tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90453079496836278512024-03-05T19:42:35.454-08:00Catriona Troth: the Library CatLibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-79200950236321423022018-03-01T04:21:00.000-08:002018-03-01T04:21:27.755-08:00Flower Face - the story of Blodeuweddby Catriona Troth<br />
<br />
<i>Way back in the long ago, Prince Lleu had a curse- or some say an obligation - placed on him by his mother, Arianrhod, never to take a human woman as his wife. Well, Lleu did not like this; so he summoned the two sorcerors, Math and Gwydion and bade them conjure him a wife. <br /><br />So Math and Gwydion took the flowers of the oak and the flowers of the broom and the flowers of the meadowsweet, and of them made the fairest and most beautiful maiden anyone had ever seen. And they named her Blodeuwedd. </i><br />
******* <br />
<br />
Wait, what? Blodeuwedd? As if it wasn’t bad enough that you conjure me up from a bunch of flowers for the express purpose of marrying this bloke Lleu, to cap it off, you’re going to call me Flower Face? Thanks a bunch. <br />
<br />
Can we think about this for a minute? The guy’s mother doesn’t want him to take a wife. Which, as I see it, can only mean one of two things. Either mum is some seriously needy cow – in which case: Red Flag Warning. Or she knows something about her son. In which case, also, guy to avoid. <br />
<br />
Did I get any say in this? Not Pygmalion likely. Magicians don’t have rules against sex trafficking. Why am I not surprised? <br />
<br />
And the gilt was on this particular slice of gingerbread? Turns out Lleu is immortal. Or at any rate, he cannot be killed “during the day or night, nor indoors or outdoors, neither riding nor walking, not clothed and not naked, nor by any weapon lawfully made.” <br />
<br />
Looked like I was stuck with the guy. <br />
<br />
In the circumstances, could anyone blame me for taking up with the first presentable man who treats me like a woman and not his personal possession? King Gronw, it has to be said, was exceedingly handsome. And if Lleu was going to spend his time riding around Cymru, well, he shouldn’t be surprised if I made my own entertainment. <br />
<br />
Okay, it was a teeny bit naughty of me to wheedle out of Lleu what the chink was in his immortal armour. (There always is one – magic’s like that.) And even naughtier to let it slip to Gronw, who had his own reasons to want Lleu out of the way. But I didn’t actually tell him to kill my husband at dusk, wrapped in a net, yada yada yada... <br />
<br />
Anyway Gronw fluffed it. He only managed to wound Lleu, who turned into an eagle and flew away. And after you two magicians returned him to human form and nursed him back to health, you came after me (of course). <br />
<br />
And how did you decide to punish me? You turned me into an owl. A bird hated and harassed by all other birds, you said. A bird who can only fly at night. <br />
<br />
Well, suits me fine. Know something else about owls? We have extraordinary night vision and nearly silent wings. All the better to hunt you bastards down. LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-55928131327057262372016-05-23T00:58:00.000-07:002016-05-23T04:51:12.210-07:0035 years ago today: the disrupted Peace March in Coventry at the heart of my novel, Ghost TownIt is 35 years since the Peace March in Coventry, organised to protest the murder of a young Sikh student, was met by skinheads yelling Nazi slogans.<br />
<br />
The end of the march turned into a pitch battle between skinheads and young British Asians and their anti-racist supporters.<br />
<br />
Today, the Coventry Telegraph has published a gallery of photographs taken on that day. I have never seen most of these photos before - many of them were not published in the paper at the time. But many echo strongly the scene as I described it.<br />
<br />
Here is the gallery of photos:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/look-peaceful-racial-harmony-protest-11358066#" target="_blank"> http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/look-peaceful-racial-harmony-protest-11358066</a><br />
<br />
And here is my description of the scene as the march disintegrated into violence:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
****************************************************</div>
<div>
The protestors came to a halt at the edge of the road, fists raised. Over their heads Baz could see the skinheads ranged across the entrance to the bus station. In between, two double lines of police, linked arm to arm, were trying to hold them apart by sheer weight of numbers. Dissonant shouts reverberated off the concrete walls of the surrounding buildings.<br />
<br />
A little to the left, a lamppost stood on an island in the middle of the road. Baz elbowed his way out of the crowd and scrambled up, his feet balanced on the widest part, one arm wrapped round the upright, the other holding his camera. Bricks and bottles flew in both directions. A skinhead sat on the kerb, holding his arm. A young Asian stumbled away, blood running down his face. All the while, the thin blue line holding the two groups apart was washed this way and that, like seaweed on the tide.<br />
<br />
This was no longer his city. The buildings were the same, but nothing else was familiar. It was as if the ground had opened up and spewed out a special kind of hell. Even the desi kids he’d marched with were barely recognisable.<br />
<br />
As he thought this, the roar from the crowd reached a new pitch. Part of the Asian line stormed forward, arms linked, heads down. Baz spotted Vik at the apex of the charge, Saeed next to him. Across the road, the skinheads saw what was happening and stampeded towards them. They ripped through the police line and suddenly the opposing groups were head to head. <br />
<br />
Baz zoomed in on the vortex of the action, and a face flashed across his lens. A broad face, reddened with acne. A face Maia had picked out in a photograph. <br />
<br />
Startled, he pulled back, then struggled to locate him again. Anger, thickened with helplessness, seethed through him. No way to reach the bastard through that press of people, even if he tried. Nothing to do but keep the camera running.<br />
<br />
And suddenly he saw him, in a space carved out of the mob, like a fighting ring without ropes. He had Vik in a headlock, but he must have been thrown off balance because Vik was driving forward, using his shoulder in the bastard’s gut. Then the two of them went down and all Baz could see was a shifting space in the roiling movement of the crowd.<br />
<br />
He’d been praying that Vik didn’t have the knife on him but now, for a sick moment, he willed him to pull it out and plunge the blade into that bull neck. Then a police van came down Priory Street and more officers spilled out. They waded into the crowd, wielding truncheons, and heaved out Bull Neck. He had blood on his face. A few moments later, four more officers staggered out, carrying Vik by the arms and legs. They’d dragged his jeans and jacket half off him and several skinheads spat at his bare flesh as they passed.<br />
<br />
Baz’s knees buckled and he almost lost his perch on the lamppost. But before he had time to think what might happen to Vik, he heard a pounding in the road. A line of mounted police officers galloped towards him, spread across the width of the road, their long batons raised high. Others had seen them too. People were screaming. Shoving frantically for the edge of the roadway. A young woman in a shalwar kameez tripped and those nearest to her yanked her to her feet. <br />
<br />
If he stayed where he was, he was a sitting target. He managed one shot of the charge then let go of the lamppost and ran, heading for the protection of the arches. The road vibrated from the impact of the hooves. As they swept by, a baton caught him a glancing blow to his shoulder and pain shot up his arm. He lost control of his feet and stumbled over the kerb. His arms instinctively wrapped round his camera and his face hit the pavement. More pain, in his jaw this time. He curled into a ball as others scrambled over him, fleeing the charge. He got to his feet, spitting road grit.<br />
<br />
His left shoulder ached from where the baton had struck him, as did most of his right side from where he had hit the road. But he seemed to be more or less in one piece, and the camera was undamaged. He took out a handkerchief and blotted blood from the graze down the side of his chin.<br />
<br />
The horses wheeled for a second charge. At the same time, a phalanx of police moved down Priory Street, escorting a group of community leaders from the rally. Three or four of them were helped onto the roof of a police van. At the front of the group, Gurinder-ji stooped and took a loud hailer that one of the officers held out to him. He had egg splattered across the front of his jacket and his hand shook at little. A beer bottle sailed past the van and crashed in the road beyond. Gurinder-ji flinched, but stood firm. The loudspeaker squawked, then his voice came through, clear and steady.<br />
<br />
“… remain calm and disperse quietly. I repeat, we ask you to remain calm and disperse quietly …” <br />
<br />
You’re too late, Baz thought. They’ve got Vikram.</div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-86010834904542114902016-04-19T09:07:00.000-07:002016-05-16T11:26:50.205-07:00Why Undercover feels like one of the most important TV dramas for a long timeWe are only three episodes into Peter Moffat’s drama, <i><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b076vdbc">Undercover</a></i>, on BBC1, and already it feels like one of the most important television events for years.<br />
<br />
Why do I say that?<br />
<br />
Well, for starters, the two lead actors – Sophie Okonedo and Adrian Lester - are both Black. They are playing a professional couple with a family. They have Black friends. They have a history of Black activism – especially Okonedo’s character, Maya, who is a lawyer working in both England and the US. Many of the supporting characters are Black.<br />
<br />
We get to see a Black family doing ordinary things – eating pasta, driving to Cornwall, coping with the everyday problems of a special needs teenager. We see Okonedo and Lester in bed together, talking and having the sort of married-for-a-long-time sex that is as likely to end in hysterical laughter as grand passion.<br />
<br />
Secondly, in the first few minutes of the programme, we are hit with the full horror of the system of capital punishment in the US – something that affects the Black population out of all proportion. We are told things I was aware of via <a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/">Reprieve</a> or the <a href="http://newjimcrow.com/">New Jim Crow</a> – e.g. that you can’t serve on a jury for a capital case if you don’t support the death sentence, or that there are jails where the entire population is Black. But we see details that could never have imagined - such as the radio station that follows executions blow by blow, plays Arthur Brown’s ‘Fire’ with triumphalist glee and then does a countdown to the moment of the lethal injection is given.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/I8I0mHyMW1I/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I8I0mHyMW1I?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
But it is very easy for us in Britain to point at America and tell ourselves that all these problems are ‘over there.’ That we, here, have nothing to worry about. <i>Undercover </i>does not let us off the hook so easily. In the core of the story, back in London, we are forced to confront<br />
<ul>
<li>The consequences of police brutality and institutionalised racism in the UK</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The lengths the establishment are prepared to go to cover it up</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The cynical use of undercover policemen to build relationships with those under surveillance</li>
</ul>
Moffat has the compassion, too, to look at the question of the undercover policeman from both sides, to imagine the price paid by someone who gives up their own life to live that of their ‘legend.’<br />
<br />
