lovely weekend in the Lake District, and have had daytrips to the Peak District, Todmorden, and Blackburn. It has been really nice to meet new people with similar interests to me, and to get out and explore and be in nature.

I completed the Mandarin Chinese course on Duolingo, which I am very proud of, and I am hoping to sit a HSK exam soon, either Level 2 or 3. I achieved my Level 1 nearly a decade ago after three weeks studying in Beijing. It has been really nice returning to the world of Chinese this last year. 

I find language inherently fascinating, and I like learning languages with different writing styles and forms. To that end, while I am currently working on improving my Portuguese, I have also started Greek - I'm interested in its alphabet, and how it influences other languages. Wish me luck with it!

Many thanks for sharing my adventures. Have a lovely spring and summer.

Liz

Exciting news and cool collaborations

 Hello!

I hope you are well. I have been enjoying spring - it has been lovely to see friends for the first time in a year, have picnics, and go for walks. There has been blossom, fluffy goslings and cygnets, bees and bluebells, and I have been feeling hopeful and positive.

Grants and commissions

Amazing news - I have been awarded a DYCP grant from Arts Council England, to develop my poetry and performance skills. My focus will be on really embracing and owning my queerness in my work, and I will be mentored by some fantastic poets. I cannot wait to get started.

 At the end of March, I delivered my "The Little Things" commission for Beetfreaks, and we had a lovely presentation evening. I performed my spoken-word piece, "Rockpools", which looks back over the first year of the pandemic, and how different communities supported me. I am currently working on putting together a film version to share on here, so watch this space!

 The First Dibs theatre-writing course is going well, and I am building up my spoken-word show. We have had guest workshops from Leo Skilbeck, Louise Wallwein, Cheryl Martin, and Scottee & Friends. I am enjoying the course literature - Temi Wilkey's The High Table and Philip Ridley's Vincent River were especially moving.

Teaching

I work as a languages tutor, and I had been hoping to start tutoring poetry as well. So, it was brilliant to deliver my first solo poetry workshop, to Durham Poetry Society. Entitled "The magic in the mundane", I crafted the workshop around finding moments of magic in our daily lives, at a time when travel, adventures and excitement can be limited. 

 I also led a segment of the Writing Squad's "Workshop workshop", which was a series of mini-workshops led by different writers. My section looked at mythical creatures, exploring them in new ways, and using humour. The writers came up with many different characters, with drafts involving centaurs, gnomes, mermaids, flower fairies, and more.

Publications and collaborations

My favourite thing as a writer is working with other people to create something amazing, and there has been so much of that recently to creatively fulfil me. I hope that this continues.

 Firstly, my poem "Whale baby" has been published in the Growth Issue of Popshot, and illustrated by Simona de Leo. Her artwork is perfect for the poem, and makes me happy whenever I look at it. 

 My poem explores different options that I have considered for having a child as a queer woman, as well as the equally-valid option of not choosing that path at all. That this poem has found a place in such a widely-read magazine feels really empowering, and I hope that it will reach and comfort people.

 Secondly, Unheard Poetry have made a gorgeous film from my poem "The frog pool" - you can watch it by clicking the orange title. The poem is also below.

 "The frog pool" is part of the Dreams for Green series, which is a celebration of our planet and a call to protect it. I feel incredibly strongly about this, and write about it often. So, I was really happy to be part of Earth Zine from Coin-Operated Press, with my eco-poem "How to draw a fish".

 The poem was then also featured in the Press' 2020-2021 Annual, which was really cool.

 More excitement came when my poem "Winter blazer" was chosen for the first-ever issue of Skirting Around, a magazine exploring clothes and identity. 

 My poem tells the story of the first time I bought and wore a "men's" suit blazer, and the range of emotions that it made me feel. I filmed myself reading the poem for the website (wearing the very blazer!), and also read live at the launch, which was a really fun evening.

 Three of my poems were published in the Amy Ray Zine. Songwriter Amy Ray is one of my biggest inspirations, in my writing, activism, and being comfortable with my identity. It was an honour to be part of the zine, which was created to celebrate Amy on her birthday in April.

 It is also lovely to have two of my queer poems in Issue Three of Queerlings - I had hoped to be part of this journal for a while. I hope you enjoy "My other half" and "Indigo nights".

I am also pleased to have three poems - "Imperfect days", "The player", and "Why you should exist" in the She Speaks anthology from Tipping the Scales. You can read it online here, or buy the paperback here.

In May, my poem "Risen" was published in Visual Verse. We were challenged to respond to this intriguing image by an Unknown Artist.

I also have poems coming up in Lighthouse, The Adriatic, and Under the Radar, and my queer coming-of-age short story "Siren" is going to be published in York Literary Review. I can't wait to share them all with you.

 Finally, as always, Foxglove Journal publishes a poem or fiction piece every week - I love editing and taking the photos for Foxglove, and am proud of how the site has grown. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Spoken-word, events and workshops

I was a featured act at Open Dyke Night, run by LQW, and performed five of my most passionate and rallying poems, addressing queerness, self-love, belonging, and the environment. The audience were warm and supportive, all the acts were brilliant, and it was a very special evening.

 My poem "Pilot" was showcased by Young Identity for Earth Day, with a film of me performing it. It is so important to me to keep sharing this message - we need to reduce waste, stop polluting the oceans, and protect whales and other animals. 

 I shared a film of my poem "What I always wanted poetry to tell me", to mark International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. You can also read the poem at Popshot, here.

 I took part in two editing workshops, one with The Writing Squad and Charlotte Wetton, and one with Fly on the Wall and Nikki Dudley. They were quite different, and it was interesting to get new perspectives. I certainly feel that I have more tools now for editing my poems.

 I have also enjoyed workshops with Andrew McMillan and Sarah Fletcher through the Poetry Business, and with Rachel Long, Steve Dearden, Sian Meades-Williams, Jamal Gerald and Keisha Thompson through The Writing Squad. Having access to these organisations has been so helpful to me throughout the pandemic.

Baking, languages and other fun

It was lovely seeing many of my friends from Village Bakers in person for the first time in over a year, when we met for our socially-distanced Spring Picnic in Heaton Park. I enjoyed discovering a rainbow ice-cream cone!

 You can read all about the Picnic, and much more, in our Spring Newsletter, which I curated as Head of Media and PR. It features delicious bakes by our members, an interview with lovely baker Sakander, and my poem "Apple crumble", which talks about baking and mental health.

 I am very proud to have completed the Irish course on Duolingo, and I am now continuing my work on Mandarin Chinese, as well as starting Finnish. I will let you know how it goes.

 That's all for now! Many thanks for reading, and for sharing my writing journey. I hope you have a lovely summer - or winter, depending on where in the world you are!

 Liz x