It is a shame that <i>Undercover </i>does not also showcase the work of a Black writer and director. But that doesn’t, I hope, detract from what Peter Moffat and James Hawes have achieved. There are little moments that demonstrate that Moffat has been listening with sensitivity. Moments like the conversation between Maya and the man she is defending on Death Row, dismissed by the Radio DJ as ‘a talk about hair products’ but which is really about Maya’s daughter and how she connects with her Black identity. Then there is throwaway line on the daughter’s arrival, as a new student, at her Oxford college. She is approached by an older Black student who has been assigned to be her ‘college mum.’ “It’s usually a mum and a dad,” she says, “but I hope you don’t mind having a single parent.” No need to spell out why they couldn’t find her a ‘college dad.’<br />
<br />
<i>Undercover</i> is blowing me away, and I can’t wait to find where it takes us next. I just hope that, for once, this will prove to be a door opening to a new kind of normal, and not just a tick in a box marked ‘diversity’ that can then be safely forgotten about for another ten years.<br />
<br />
<b><u><i>Edit after watching final episode:</i></u></b><br />
Wow! Yes I know there were some plot holes, but not nearly as many as you would think from reading Twitter. (Weren't people paying attention?) But there was a moment towards the end of the episode when I screamed so loudly that my son came running to see if I was all right. That was the level of my emotional investment in the story. Or more particularly, in the family at the heart of the story, so brilliantly created by Adrian Lester and Sophie Okonedo. Do I want to see a second series? Hell, yes!</div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-65017792584568399172016-04-08T10:30:00.001-07:002016-04-08T10:30:25.623-07:00Yvvette Edwards: finding inspiration from Monserrat to Hackney<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<h3>
In an event organised by <a href="http://mediadiversified.org/">Media Diversified</a>, the launch of Yvvette Edwards’ second novel, <i>The Mother</i>, was held at Waterstones Piccadilly on 31st March.</h3>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt6Wz-gco4iMlUIwTw7f2gjjSD864U1m4Bhf9DA1Ue-QibMlO30D1Y2OLBrRatrgtd1kz1TAVq-mFl-u5P48-56k09RfLdRWM0ctxFwkmJXxTOjS4KtxyjgKZsdDoa3R0sjdqjzNjwpTfR/s1600/Yvette+Edwards+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt6Wz-gco4iMlUIwTw7f2gjjSD864U1m4Bhf9DA1Ue-QibMlO30D1Y2OLBrRatrgtd1kz1TAVq-mFl-u5P48-56k09RfLdRWM0ctxFwkmJXxTOjS4KtxyjgKZsdDoa3R0sjdqjzNjwpTfR/s320/Yvette+Edwards+1.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
Edwards, interviewed by Media Diversified founder, Joy Francis, proves to be softly spoken, self deprecating, engaging and – despite the often dark nature of her subject matter – very funny. Like many of her characters, she was brought up in Hackney and is of Montserratian-British heritage.<br />
<br />
Francis begins by asking Edwards about the early inspirations for her writing.<br />
<br />
Edwards says she was first inspired to write by her family’s reaction to the death of Elvis. “If you listened to my mother and aunts, you’d have thought a close family member had died ... I discovered writing could be very cathartic.”<br />
<br />
As a young girl, she read ‘anything and everything,’ but she describes reading <i>The Friends</i> by Rosa Guy – with its black protagonist created by a black author – as a seminal moment.<br />
<br />
She cites Stephen King as another author she admired. “But I’m getting old. My nerves can’t handle reading his stories any more.”<br />
<br />
Her greatest love, though, is reserved for the Nobel prize winner, Toni Morrison. “It’s not too strong to say I worship Toni Morrison. Her language is so beautiful and the subjects she handles are so raw.”<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH0xIIlJtMp3nGDyq3VzLdat5AGEOfM2yeuCmWwMfGo2Lg88c60pJqRlfTBZMqLC3ybkxipzoGiuImUcY29vYeFgxy3CvD07hi2kfWoj7za5m_7bxy3WZx1IYOkIuDdEp9K1IS0Vl1IjL_/s1600/A+cupboard+full+of+coats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH0xIIlJtMp3nGDyq3VzLdat5AGEOfM2yeuCmWwMfGo2Lg88c60pJqRlfTBZMqLC3ybkxipzoGiuImUcY29vYeFgxy3CvD07hi2kfWoj7za5m_7bxy3WZx1IYOkIuDdEp9K1IS0Vl1IjL_/s200/A+cupboard+full+of+coats.jpg" width="130" /></a>
<br />
Edwards then reads a passage from her debut novel, <i>A cupboard full of coats</i>, longlisted for the Man Booker prize in 2011. It is a passage where an old family friend, Lemon, cooks soup for Jinx, evoking memories of the past she has tried so hard to bury. Judging the laughter she evokes with certain lines, Edwards taps into many things shared across the Caribbean diaspora.<br />
<br />
Francis asks her about the fact that both her books deal, in very different ways, with violence and in particular with knife crime.<br />
<br />
Both books arose, in part, from ‘inciting incidents’ in her own life, she tells us. <i>A cupboard full of coats </i>was inspired by a friend who managed to rid herself of a violent partner, only to hear that the same man had murdered his next girlfriend; <i>The Mother</i> by a random and violent knife attack on her own stepson.<br />
<br />
“I used to write about far more cheerful subjects, but when I was coming up to by 40th birthday, I think I discovered my mortality,” Edwards says. “I want to write about what isn’t written about – the stories and voices we don’t hear. I write about things I am troubled by.”<br />
<br />
Edwards admits that she wrote several pieces before <i>A cupboard full of coats</i> – things that she would send off ‘without any editing’ and would be offended by any criticism she received in return, throw that piece away and start on something else.<br />
<br />
“But then I got to the point in my life when I was thinking about what dreams I had to let go of, and what I needed to start taking seriously. I dragged myself up by my lapels and gave myself a talking to.”<br />
<br />
And the result was <i>A cupboard full of coats</i>. <br />
<br />
“The big difference was that I edited. I discovered that I loved it. That glee of finding the perfect word!”<br />
<br />
How difficult had she found ‘that difficult second novel?’<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw5nEY4qh6d4AOuWOoVRqd0Fmy1w1xvAApwQrLvDSKigqqzToDh_Sx5nJKfimArsnSblnHDEjbbFZueqT1IiZJi0j26x4_oZQDaJF4ue-aUjSAns8oml1hhWjYWXQL3WyPH5qMVuhDeOIX/s1600/9781447294450The+Mother.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw5nEY4qh6d4AOuWOoVRqd0Fmy1w1xvAApwQrLvDSKigqqzToDh_Sx5nJKfimArsnSblnHDEjbbFZueqT1IiZJi0j26x4_oZQDaJF4ue-aUjSAns8oml1hhWjYWXQL3WyPH5qMVuhDeOIX/s200/9781447294450The+Mother.jpg" width="124" /></a>
<br />
Edwards revealed that she had written about 80 thousand words of another book that wasn’t working. “I asked myself all sorts of questions I’d never asked myself before, like ‘what are your themes?’ I could feel I was struggling. But it allowed me to work through the angst. And as soon I started working on <i>The Mother</i>, the writing flowed again.”<br />
<br />
She chose to write from the perspective of a mother, rather than that of the kids experiencing knife crime, because “I wanted a narrator closer to me in age, someone who would ask the questions I wanted to ask, who would want to try and understand the perpetrator.”<br />
<br />
Finally, Francis asked the very penetrating question, “How did writing <i>The Mother</i> change you?”<br />
<br />
Writing dark books does take you to some dark places, Edwards admits. “But my views on young people and knife crime did undergo a massive shift. I thought I had a strong social conscience anyway, but this enhanced it. I think I am less judgemental, more empathetic.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
You can read <a href="http://bookmuseuk.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/a-cupboard-full-of-coats-by-yvvette.html">my review of <i>A Cupboard Full of Coats</i> on Book Muse UK</a>.</h4>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-58486057601561869332015-12-06T05:13:00.000-08:002015-12-06T05:13:40.100-08:00Young Muslim Writers' Awards <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXSmNNONkEWH0e5qqMQp5ujDUSo9-arVG4tTeQZYEBcRb0MogEoNNLvEQGS12NhyLfQmFzZzihyphenhyphenz5AcDiLrCtJMd0UXBw0YJZw8mYjFRUeu8Xibbu-_mRpMlai-8DWHnTheh6t22M0Gh83/s1600/YMWAlogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXSmNNONkEWH0e5qqMQp5ujDUSo9-arVG4tTeQZYEBcRb0MogEoNNLvEQGS12NhyLfQmFzZzihyphenhyphenz5AcDiLrCtJMd0UXBw0YJZw8mYjFRUeu8Xibbu-_mRpMlai-8DWHnTheh6t22M0Gh83/s400/YMWAlogo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Yesterday I had the very great pleasure of attending the Young Muslim Writers' Awards, organised by <a href="https://muslimhands.org.uk/">Muslim Hands</a> and sponsored by the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/YusufIslamFoundation/">Yusuf Islam Foundation</a>.<br /><br />Held in the Beveridge Hall in London University’s grand, Art Deco Senate House, this was a celebration of writing from children aged between 5 and 16 – writing that had been judged by authors including Louis de Bernières, Simon Brett, Brian Keaney, Roopa Farooki, Sufiya Ahmed and Rukhsana Khan.<br /><br />The afternoon opened with a young girl reciting a passage from the Quran which exhorts man to read. Then the mood was flipped on its head with a skit from Islah Abdur-Rahman and Michael Truong of the YouTube hit <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/CornerShopShow">The Corner Shop Show</a>, squabbling over which of them should be allowed to submit a story to the Young Muslim Writers’ Awards.<br /><br />The first award, for a story written by someone in Key Stage 1 (5-7 year olds) was presented by children’s writer Caryl Hart, who spoke of stories having the power to create empathy: “the key to combating inequality.”<br /><br />Next up was 13 year old <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/27956247-it-was-a-vampire-bite">Zara Ayoub</a>, whose story ‘It was a vampire bite’ has had almost 3 thousand reads on WattPad. She spoke wryly and maturely of finding sources of inspiration in reading and analysing book, but also in films and TV (“you parents will tell you shouldn’t watch too much TV”), in art, in free writing and in watching people. “There is nothing more inspiring than humanity. When I am on a long journey, I pass the time by making up stories about the people around me.” She then presented the award for KS1 poetry to Zakariya Robinson, who won the hearts of the audience by skipping shyly onto the stage and disappearing behind a podium that was almost twice his size.<br /><br />Azfa Awad, herself a former refugee from Somalia and now Oxford Youth Ambassador and part of the <a href="http://www.platforma.org.uk/pf_events/map-of-me/">Map of Me project with Half Moon Theatre</a>, performed two exquisite poems, “Origins,” and “Celebration of Life.”<br /><br />Author Roopa Farouki, presenting the KS2 short story prize, said, “There was passion, emotion, wisdom, humour, drama, meaning and real heart in all the stories <br /><br />Tim Robertson of the <a href="http://rsliterature.org/">Royal Society of Literature</a> explained how the 500 Fellows of the Society are elected, and how each one signs a ledger, either with Byron’s quill or TS Elliot’s fountain pen. He went on to say how he hoped and believed that in ten, twenty, thirty years’ time, some of the young writers here would sign that ledger<br /><br />Safeerah Mughal, who is clearly a talent to look out for, won both the Key Stage 4 short story prize for “A Peaceful Sleep” and the poetry prize for “A Quilt of Stars.” Her poem, which evokes a child with nothing but the sky to cover him, has also been selected to promote the <a href="https://muslimhands.org.uk/appeals/street-child">Muslim Hands Street Child</a> project. And the adorable Zakariya Robinson was called back up to the stage to receive, “Young Muslim Writer of the Year,” for writing, “well beyond his years.”<br /><br />There was an acute awareness in the room of the particular burden carried by Muslims at this time – something encapsulated in judge Rukhsana Khan’s poem, ‘Not Guilty’, published in the competition booklet. It was addressed, directly or indirectly, by speaker after speaker.<br /><br />Radio presenter Yasmin Kahn made everyone laugh with a story of teenage comeuppance and a mustard coloured jumper, before telling the audience, “It has never been more important that Muslim voices are heard.”<br /><br />Maqsood Ahmed from Muslim Hands quoted Allama Iqbal, “the Pakistani Shakespeare”, saying “Let the young people be the teachers of their elders.”<br /><br />The Chairman of Muslim Hands, Syed Lakhte Hassanain (having dryly admitted to having left his preprepared speech behind on his kitchen table) asked, “What do we place in our children’s hands? If we given them pens, they become writers. If we give them guns, they become killers.” <br /><br />Zafar Ashraf of the Yusuf Islam Foundation, told us, “Just as it takes two hands to clap, words need both a writer and a reader. The pages of a book are brought to life only when they are opened.”<br /><br />But perhaps the most powerful speech of all came from Ziauddin Yousafzai, father of Malala, the youngest ever Nobel Laureate, who was accepting a special award on behalf of his daughter. He declared, “We have to stop following blindly. We must keep the windows of our mind open. We must question everything. Everything. There lies the difference between education and indoctrination.” Then, to thunderous applause, he concluded, “These children are not just the future of our Muslim community. They are the future of the UK. They are the future of humanity.”<br /><br />If there was any disappointment in the day, it was that we did not hear any of the award-winning stories and poems. Several of us who had been sitting together shared this thought with Maqsood Ahmed, who promised to consider both publishing this year’s winners in a newsletter or blog, and having readers on stage for next year’s winners.<br /><br />Altogether, an inspiring and moving afternoon, and one to which I was privileged to have been invited.<br /><br /><h4>
Full List of Winners:</h4>
Key Stage 1 story: Abdul Maatin Riaz – The Pen with 70,000 Heads<br />Key Stage 1 poem: Zakariya Robinson – Kenning<br />Key Stage 2 story: Myra Durrani – The Haunted House Strikes Again<br />Key stage 2 poem: Aminah Rahman – Spring, Autumn and Winter<br />Key Stage 3 story: Imaan Maryam Irfan – Ivory Demons<br />Key Stage 3 poem: Naima Mohamend – Free Dubai<br />Key Stage 4 story: Safeerah Mughal – Peaceful Sleep<br />Key Stage 4 poem: Safeerah Mughal - Quilt of Stars <br /><br /><div>
<b>Young Muslim Writer of the Year: Zakariya Robinson “for writing beyond his years”</b></div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-72227942978897175182015-11-07T04:56:00.000-08:002015-11-07T09:20:14.344-08:00On the "I'd Rather Be a Rebel" ControversyMany viewers of the film <i>Suffragette</i> may be unaware of the hurt and upset among people of colour caused by the sight of the four female stars wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the quotation from Emmeline Pankhurst.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/yemmynisting/files/2015/10/5612b4aa1800002d00dc1299.jpeg">I’d rather be a rebel than a slave</a></div>
<br />
Why has that photo caused such outrage?<br />
<br />
The original quotation spoke to the condition of women in the late nineteenth early 20th Century. Middle and upper class women might live in gilded cages, but they were bought and sold in matrimony for profit and prestige and were then expected to ‘do their duty’ and produce children. They were not allowed to work, had only recently been allowed to own any property (and in some places still could not), had no escape from their marriages and no say over the laws that bound them.<br />
<br />
Working class women, meanwhile, might be forced to marry men with whom they had had what today would probably be considered non-consensual sex, must put up with whatever treatment their husbands meted out to them while working their fingers to the bone till they died of exhaustion or in childbirth – and likewise had no say over the laws that bound them.<br />
<br />
Rebelling against those conditions was not something that could be undertaken lightly. Many of those who did rebel under Mrs Pankhurst’s banner paid a terrible price. Cat-and-mouse jail sentences in appalling conditions. Crude force feeding in a way that would now be classified as torture. (Read <a href="http://www.quakersintheworld.org/quakers-in-action/233">here</a> about the treatment of Alice Paul and her colleagues in Virginia’s Occoquan Workhouse jail, news of which turned the tide of American opinion on women’s suffrage.)<br />
<br />
Their lives were no better than... <br />
<br />
And there’s the rub. What comparison do we make here?<br />
<br />
I would suggest that what Mrs Pankhurst was doing - what many people still do when they use the word ‘slave’ - is conflating <i>indentured servitude</i> with <i>chattel slavery</i>. If you haven’t grown up with a visceral understanding of the depths of evil represented by chattel slavery, I suggest you start by reading Toni Morrison’s <i>Beloved</i>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCArvF8N6Sw">Daniel Jose Older</a> said recently, in a different context, that slavery is an open wound. That we have been lying to ourselves about it for years. That people of colour don’t have the luxury of sugar coating it.<br />
<br />
And that is why those t-shirts have been so hurtful to so many people.<br />
<br />
The lives of these women were hard and constrained, but they cannot be compared to the lives of chattel slaves.<br />
<br />
The risks they took should not be underestimated, but they are not commensurate of the risks of slave rebellions (like the Jamaican rebellion of 1831).<br />
<br />
So is there a way of making the point that the film makers were trying to make without hurting those whose not-so-distant ancestors were chattel slaves? Without trivialising the issue of modern slavery?<br />
<br />
And without losing the call to arms it represents for women like the Trinidadian mother and her daughter in Michelle Innis's <a href="http://tara-arts.com/whats-on/she-called-me-mother">She Called Me Mother</a>, each snared by abusive marriages?<br />
<br />
I’m going to suggest a change of wording. I can imagine the outcry from those who believe we shouldn't mess with the historical fact of Mrs Pankhurst’s words. But where should our first loyalty lie? To the past, or to the present? To quote scientist Jocelyn Bell Burnell on the Quaker concept of continual revelation – as you get more experience, you are supposed to revise your picture in the light of that new data. <br />
<br />
If we come to understand that the words we choose can hurt others, we should change them.<br />
<br />
So here goes. “I’d rather be a rebel than an indentured servant” doesn't make a very snappy slogan. So how about:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
I’d rather be a rebel than a serf</div>
<br />
Maybe that is no better. Maybe that just reveals another layer of my own tone-deafness that I am not aware of. And yes, I know, I am failing to address the other problem with <i>Suffragette</i> – that, like <i>Stonewall,</i> it whitewashes women of colour out of those rebel movements. <br />
<br />
But perhaps it’s a start.LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-74195255444709254622015-10-14T01:33:00.000-07:002015-11-06T14:08:35.879-08:00On the Man Booker and Marginalised VoicesIt was very exciting, last night, to follow the Man Booker 2015 announcement on Twitter.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizFT0t82rUt7RBjltGOtekJbCAtS6rMW1P6fMNnsLdRzHyUNLZOcOfae1DIH2sbKtx5gXvK3A_etflzuIYL9zJBRXWs48iaCsfLAJ8JQRSL7XWeqQa9Y1scL1PwCwh7ec11dHIMNlYkgNs/s1600/brief+history.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizFT0t82rUt7RBjltGOtekJbCAtS6rMW1P6fMNnsLdRzHyUNLZOcOfae1DIH2sbKtx5gXvK3A_etflzuIYL9zJBRXWs48iaCsfLAJ8JQRSL7XWeqQa9Y1scL1PwCwh7ec11dHIMNlYkgNs/s1600/brief+history.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Unlike the Goldsmith's Prize, which has been much criticised this year for the lack of diversity its current shortlist, the Man Booker 2015 shortlist included a Nigerian author (Chigozie Obioma), a British Asian author (Sunjeev Sahota), an American author of Hawaiian ancestry (Hanya Yanagihara) - and the eventual winner, Marlon James, who is from Jamaica.<br />
<br />
I listened to James being interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning. He talked about his first manuscript being rejected 78 times - about giving up on writing so thoroughly that he not only destroyed the manuscript but went round all his friends' computers and deleted all the copies he could find there too.<br />
<br />
I don't know how you come back from that, but luckily for us he did.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately for me, the winning title, <i>A Brief History of Seven Killings</i>, is not brief. Nor is it a book you can take at a run. It's complex narrative with a cast of over 70 characters and multiple, disjointed points of view, some written in heavy dialect and all more or less as streams of consciousness, needs to be digested slowly. Right now, I am roughly halfway through, but I am inevitably going to be behind the curve reviewing it.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Update: <a href="http://bookmuseuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/a-brief-history-of-seven-killings-by.html">my review of </a></i><a href="http://bookmuseuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/a-brief-history-of-seven-killings-by.html">A Brief History of Seven Killings</a><i><a href="http://bookmuseuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/a-brief-history-of-seven-killings-by.html"> now published on BookMuse</a>.</i></b><br />
<br />
In the meantime, in honour of James's struggle to get his extraordinary voice heard, here are a sample of a diverse and sometimes marginalised voices I have recently reviewed for Book Muse UK. Follow the links to read the full reviews.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://bookmuseuk.blogspot.com/2015/08/my-name-is-not-easy-by-debby-dahl.html"><i>My Name is Not Easy</i> by Debby Dahl Edwardson</a><br />
<div>
"Edwardson captures, at times with exquisite poetry, the experience of a handful of Alaskan Iñupiaq and Athabaskan children shipped off to one of the now infamous residential boarding schools."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMTKlbGkUNVjrLx52edjY_D7IuSu6CjFdBcSLXvJ_z4G5SYNeaRIw5KmXgQnUD-ItaTzMWm_sFkx5UB8xa6NDU8TXVhUncCanqVjJ4lH06DeqTUUiXoAB_p_AfmccQiZvkFTQL75SCcp8O/s1600/If+I+Ever+Get+Out+of+Here.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMTKlbGkUNVjrLx52edjY_D7IuSu6CjFdBcSLXvJ_z4G5SYNeaRIw5KmXgQnUD-ItaTzMWm_sFkx5UB8xa6NDU8TXVhUncCanqVjJ4lH06DeqTUUiXoAB_p_AfmccQiZvkFTQL75SCcp8O/s200/If+I+Ever+Get+Out+of+Here.jpg" width="137" /></a><br />
<a href="http://bookmuseuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/if-i-ever-get-out-of-here-by-eric.html"><i>If I Ever Get Out of Here</i> by Eric Gansworth</a> <br />
"A book about negotiating friendship and trust from across a chasm of cultural differences, from the subtleties of telephone etiquette to the logistics of using a two-hole privy in sub-zero temperatures. It also brims over with a love of music – especially the Beatles, Wings and Queen."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://bookmuseuk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/londonstani-by-gautam-malkani.html">Londonstani by Gautam Malkani</a></div>
<div>
"As a portrayal of angsty teenage boyhood, this book belongs in the tradition of Josef Svorecki’sThe Cowards and JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://bookmuseuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/finding-arun-by-marisha-pink.html"><i>Finding Arun </i>by Marisha Pink</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://bookmuseuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/finding-arun-by-marisha-pink.html"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfHN0gaAxydDjwEqlVC2AytUh0Pe9NtS_XwpauTa2kOaFCfZchIrBJoP3QNIIZ46tGb69dpLbEIP7pbGPx7AcJmiaOca0R7Di5OnIlOvgJVIEBn31wvQNKPSow8MAqyO7WPV_0ANwIQZAI/s1600/finding+arun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfHN0gaAxydDjwEqlVC2AytUh0Pe9NtS_XwpauTa2kOaFCfZchIrBJoP3QNIIZ46tGb69dpLbEIP7pbGPx7AcJmiaOca0R7Di5OnIlOvgJVIEBn31wvQNKPSow8MAqyO7WPV_0ANwIQZAI/s200/finding+arun.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
</div>
"The novel blends a sweet tale of self-discovery and sibling love with the unfolding of a dark family secret, all set against the background of one of India’s most holy cities." <br />
<div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://bookmuseuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/always-running-la-vida-loca-gang-days.html"><i>Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in LA</i>, by Luis J Rodriquez</a></div>
<div>
Rodriguez’s account of La Vida Loca is raw – his depictions of sex, violence and drug taking sometimes eye-wateringly graphic. It needs to be. The life he depicts is real, and the young people the book is aimed at are living it.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://bookmuseuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/pyschoraag-by-suhayl-saadi.html"><i>Pyschoraag</i> by Suhayl Saadi </a><br />
"An exhausting, fascinating, thought-provoking book. Not for the faint-hearted but for those willing to take on the challenge, definitely worth it."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZVmXin_sLKtWObEUd42fAMXBg54Zc2DarDCqTCDs8UCb1N-i00SB-jRp4rXBdv4OugbYMMvJVgRtA03yjuKRVJYeOnPrfPWEKZeJpkHQcPVzsNNH_vb5SwXU33WHRAzCo4zG002crycqn/s1600/dear+infidel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZVmXin_sLKtWObEUd42fAMXBg54Zc2DarDCqTCDs8UCb1N-i00SB-jRp4rXBdv4OugbYMMvJVgRtA03yjuKRVJYeOnPrfPWEKZeJpkHQcPVzsNNH_vb5SwXU33WHRAzCo4zG002crycqn/s200/dear+infidel.jpg" width="126" /></a></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><br /></span></span><a href="http://bookmuseuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/dear-infidel-by-tamim-sadikali.html"><i>Dear Infidel</i> by Tamim Sadikali </a></div>
<div>
"Sadikali does what the media has so singularly failed to do - show us shades and variations within the British Muslim community. Not between extremists and others – but within one ordinary family."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://bookmuseuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/finding-takri-by-paolo-stickland.html">Finding Takri by Palo Stickland </a></div>
"At its heart, a complex and tender love triangle, one that mixes friendship, loyalty, duty and the desire for independence."</div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-1765897581582007002015-08-05T04:12:00.000-07:002015-08-05T04:12:48.374-07:00Diversity, Authenticity and some thoughts on Gift of the Raven<br />
The question of diversity and authenticity in literature is something that I am passionately interested in. But it is also a tricky question for me. I have written two books, both of which have major characters with a non-white heritage. I have regularly questioned whether I can write authentically about such characters and, indeed, whether I have a right to even try. <br />
<br />
So it was with some trepidation that I approached two people campaigning for greater diversity in literature and publishing – <b>Debbie Reese</b>, who runs the widely respected blog ‘<a href="http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.co.uk/">American Indians in Children’s Literature’</a> and <b>Farhana Shaikh</b>, MD of <a href="http://dahliapublishing.co.uk/">Dahlia Publishing</a>, based in Leicester, which champions diverse and regional writing in the UK– in order to interview them for the August 2015 edition of Words with Jam.<br />
<br />
You can read <a href="http://www.wordswithjam.co.uk/2015/07/diversity-pt-1-come-on-guys-youve-had.html">those interviews on the WWJ blog page</a>. What I want to do here is reflect on the issues the interviews with Debbie Reese raised for me and for my authorship of the novella, <i>Gift of the Raven</i>.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<i>Clearly I can’t do the sort of dispassionate, professional assessment of my own work that someone like Debbie Reese would do. But I hope what follows is a reasonably honest review – and not a piece of self-justification masquerading as self-flagellation.</i></h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6yqAN4JRSOMu5KIxLhFsZfqZ5eiLUHSCRtLMWLgYewkw8QVz5olqTCQND7TqGbQ319Ra1YZmppA6f6G-QPZWt5wlde7AqR9K-hyy4pMp6RBJn-ee2iUn-1deXcgSEmu0ash9UOsluyMfY/s1600/DSC_0108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6yqAN4JRSOMu5KIxLhFsZfqZ5eiLUHSCRtLMWLgYewkw8QVz5olqTCQND7TqGbQ319Ra1YZmppA6f6G-QPZWt5wlde7AqR9K-hyy4pMp6RBJn-ee2iUn-1deXcgSEmu0ash9UOsluyMfY/s320/DSC_0108.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<h3>
<i>Gift of the Raven</i> – self-critique</h3>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(NOTE: if you haven’t read </i>Gift of the Raven<i>, this contains mild spoilers.)</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span>
As Reese says in her interview, "Native children see stereotypes of themselves in books. They rarely see themselves accurately portrayed. The damage that that does to your existence is significant."<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At the start of <i>Gift of the Raven</i>, my protagonist Terry is completely isolated from his father's culture. He's pieced together an identity for himself from the negative, distorted and stereotypical images available to him. And it's been deeply damaging.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So far so good. But if I try and assess the book against some of the criteria set out by Reese, it doesn't fare so well.<br />
<br />
<b>Do I have a relationship of trust with the Haida people? </b><br />
<br />
No. I’ve never even visited the Haida Gwaii. I’ve had no direct contact with any Haida people and as far as I am aware, no one from the Haida Gwaii has ever read the book.<br />
<br />
I always knew I could never write a story about a Haida child. Terry is not that. He is an abuses child who has lost all sense of his own identity.<br />
<br />
Be that as it may, the heritage I gave him is not just any heritage. I have chosen to make it Haida. There are significant Haida characters in the book (his father and grandfather), I talk about Haida culture, I use a Haida-derived image on the cover and I have called the book <i>Gift of the Raven</i>, after the Haida story of the Raven and the sun. I can’t escape from the responsibility that places on me.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Have I respected a tribe’s right to ‘own’ their stories.</b><br />
<br />
I don’t try to retell the Haida story of the Raven and the sun, but I do reference it. I even use it in my title and on my cover. Reese makes it clear that those stories belong to individual tribes. Do I have the right to use it in that way, even peripherally?<br />
<br />
In my blurb, I talk about the ‘real meaning’ of the gift of the Raven. What I meant is that, for Terry, the gift is the artistic talent handed down to him from his grandfather, who was of the Raven moiety. But the words could be seen to imply that I am claiming some special understanding of the story’s meaning. <br />
<br />
Later I have Joseph say (about his father, the master carver)<br />
<br />
<i> ‘He used to say the artist must be a Trickster, like the Raven. He has to trick the wood into giving up its secrets and play tricks in people’s minds to make them see the things he sees. If he’s lucky—once in a lifetime—he will bring the gift of light to the world.</i><br />
<br />
This is largely my interpretation – a way of linking Terry’s artistic talent with the story of the Raven, but might that be perceived as presumptuous at best, and at worst as cultural hijacking?<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Do I treat indigenous people as if they existed only ‘long ago and far away’: </b><br />
<br />
Growing up in Canada in the 1970s, I was familiar, on the one hand, with modern indigenous artists like Bill Reid, Benjamin Chee Chee and Rhonda Franks, and aware, on the other, of bitter disputes that were brewing, especially in Quebec, over Native land rights. More recently, there have been the Healing Walks, led by indigenous people, protesting the environmental damage caused by the Alberta Tar Sands. And this year saw the culmination of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, examining the shaming and painful history of Canada’s Residential School system that tore children away from their families and their cultures in an attempt to ‘kill the Indian’ – a chilling phrase that was not always a metaphor. <br />
<br />
So, no, I never thought of Native Canadians as existing only in the past. My story is set in 1971 and talks about Native land rights cases that were getting underway at that time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Were my sources for the story authentic? Have I failed to differentiate the rich diversity of indigenous culture?</b><br />
<br />
<br />
I wrote <i>Gift of the Raven</i> fifteen years ago. I was living eight thousand km from the Haida Gwaii and the Internet was comparatively in its infancy. I researched the background of Terry’s father and grandfather as far as I was able, but I can’t be sure, now, how reliable or authentic my sources were. <br />
<br />
I did read <i>The Raven's Cry</i>, by Christie Harris. Harris is a non-native author, but the book was written with the cooperation of artist, Bill Reid, and other Haida people.<br />
<br />
When I published my book less than three years ago, though, I didn’t go back and check my sources. And Reese is right – that was, in part, because I didn’t have a Native audience in mind. I was assuming that is would be read primarily by a white, British audience, and it was ‘good enough’ for them.<br />
<br />
I’ve tried now to go back and looked at some websites that, as far as I can tell, are authoritative and specific to the Haida (e.g. <a href="http://www.haidanation.ca/">http://www.haidanation.ca/</a> <a href="https://haidatlingit.wordpress.com/">https://haidatlingit.wordpress.com</a> )<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>So what do I think I may have got wrong?</b><br />
<br />
At least some of Joseph tells Terry about Haida art seems to stand up (e.g. that the intent of those that carved the totem poles was that they should gently decay over time. Likewise, some of what Kate tells Terry seems to stand up (e.g. the cutting of hair as a sign of mourning.) But not everything. <br />
<br />
For example:<br />
<br />
<i>Kate said the Indians believed that the dead didn’t go away. The ancestor spirits lived all around us in trees and birds and animals and stuff. I kind of liked the idea that Dad might be watching me.</i><br />
<br />
I suspect this is exactly the sort of lazy, inaccurate generalisation that Reese deplores. A more accurate representation of Haida beliefs regarding ancestors can be found here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.repatriation.ca/index.html">http://www.repatriation.ca/index.html</a> <br />
<br />
And of the relationship with the natural world here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.afn.ca/index.php/en/honoring-earth">http://www.afn.ca/index.php/en/honoring-earth </a><br />
<br />
Another thing I may well have misunderstood is the role of the eagle and raven divisions within the Haida. When Terry meets Joseph, Joseph tells him:<br />
<br />
<i>“The Haida are all members of two clans—the Ravens and the Eagles. You always married outside your own clan. And the children belonged to the clan of the mother ... Your grandfather was of the Raven clan. I am an Eagle, like my mother. And you—if you were part of the tribe, you would be a Raven too.”</i><br />
<br />
Going back and looking at this question again, it would be more accurate to say there are many clans, each of which as an Eagle and a Raven ‘moiety.’ And yes, a man from the Eagle moiety would marry a Raven woman, and their children would be of the Raven moiety. <br />
<br />
The important point that I missed was that this is a <u>matrilineal</u> descent. So Terry, having a non-Haida mother, would not necessarily be Haida, or a Raven, at all. <br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Note that, according to the <a href="http://www.haidanation.ca/Pages/governance/pdfs/HNConstitutionRevisedOct2010_officialunsignedcopy.pdf">Constitution of the Haida Nation</a>, ‘all people of Haida Ancestry are Haida citizens,’ but it also notes that they are a matrilineal society and that ‘heredity is an internal matter formalised through the ancient clan customs of the Haida Nation.’]</span><br />
<br />
If this is the case, it could also impact on Joseph’s decision to marry, and have a child with, a non-Native woman. It seems likely that this would be something his own family, as well as his wife’s, would be concerned about, but I never touch on that. <br />
<br />
Another critical point I ignore is that Terry’s father and grandfather are of the generations affected by the residential school system. How would that have affected the ability of someone of those generations to become a master carver? Or for that matter, a lawyer?<br />
<br />
Even in 1971, would Mohawk boys from the reserve have attended the same elementary school as Terry?<br />
<div>
<br />
<b>Do I use loaded or inappropriate terms?</b><br />
<br />
At the start of the book I use some fairly appalling language to refer to native Canadians – e.g. Terry seeing himself (and thinking of his father) as a warrior; references to scalping; referring to the Mohawk steelworkers as spidermen. That’s deliberate. I am trying to show what effect that language has on Terry’s own self image. But would it pass Reese’s “would you read this out loud to my daughter” test? I don’t know.<br />
<br />
I also have the Mohawk boys in the playground refer to Terry as ‘little brave.’ That’s intended to be ironic. Once he has failed to answer the most basic questions about his heritage, they see him as just another white wannabe. But would they do use that sort of language?<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Do I have a white person as the hero or ‘rescuer’ of Native people?</b><br />
<br />
Kate is a white woman, and if she is not his saviour, then she is certainly the bridge to his salvation – the one who connects him with his father.<br />
<br />
More problematically, she is the one who begins to tell him Native stories. <br />
<br />
It would be good in many ways to make Kate an indigenous woman. The main thing that militates against this is that I think it is important Terry’s meeting with his father is his first encounter with an indigenous person he can respect –indeed, the first time it occurs to him that an indigenous person can be worthy of respect.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>So what am I going to do about all this? </b><br />
<br />
I am an indie author. I have no publisher to persuade or to answer to. If I recognise flaws in my own work, I have little excuse for not trying to fix them.<br />
<br />
What's more this whole exercise started because I was planning to relaunch<i> Gift of the Raven</i> to give it a new lease of life, three years after publication. All the more reason to ensure that it is the best it can be before I put it out there again.<br />
<br />
It would be easy enough to correct factual errors, or to alter the blurb. But what about use of the Haida Raven in the title, on my cover and more generally as a metaphor? Hard to imagine my story without those things, but if I have used them improperly, then perhaps it’s time to think again.<br />
<br />
And what about my right to tell Terry’s story at all? That, at least, I hope I can defend. <br />
<br />
<b><i>Look out for the launch of a revised version of </i>Gift of the Raven<i> in the coming months!</i></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmTR0_90zcs9KSoftXq4t7e7QXLP23HVUYwnwmpAvkGS2GyZ3u2hQXkBxz7_Bk9mZhU9lj5jWYGvi8e8et6llQbXLZwD6_5ZzMPnaCg3-v_3pZ6nwMKVfm7BMewuC-Uxp6akWaE5tc7M4/s1600/If+I+Ever+Get+Out+of+Here.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmTR0_90zcs9KSoftXq4t7e7QXLP23HVUYwnwmpAvkGS2GyZ3u2hQXkBxz7_Bk9mZhU9lj5jWYGvi8e8et6llQbXLZwD6_5ZzMPnaCg3-v_3pZ6nwMKVfm7BMewuC-Uxp6akWaE5tc7M4/s200/If+I+Ever+Get+Out+of+Here.jpg" width="137" /></a></div>
<b>You can read <a href="http://bookmuseuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/if-i-ever-get-out-of-here-by-eric.html">my review of Eric Gansworth's </a><i><a href="http://bookmuseuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/if-i-ever-get-out-of-here-by-eric.html">If I Ever Get Out of Here</a> </i>on Book Muse<i>.</i> This YA novel opens in the fall of 1975, just as I was leaving Canada. It is set on and around the Tuscarora reservation, on the American side of the Niagara River, less than a hundred miles from where I grew up. And his hero, Lewis, is around the same age as Terry. So the book, which is highly recommended by Reese, had profound resonances for me.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>And you can read <a href="http://triskelebooks.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/parallax-congruence-and-unmarked-state.html">my overview of Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward's excellent book </a><i><a href="http://triskelebooks.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/parallax-congruence-and-unmarked-state.html">Writing the Other</a>, </i>about writing from perspectives different from your own, <i> </i>in the Triskele Toolbox</b></div>
</div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-2959365270251215042015-04-06T12:11:00.000-07:002015-04-07T07:47:52.122-07:00Grand Indie Author Fair Giveaway<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghVGwxpTEQo6Zc3fU-J7qoG3CKUZjQiU_flvkLiOCf9uPhLXe2pWRq52WNyc6Vk4En_KEQOoiG5yK5ovzBU9kEjS03oh_5GRAsZo2SeLo-dopdsLvThQBUDUdeYjUjq3kJ11E-D8LygFs9/s1600/IAF+2015+Web+Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghVGwxpTEQo6Zc3fU-J7qoG3CKUZjQiU_flvkLiOCf9uPhLXe2pWRq52WNyc6Vk4En_KEQOoiG5yK5ovzBU9kEjS03oh_5GRAsZo2SeLo-dopdsLvThQBUDUdeYjUjq3kJ11E-D8LygFs9/s1600/IAF+2015+Web+Banner.jpg" height="192" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;">
</h3>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://barbarascottemmett.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/fantastic-prizes-paperbacks-ebooks-swag.html" style="color: #8766dd; text-decoration: none;">FANTASTIC PRIZES! Paperbacks, Ebooks, Swag. </a></h3>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://barbarascottemmett.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/fantastic-prizes-paperbacks-ebooks-swag.html" style="color: #8766dd; text-decoration: none;">Enter Rafflecopter to Win!</a></h3>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.4;">Forty books up for grabs!</span></h3>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-4533091192942818432" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 570px;">
<div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On Friday 17 April, <a href="http://www.triskelebooks.co.uk/" style="color: #8766dd; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Triskele Books</a> and <a href="http://www.foyles.co.uk/events" style="color: #8766dd; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Foyles Bookshop</a> welcome a myriad of authors to the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1566125196997683/" style="color: #8766dd; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">2015 Indie Author Fair</a>. Here’s your chance to sample what’s on offer! Whatever your taste, we’ve got something special for you. </span></span></div>
<div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Entry is easy and free for a chance to win one of FORTY different ebooks, paperbacks or swag bag prizes.</span></span></div>
<div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxMsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Fair is part of the Indie Author Fringe Festival, run by <a href="http://allianceindependentauthors.org/" style="color: #8766dd; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Alliance of Independent Authors </a>(ALLi)/<a href="http://indierecon.org/" style="color: #8766dd; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Indie ReCon</a>, in association with The London Book Fair’s Book and Screen Week.</i></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> ENTER BELOW TO WIN THESE FANTASTIC PRIZES!</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Please Note: Paperbacks will only be posted to UK winners unless otherwise stated - but there are plenty of great ebooks available for everyone.</i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></span>
<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Click on the little circles to view all the different prizes on offer.</i></div>
<br />
<br />
<a class="rcptr" data-raflid="ed1419e12" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ed1419e12/" id="rcwidget_486c8sym" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">List of Prizes - some paperbacks, some ebooks. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A Time and Place Boxset - Triskele Books<br />Spirit of Lost Angels by Liza Perrat<br />Wolfsangel - </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> by Liza Perrat</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />Behind Closed Doors - by JJ Marsh<br />Cold Pressed - by JJ Marsh<br />Gift of the Raven - by Catriona Troth</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ghost Town - by Catriona Troth<br />Tristan & Iseult - by JD Smith</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rise of Zenobia - by JD Smith<br />Bookmuse Journal - Triskele Books<br />Delirium: The Rimbaud Delusion - Barbara Scott Emmett<br />Rats - by JW Hicks<br />Crimson Shore - by Gillian Hamer<br />Zappa’s Mam’s a Slapper - by John Lynch<br />Sharon Wright: Butterfly </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">- by John Lynch</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />A Just and Upright Man - </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">by John Lynch</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />A Shadow in Yucatan - by Philippa Rees<br />Involution-An Odyssey Reconciling Science to God<br />Social Engineer - by Ian Richardson<br />Invasion of Privacy </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">- by Ian Richardson</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />Kurinji Flowers - by Clare Flynn<br />A Greater World by Clare Flynn<br />Through the Whirlpool - by Kevin Booth<br />A Sense of Occasion - the Chelmsford Stories<br />London Calling - by Clare Lydon<br />The Long Weekend - by Clare Lydon</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Quick Change - by Debbie Young<br />Sell Your Books! - by Debbie Young<br />King's Crusade (A Seventeen Series Novel: Book 2) - by AD Starrling<br />Becoming Human (Book 1, Exilon 5 Trilogy) - by Eliza Green<br />Callum Fox & the Mousehole Ghost - by Amanda Hatter<br />The Changing Room; A British Comedy of Love, Loss and Laughter (UK only) - by Jane Turley<br />A Modern Life; sweet and salty short stories (UK reader) - by Jane Turley<br />Quantum Confessions - by Stephen Oram<br />Victoria's War - by Fenella Miller<br />Barbara's War - by Fenella Miller<br />God's Triangle - by Ian Richardson<br />Outside the Box: Women Writing Women</span></span></span>LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-9364568757510290172015-03-28T04:11:00.001-07:002015-03-28T04:11:53.315-07:00A Time and A Place<h4 style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
A few questions for you:</h4>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<br /><b>Question 1</b><br />I say “black and white”. You think:<br /><br />A: Ebony and Ivory<br /><br />B: 101 Dalmatians<br /><br />C: The Specials<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_2362" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18.7199993133545px; margin: 10px auto; max-width: 96%; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center; width: 310px;">
<a href="https://jjmarsh.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/the-specials.jpg" sl-processed="1" style="color: #8a3207; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Image courtesy Creative Commons: The Specials by Chris Worden" class="wp-image-2362 size-medium" height="225" src="https://jjmarsh.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/the-specials.jpg?w=300&h=225" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: #f6f1ed; color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px;">Image courtesy Creative Commons: The Specials by </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wobble-san/" sl-processed="1" style="color: #8a3207; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;">Chris Worden</a></div>
<br /><br /><b>Question 2</b><br /><br />Time: 10 November, 1891. Place: Marseilles, France. What happened?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<b>Question 3</b></div>
If society breaks down and Wales goes feral, what do you want in your pocket?<br /><br />A: A gun<br /><br />B: A rat<br /><br />C: A ferret<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_2361" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18.7199993133545px; margin: 10px auto; max-width: 96%; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center; width: 235px;">
<a href="https://jjmarsh.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/roman-inside-a-hat.jpg" sl-processed="1" style="color: #8a3207; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Image courtesy Creative Commons: Roman inside a hat by schadenfreude" class="size-medium wp-image-2361" height="300" src="https://jjmarsh.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/roman-inside-a-hat.jpg?w=225&h=300" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="225" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; padding: 0px 4px 5px;">
Image courtesy Creative Commons: Roman inside a hat by<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aidaschadenfreude/" sl-processed="1" style="color: #8a3207; text-decoration: none;"> schadenfreude</a></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<b>Question 4</b><br /><br />Place: Anglesey, North Wales. Time: 25/26 October 1859. What happened?<div>
<br /><br /><b>Question 5</b><br /><br />All’s fair in love and war. But when both collide, where does loyalty lie?<br /><br />A: With your country, family and pride<br /><br />B: With your lover and your heart<br /><br />C: With yourself<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_2363" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18.7199993133545px; margin: 10px auto; max-width: 96%; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center; width: 310px;">
<a href="https://jjmarsh.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/suite-franc3a7aise.jpg" sl-processed="1" style="color: #8a3207; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Image courtesy Creative Commons: Suite Française by Eric Huybrechts" class="size-medium wp-image-2363" height="138" src="https://jjmarsh.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/suite-franc3a7aise.jpg?w=300&h=138" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="300" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; padding: 0px 4px 5px;">
Image courtesy Creative Commons: Suite Française by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/15979685@N08/" sl-processed="1" style="color: #8a3207; text-decoration: none;">Eric Huybrechts</a></div>
</div>
<br /><br /><b>Question 6</b><br /><br />Time: AD267. Place: Palmyra, Syria. What happened?<br /><br /></div>
<div>
<b>Question 7</b><br /><br />You uncover white-collar malpractice. Do you:<br /><br />A: Turn a blind eye<br /><br />B: Blow the whistle<br /><br />C: Pull the trigger<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_2364" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18.7199993133545px; margin: 10px auto; max-width: 96%; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center; width: 310px;">
<a href="https://jjmarsh.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/trigger-finger.jpg" sl-processed="1" style="color: #8a3207; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Image courtesy Creative Commons: caution: itchy trigger finger by Flood G." class="size-medium wp-image-2364" height="199" src="https://jjmarsh.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/trigger-finger.jpg?w=300&h=199" style="border: 0px none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 98%; padding: 0px;" width="300" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; padding: 0px 4px 5px;">
Image courtesy Creative Commons: caution: itchy trigger finger by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/_flood_/" sl-processed="1" style="color: #8a3207; text-decoration: none;">Flood G.</a></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<br />Intrigued? Answered mostly Cs? Think you know what happened?<br />
<br />
Then we have just the thing for you:<br />
<br />A selection box filled with delicious tastes. Seven wickedly indulgent novels, all wrapped up in one box.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
On sale exclusively from Amazon for a limited time from 3rd April 2015, but available to PRE-ORDER now. </div>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Place-Boxset-Triskele-Books-ebook/dp/B00V0I2P90/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427112946&sr=8-1&keywords=A+Time+%26+Place+boxset">A Time & A Place – The Box Set.</a></h4>
<div style="background-color: #f6f1ed; color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Place-Boxset-Triskele-Books-ebook/dp/B00V0I2P90/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427112946&sr=8-1&keywords=A+Time+%26+Place+boxset" sl-processed="1" style="color: #8a3207; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="A Time and A Place Box Set Cover LARGE EBOOK" class="aligncenter wp-image-2370 size-medium" height="300" src="https://jjmarsh.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/a-time-and-a-place-box-set-cover-large-ebook.jpg?w=200&h=300" style="border: none; display: block; margin: 0px auto;" width="200" /></a></div>
<br /><h4 style="text-align: center;">
Treat yourself to some Easter indulgence.<br />Who knows when and where you’ll discover…</h4>
</div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-38308892347349791702015-01-16T02:22:00.001-08:002015-05-20T01:25:32.960-07:00My Debt to Klee Wick<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The Dulwich Gallery in south east London is currently hosting to an exhibition called <i>From the Forest to the Sea,</i> the art of Emily Carr.</div>
<br />
Carr is a Canadian artist who, from the late 19th to her death in 1945, constantly invented and reinvented new ways of depicting the spectacular landscapes and forests of the Northwest Pacific and of capturing the art of the indigenous people that the arrival of the colonists had all but wiped out.<br />
<br />
To see so many of her painting all together in one place is extraordinary. You see the careful realism of her early work transform into experiments with impressionism after time spent in Paris. And then, after a hiatus when her work was rejected by critics and the public, comes her first encounter with Group of Seven, artists from eastern Canada, and Lauren Harris in particular. From that point on, she is experiments freely with style. Some have a solidity that borders on cubism, others a wild movement that have led to her being called ‘Canada’s van Gogh.’<br />
<br />
Alongside her paintings, the Gallery is displaying other objects that put her work into context. Contemporary photographs of the totem poles that were among her favourite subjects. Her own drawings and sketches that reveal what an incredible draftswoman she was. A diary made during her first trip to Alaska with her sister, full of comic sketches and self-parodying stories. Examples of the indigenous art she loved – the bentwood boxes and woven hats and baskets, decorated with the Raven, Eagle, Heron, Whale...<br />
<br />
Early on in her career, she acquired the nickname Klee Wick, or Laughing One from the Noo-cha-Noolth people of Vancouver island, with whom she communicated largely by way of smiles and gestures.<br />
<br />
“Indian art broadened my seeing” she wrote. “I had been taught to see outsides only, not struggle to pierce ... The Indian caught first the inner intensity of his subject and worked outward to the surface.”<br />
<br />
This is an exhibition I can recommend anyone to see. But for me it had a special poignancy. I grew up visiting the McMichael gallery in southern Ontario, seeing examples of indigenous art and the work of Emily Carr and the group of seven. I knew that there was a direct line from those experiences to my writing <i>Gift of the Raven</i>. But perhaps my debt to Emily Carr went even deeper than I realised.<br />
<br />
In later life, when she could no longer travel up the coat to paint, Carr turned to writing, capturing her experiences in words almost as vividly as she did in paint. Take this description of Cumshawa on the Haida Gwaii:<br />
<br />
“Cumshawa always seems to drip, aways to be blurred with mist, its foliage always to hang wet heavy. Cumshawa rain soaked my paper. Cumshawa rain trickled among my paints.”<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOP-d1ZTPk0MSWQu-8JgqG4yB4UTiU8gCw7EvToHPve4ozfL8-Uqm8kvwJ8D_moyYAYqVSCO3DgNt_qJhYT91e-fC3GGP22jDSm5zq3Y_AyPSpBCLIr6_YTkGP3zlPaFLZmJn-sWSlb9q2/s1600/raven+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOP-d1ZTPk0MSWQu-8JgqG4yB4UTiU8gCw7EvToHPve4ozfL8-Uqm8kvwJ8D_moyYAYqVSCO3DgNt_qJhYT91e-fC3GGP22jDSm5zq3Y_AyPSpBCLIr6_YTkGP3zlPaFLZmJn-sWSlb9q2/s1600/raven+image.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Thirty years after I first read those words in her collections of sketches, <i>Klee Wick</i>, and with no direct memory of them, I wrote about Terry’s first trip to Haida Gwaii.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
My grandfather’s totem loomed
ahead, its Raven flying clear of the trees at the edge of the old village. It
wasn’t alone. Five or six other poles stood in a loose semicircle, a little to
one side. Their paint had worn away. I touched one of them and my finger left a
dent in the soft cedar wood. One of them leaned crazily, its base rotted to
pulp. One more lay at an angle on the ground, half covered in moss—held in
shape by force of habit, I guess.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
I felt in my rucksack for the
sketch pad and the box of Conte crayons that Kate had given me. The thick
watercolour paper was growing damp in the fog. When I started to draw, it
changed the look of the pastilles. The crayon went on smooth, leaving a deeper
colour. I wet my finger and rubbed at it, and the line softened. One colour
bled into the next.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
I worked on, letting the fog
change the surface of the paper, trying things out, experimenting. Once or
twice I dragged the crayon too hard and damaged the surface of the paper. But
Kate’s big block of paper gave me freedom. I could make mistakes, start over. I
wasn’t going to run out for a long time. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
The debt I owe to Klee Wick runs very deep indeed. It was a joy to be reminded of it and a pleasure to acknowledge it.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/2014/nov/from-the-forest-to-the-sea-emily-carr-in-british-columbia/?gclid=CjwKEAiAxNilBRD88r2azcqB2zsSJABy2B96FkMcN5c3nMaVI3aGVL2UAZmF4B4Gwl6UXEanDUw5ZxoCYfTw_wcB">From the Forest to the Sea</a> runs from 1st Nov to 8th March at the Dulwich Gallery. Gallery Road, London, SE21 7AD<br />
<br />
You can explore more about the art of Emily Carr <a href="http://www.museevirtuel.ca/sgc-cms/expositions-exhibitions/emily_carr/en/index.php">here</a>.<br />
<br />
And you can learn about Lawren Harris and the Group of Seven <a href="http://groupofsevenart.com/Lawren-Harris-Group-of-Seven-Art">here</a>.LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-45971230383629994322014-12-09T07:15:00.000-08:002014-12-09T07:29:17.212-08:00Make Your Own Indie Author Fair<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge0K0L-R8dELGop89ugCnPqWgyjoNovEhaoHpMIL9tjcqlZGHpksfB8qS_lhXHMQFH4qGT-ZeeWcNNipo9dlo9OsX5tWZnL0StIZSoGgfp1UaDa5EfJkjDKwXhDg7vHuKpkYdMEGTnh7ji/s1600/Indie+Author+Fair+header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge0K0L-R8dELGop89ugCnPqWgyjoNovEhaoHpMIL9tjcqlZGHpksfB8qS_lhXHMQFH4qGT-ZeeWcNNipo9dlo9OsX5tWZnL0StIZSoGgfp1UaDa5EfJkjDKwXhDg7vHuKpkYdMEGTnh7ji/s1600/Indie+Author+Fair+header.jpg" height="154" width="320" /></a></div>
<i>“What about a fair? For indie authors.” <br /> “There’s a thought. We could have a pop-up bookshop.” <br />“Yes, that should be easy enough to organise.”</i><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
Seven months later, we’re kneeling in the mud trying to attach a banner to the railings, before lugging boxes of books down a slippery flight of steps, setting up the pop-up media centre, meeting our sponsors, directing authors to their stalls, answering media enquiries and posing for photographs.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUSCWs5ZcoiTPwvk9pWdgVr81WGykaeZaQgyqrHOJh_b6BpSvHkpafj3IMbDaOgE_Bg5htWZQIQW-o8E4-semFKO3qJ35nqHW2LjpV6xhjL_gUJIQ5YxfC24Xrr6Gc60Etm3lLHrFr96Jb/s1600/20141116_113450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUSCWs5ZcoiTPwvk9pWdgVr81WGykaeZaQgyqrHOJh_b6BpSvHkpafj3IMbDaOgE_Bg5htWZQIQW-o8E4-semFKO3qJ35nqHW2LjpV6xhjL_gUJIQ5YxfC24Xrr6Gc60Etm3lLHrFr96Jb/s1600/20141116_113450.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
Forty authors, hundreds of books in a pop-up bookshop, eighteen readings, five sponsors, a thousand catalogues and hours of buzzing activity on a Sunday afternoon at the end of a London Underground line. All organised by <a href="http://www.triskelebooks.co.uk/">Triskele Books</a>, with the support of <a href="http://allianceindependentauthors.org/">The Alliance of Independent Authors(ALLi)</a> and <a href="http://chorleywoodbookshop.co.uk/">Chorleywood bookshop</a>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmMw0oblvoSA50M0tx8k9jrSokhe7lWPfnLsjQJhpom10zmK_K8b1PoK2NVhKQ5a9rUhX3ih9eg1rI8ixkprDdJStqkFnFuczssCCAeQ_QSi5XKjZopn0Gjw4PVdBZagUKsNKaQlOFzarp/s1600/IMG_20141116_142404423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmMw0oblvoSA50M0tx8k9jrSokhe7lWPfnLsjQJhpom10zmK_K8b1PoK2NVhKQ5a9rUhX3ih9eg1rI8ixkprDdJStqkFnFuczssCCAeQ_QSi5XKjZopn0Gjw4PVdBZagUKsNKaQlOFzarp/s1600/IMG_20141116_142404423.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
At five o’clock, we celebrated with a well-deserved glass of wine and listened to the feedback. Our first ever Indie Author Fair had been a huge success. <br />
<br />
But easy to organise? Not so much. <br />
<br />
So what if we could seed the idea for a pop-up bookshop for indie authors around the world, so they become they become a regular part of the literary landscape? <br />
<br />
Here we present our beginners’ guide.<br />
<h3>
<br />Instructions for Your Own Indie Author Fair</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Start a long way in advance. It takes a lot of organising. We started planning this back in March and we were only just ready in November.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Think about what you and your authors most want out of the event. Book sales? Recognition for indies? Creative display? A chance to share ideas and experiences? The answer will affect the kind of venue you look for.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Don’t underestimate the response. Indie authors are starved of opportunities like this, and they will flock to join in! Plan the space you are going to need and find the right venue.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Cultivate a relationship with a local indie bookstore or Lit Fest. They can share the load of booking and promotion – and it gives your event a certain recognition factor to the general public.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Ask for a booking fee from authors, to encourage commitment, but keep it low, especially for a new, untried event.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Expenses will creep up, so find sponsorship early on and budget carefully. We found that self-publishing service providers were eager to be involved – in return for a presence at the Fair.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Think creatively about how best to promote the event to the public. We opted for a print catalogue featuring all of the authors. An expensive option but a great way to engage with readers. <a href="http://issuu.com/janedixon-smith/docs/iaf_catalogue_proof_issuu/0">(You can read it online here.) </a>We also ran a daily ‘meet the author’ feature. Promote on all channels – local media, libraries, book clubs, online. If you are including children’s authors, remember that you may need to promote that in a different way – focusing on local parents and schools.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Create a community among your authors, so they are keen to support and promote one another. We created a Facebook group to keep participants up to date with the latest news.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Put on a show. Readers love author events at bookstores. So include space for author readings and children’s story time. But think, too, about how to integrate that with time and space for visitors to browse, ask questions and chat to authors.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>See what added extras you can offer, to give the event even more of an edge. Can you provide opportunities for studio photographs? Recorded interviews? Press?</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Communicate clearly. Authors will have lots of questions, and you need to make sure that, even before the doors open to the public, everything behind the scenes runs as smoothly as possible.</li>
<ul><br /></ul>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq2ZqbeUjuLBFCi8uOZAoE3tLdPDuzcjYUVPMA6DVQjXLabhQIzfbQV871kUARcgpTz3fDe2ZH0DCoR-_IDS3Eyc824XYP14VM1SiWigeQHxd9f1jOleS5MKQNCfymeewdZiUcH_PB86f7/s1600/Copy+of+Triskele_Group_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq2ZqbeUjuLBFCi8uOZAoE3tLdPDuzcjYUVPMA6DVQjXLabhQIzfbQV871kUARcgpTz3fDe2ZH0DCoR-_IDS3Eyc824XYP14VM1SiWigeQHxd9f1jOleS5MKQNCfymeewdZiUcH_PB86f7/s1600/Copy+of+Triskele_Group_001.jpg" height="158" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Finally, let Triskele Books know how it went! We love hearing success stories from other indie authors.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<a href="mailto:admin@triskelebooks.co.uk" target="_self">admin@triskelebooks.co.uk</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Good luck!</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
</div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-67655652628069189812014-08-27T01:10:00.001-07:002014-08-29T01:03:47.021-07:00Indie Picks As part of bringing the world of Indie Publishing to the <a href="http://completelynovel.com/articles/indie-author-fair-2014">Indie Author Fair</a> at the Chorleywood Lit Fest, this autumn, we are encouraging everyone to send us their 'Indie Picks' - your recommendations of best indie books you have read.<br />
<br />
So to get the ball rolling - here are my three Indie Picks:<br />
<br />
<h2>
Feral Youth by Polly Courtney</h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnXi2mW9x_kvJc4mFNwEGlX-7MUnAWOhNR5arrqDlheZ-M6FmUSLelCSTkIFflfquj66diLZ6-3f2s4mu1ToosSIu4MPs5WegjpG4ZhqjCZ65NgbQnsxa2BbTIERWMO8FcnBFTOSVUIAy/s1600/Feral+Youth+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnXi2mW9x_kvJc4mFNwEGlX-7MUnAWOhNR5arrqDlheZ-M6FmUSLelCSTkIFflfquj66diLZ6-3f2s4mu1ToosSIu4MPs5WegjpG4ZhqjCZ65NgbQnsxa2BbTIERWMO8FcnBFTOSVUIAy/s1600/Feral+Youth+Cover.jpg" height="200" width="121" /></a></div>
<i>Lit Fic / Contemporary Fiction </i><br />
<br />
Unquestionably my book of 2013. Set during London's summer of riots, the story unfolds in the voice of 14 year old Alesha - homeless, disenfranchised, lost in the cracks of the system. Seen through her eyes, the riots are a rolling juggernaut of inevitability. A book to open your eyes and break your heart.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://catrionatroth.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/going-feral.html">Read my full review here</a>. <br />
<br />
<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
The Gift of Looking Closely by Al Brookes</h2>
<i>Lit Fic / Psychological Thriller</i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhogamKtA2vTchWtDQngbRdPPQmvgPAhlhU84CPfRmn7bfmObWRlfYtA8VsPFvtk55USv9ofqrPNs-BiuN1xhDJIVOIRAYqkUTRQgAcjoZIqrQYWkoTX0khNCNSEFo3g1f1I8IXMdeciGeX/s1600/Gift+of+Looking+Closely.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhogamKtA2vTchWtDQngbRdPPQmvgPAhlhU84CPfRmn7bfmObWRlfYtA8VsPFvtk55USv9ofqrPNs-BiuN1xhDJIVOIRAYqkUTRQgAcjoZIqrQYWkoTX0khNCNSEFo3g1f1I8IXMdeciGeX/s1600/Gift+of+Looking+Closely.jpg" height="200" width="131" /></a></div>
<br />
Winner of the <i>Guardian</i> Self-Publishing Book of the Month, July 2014, this novel is the embodiment of what the self-pub revolution is all about. Written in the second person, addressing the impact of assisted suicide on those it leaves behind - this book is bold and challenging. But it is also an exquisitely written psychological thriller. Whether in the physical world or the psychological, Brookes has the gift of looking closely.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://bookmuseuk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/the-gift-of-looking-closely-by-al.html">Read my full review here</a>.<br />
<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
The Hurricane Lover by Joni Rodgers</h2>
<div>
<i>Crime Thriller</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjENMNcA2Dv4XPCyiq7Tvkc3GdAROa1dhJyTxInyBu8xdtncjaJv_yMs6w8u2836A8MbRYMh9CFYWPxdAG8O9Fto2uv0ZfWUCthvYO46J9HZD_ABdgd85wymRGM_QuPDw8JYda756taRQwb/s1600/2013+HURRICANE+LOVER-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjENMNcA2Dv4XPCyiq7Tvkc3GdAROa1dhJyTxInyBu8xdtncjaJv_yMs6w8u2836A8MbRYMh9CFYWPxdAG8O9Fto2uv0ZfWUCthvYO46J9HZD_ABdgd85wymRGM_QuPDw8JYda756taRQwb/s1600/2013+HURRICANE+LOVER-001.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a></div>
<div>
Texan author, Joni Rodgers describes this book as her 'soul project'. This tense thriller is set in New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina sweeps through the city and a sexually predatory serial killer takes advantage of the ensuing chaos. The disastrous politics of the failed clean-up operation and the almost equally disastrous chemistry between the two lead characters add depth to the story without ever overwhelming it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<a href="http://triskelebooks.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/review-of-hurricane-lover-by-joni.html">Read my full review here.</a><br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
<h4>
<span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-size: small;">Please send your Indie Picks to catriona.troth [at]gmail.com</span></h4>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-86076210084284080822014-07-28T05:50:00.001-07:002014-07-28T05:50:32.773-07:00Two Tone Remembered<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
I was already in the early stages of researching the background to my novel <i>Ghost Town</i> in 2000 when Bob Eaton’s <i>Three Minute Heroes</i> first came to the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry. But the Internet was still a moody teenager back then, and Social Media barely a glint in a Harvard student’s eye, so by the time I stumbled on the existence of the Two-Tone musical, I’d missed both its original run and its short revival the following year.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit9uv075X7rEB4-r6jdlOdjPcZBHzAjV8o9zFv-8i1sy50eLNI3VMpFmou2N9X4Bk2PnU5d5IIGYckwhJYq6bqqXniDnPv5eBn0EiD3_u6zj9g7u4C2TXFxMbqrzun3bR6m3uPsjSf-kJB/s1600/IMG_3102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit9uv075X7rEB4-r6jdlOdjPcZBHzAjV8o9zFv-8i1sy50eLNI3VMpFmou2N9X4Bk2PnU5d5IIGYckwhJYq6bqqXniDnPv5eBn0EiD3_u6zj9g7u4C2TXFxMbqrzun3bR6m3uPsjSf-kJB/s1600/IMG_3102.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">model of set for Three Minute Heroes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I was delighted, just before <i>Ghost Town</i> came out, to <a href="http://www.catrionatroth.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/three-minute-heroes.html">interview Bob Eaton</a>, here on this blog, about the genesis of his musical – and even more pleased a few weeks ago to hear that it was being revived for the new studio stage at the Belgrade.<br />
<br />
The news came with the <a href="http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/2-tone-musical-three-minute-heroes-7504577#.U9KaHmSbr_Q.twitter">announcement of an appeal</a> for people to bring their Ska memorabilia to the Belgrade on Saturday 26th July. The play’s producers were hoping to find rare footage of Ska gigs and Coventry ‘rude boys’ that they could project onto Patrick Connellan’s stripped down set. I decided to<br />
go along to capture some of those memories.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiExT1dIMOad-axYvBC3asZYjGAgKCFKCB1vU4q5uReYsJR0OTsWqkTqaJYlRS2o9m0eYGZAK11EH-B6a0TMj9c6erMLZJDdSRhbBEm1dIFN1UyFWrJa0mQnUIDR4hXMo5-928uMwSkzVus/s1600/IMG_3087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiExT1dIMOad-axYvBC3asZYjGAgKCFKCB1vU4q5uReYsJR0OTsWqkTqaJYlRS2o9m0eYGZAK11EH-B6a0TMj9c6erMLZJDdSRhbBEm1dIFN1UyFWrJa0mQnUIDR4hXMo5-928uMwSkzVus/s1600/IMG_3087.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The first treat of the day was to find Pauline Black and Gaps Hendrickson of The Selecter, and Neville Staple and Roddy ‘Radiation’ Byers of The Specials there – looking cool and very 2-Tone! (The fact that I got to shake hands with Pauline Black almost made up for my appalling failure to catch her at the Penn Festival, just down the road from where I now live, only the week before!)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifqPCN1i3l7sNoPUc9txpPzN8u8fNvbVoei0Fs5NCRFSJz9aUp1ID231awnCMIxhvmSy_nfUbu6mwZYUhagGMqgdawAfSw-A7fiqrpEf1RwL9_Xl6biBfGybCMrRXIhUpiviqhJM9dtKOS/s1600/IMG_3092.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifqPCN1i3l7sNoPUc9txpPzN8u8fNvbVoei0Fs5NCRFSJz9aUp1ID231awnCMIxhvmSy_nfUbu6mwZYUhagGMqgdawAfSw-A7fiqrpEf1RwL9_Xl6biBfGybCMrRXIhUpiviqhJM9dtKOS/s1600/IMG_3092.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The second treat was to meet not only Pete Chambers, authority on all things to do with the Coventry music scene and the driving force behind<a href="http://www.2tonecentral.co.uk/"> 2-Tone Village</a> and the <a href="http://www.covmm.co.uk/">Coventry Music Museum</a>, but also <a href="http://www.catrionatroth.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/concrete-jungle.html">Suky (Sukhbender) Singh</a>, who as well as running a Ska Memorabilia shop at 2-Tone Village is the author of <i>Concrete Jungle</i>, a radio play that deals with the impact on young Asians of both 2-Tone and the racial tensions of 1981.<br />
<br />
I was bowled over by the warmth of the reception I got from these guys. They actually took a copy of <i>Ghost Town</i> and put it in pride of place among the memorabilia they had on display. The story of that summer, so little known outside the city, is still something woven into the fabric of Coventry’s consciousness – and anything that touches on it is given a reception there unlike it would meet anywhere else. It made me feel proud to be a part of it.<br />
<br />
Coventry still has its share of idiots like any other. But the city has a way of seeing them off, just as they did in 1981. Patrick Connellan told me that a few weeks back, a far-right group called Britain First tried to hold a demo not far from the Belgrade Theatre. Another group that happened to be protesting about the war in Gaza got wind of it and managed to keep them pinned down in a pub so they never made it onto the street.<br />
<br />
Now that’s the city I remember!<br />
<div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Turn out for <i>2-Tone Remembered</i> was not as good as the theatre might have hoped. So if you have any memorabilia from that era, then you can email the Belgrade with your photos and other memories at: <b>2Toneremembered@belgrade.co.uk</b>. Mark the subject line <b>‘Ska’d For Life’</b>. You can also share your memories via Facebook at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Belgradetheatre">http://www.facebook.com/Belgradetheatre</a> or via Twitter @BelgradeTheatre using the hashtag <b>#2ToneRemembered</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b></div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-71083189358127029252014-04-22T07:47:00.000-07:002014-04-22T07:47:35.318-07:00Exploring Human Rights Through Poetry<div class="MsoNormal">
I first met Laila Sumpton at a poetry slam that took place
in one of the oldest pubs in Buckinghamshire. In the course of the evening, we discovered
a mutual interest in Human Rights issues, and in particular in the use of creative
writing both therapeutically, to help those who have suffered trauma, and as a
means of raising awareness of Human Rights issues.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After that slam, we kept in touch, and last year I
interviewed Laila about the launch <a href="http://events.sas.ac.uk/support-research/publications/997">of In Protest:
150 Poems for Human Rights</a>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">This unique anthology, rooted
in an open call for submissions brings together poets from 18 countries,
representing a total 38 different heritages.</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span>They
range from </span><span style="background: white;">established poets like
Carol Ann Duffy and Ruth Padel to those who had never written a poem before –
human rights lawyers, workers from NGOs and those for whom the issues raised
are all too personal. It covers issues from the past – like the slave trade –
and those – like the war in Syria – that are unfolding under our eyes today. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(You can read my full
interview with Laila here: <a href="http://www.wordswithjam.co.uk/2013/12/in-protest-150-poems-for-human-rights.html">http://www.wordswithjam.co.uk/2013/12/in-protest-150-poems-for-human-rights.html</a>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I learnt that Laila was running Human Rights themed
poetry workshops, I knew it was a perfect for my Quaker writer’s group – Q Writers,
which meets once a month at High Wycombe Meeting House. Thus, last Tuesday, a
dozen of us sat down, not knowing quite what to expect, to a workshop on the
theme of <i>Censorship and Freedom of Speech</i>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After introductions, we began in groups of four,
brainstorming words and ideas we associated with censorship. We then each had
ten minutes to produce a haiku (three lines of five, seven and five syllables
respectively.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt;">
<i>Censorship makes us<br />
Watch the words that pass our lips,<br />
Stifling what offends.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our second exercise was a look at a selection of definitions
of Censorship, together with articles 18 and 19 of the UN Declaration of Human
Rights. Laila asked us to highlight words and phrases that struck us and then use them to create a ‘found
poem.’</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The words I underlined suggested to me the way that, in a
repressive society, ordinary people may become complicit with the censors.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt;">
<i>Everyone has the right to freedom of thought,<br />
But do not threaten my security by expressing your opinions,<br />
Do not disturb me with your obscenities.<br />
Suppress your ideas lest they emerge in my consciousness<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Next, after a break
for coffee, we divided a piece of paper into four columns. Three were headed </div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Silence is... Censorship is... Freedom is...</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the fourth column, we were given a list of descriptors: a
place, a material, a type of weather, an object, a bird etc. For each of them,
we had to create an association. We then chose one column that appealed to us
and used our list of associations to create another poem. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The words I found myself associating with ‘censorship’
conjured images of places such as Iran’s notorious Evin prison.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt;">
<i>Censorship is...<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt;">
<i>A prison cell.<br />
Arms wrapped round my body,<br />
Hemp smothering mouth and nose,<br />
The taste of dust choking me.<br />
The sound of a key turning in a lock<br />
A guard, black as a raven in his dirty uniform,<br />
Returning to reinforce my silence.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lastly, Laila read a poem from ‘In Protest’ written by David
Ravello, a human rights lawyer imprisoned in La Picota prison in South America
on trumped up murder charges. In the poem, Firmament, Ravello’s sense of
isolation is distilled in the idea that, for long periods, he cannot even see
the sky.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We were asked to write a poem in the form of a letter
replying to Ravello.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt;">
<i>Censorship has locked a ceiling <br />
Over your head<br />
Blocking out the sky. <br />
Together, we will smash that ceiling with our protests.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt;">
<i>The sun, the moon and the stars<br />
Will shine again,<br />
Warming your skin,<br />
Lighting your way.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Right from the start, it was fascinating what a range of material
came out of these exercises. From a shared starting point, we branched out in an
entirely different direction. We had
poems that were written from the point of view of the censors, poems that
looked at historic instances of censorship (such as the Welsh Not, forbidding children
to speak in their mother tongue at school), beautiful poems that reflected on
freedom and the positive aspects of silence and others that plunged right into
the darkest sides of censorship. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Laila’s workshops usually run a little longer than the two
and a half hours we have for Q Writers, so the time we had to work on each poem
was compressed. Some people found this challenging, but for me it was liberating. I have never been a poet, and never will be
(as you can probably tell). But with no
time for the dreaded editor in my head to kick in, I surprised myself with what
I managed to produce. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>If you would like to
book a workshop with Laila for your own group, you can contact her via the
Human Rights Consortium at London University: </b><b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=hrc@sas.ac.uk" target="_blank">hrc@sas.ac.uk</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-17349655758955517222014-04-07T08:41:00.000-07:002014-04-07T09:05:57.913-07:00A Happy Coincidence<div class="MsoNormal">
Many moons ago, when I had just discovered the potential of
online critique sites, I dusted off the opening chapters of my novella, <i>Gift of
the Raven</i>, and posted the opening chapters on You Write On. A few weeks later,
to my great delight, they shared a spot in the top ten with two books written
by people I had grown quite friendly with. One was a novel set in a Welsh put village that examined the
bitter conflict generated by the 1984 miners’ strike. The other was a children’s story about a
half-vampire who couldn’t fly and didn’t like to drink blood.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-RzGelOZysDSGU-YDA2ANsdmfmMnx1fZqNYuZTGFV0mmldvL80hMe5pNkBvrwz3dQjgc8Kq6P1AZYESIdKIi9dJP0XkNqnnjocx5poGr16K8RQ1eruzEJPCKR0UhqBAs16IVFJo7NKfIl/s1600/Vlad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-RzGelOZysDSGU-YDA2ANsdmfmMnx1fZqNYuZTGFV0mmldvL80hMe5pNkBvrwz3dQjgc8Kq6P1AZYESIdKIi9dJP0XkNqnnjocx5poGr16K8RQ1eruzEJPCKR0UhqBAs16IVFJo7NKfIl/s1600/Vlad.jpg" height="320" width="207" /></a>By the time I had made up my mind to publish <i>Gift of the
Raven</i> with the author collective, <a href="http://www.triskelebooks.co.uk/">Triskele Books,</a> I had all but lost touch with
Kit Habianic, the author of the miners’ tale. And Lorraine Mace, the children’s
author, had given up finding a publisher for her little vampire and had turned
instead to writing adult crime fiction. Which makes it all the more poignant
that this week sees the launch of both Habianic’s <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Until-our-Blood-Dry-Habianic/dp/1909844535"><i>Until Our Blood Is Dry</i> </a>and
Mace’s <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vlad-Inhaler-Lorraine-Mace/dp/0615946526/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396884509&sr=1-1&keywords=lorraine+mace">Vlad the Inhaler</a></i>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwINdp4gF-6eNAC39gO5x6u6lXyCWnGGjk4P1RjL4VLXOyPitdAcy1ZNMZB-l9lHTHdvEma0EpRzyC3L_66QpIsErVcgX3zhZjEI_bnNy4jAUW0TpC3G5T7-mqsAMme89c8o2yOY9utdFV/s1600/vlad_peach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwINdp4gF-6eNAC39gO5x6u6lXyCWnGGjk4P1RjL4VLXOyPitdAcy1ZNMZB-l9lHTHdvEma0EpRzyC3L_66QpIsErVcgX3zhZjEI_bnNy4jAUW0TpC3G5T7-mqsAMme89c8o2yOY9utdFV/s1600/vlad_peach.jpg" height="320" width="207" /></a>I knew Vlad had found the right home with his American
publisher, <a href="http://www.littleronipublishers.com/">Little Roni,</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span> the moment I saw the back cover for the book. All those years ago, on YWO, we had fallen in
love with the opening scene where Vlad is punished by his evil aunt and uncle for trying to eat a
peach. There on the cover was very peach
– two little fang holes piercing its downy skin and a drop of juice running
down like a tear. In illustrator, Ellen C Sallas, they had found someone who
clearly ‘got’ Vlad. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8OM3KUy5yL-LLp_Fp1tzCjEo6MrsLA_YM8gXrqFI9KVi7MERdBRw7tp-JqHkrLUUFkjuT_W-hVnk0Tuhsxb04T2mR7BtxDDZ3osmDU8Eic8jJa80C5N6CqHIKBniNAtVpIAOKXLu3JfC_/s1600/UOBID_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8OM3KUy5yL-LLp_Fp1tzCjEo6MrsLA_YM8gXrqFI9KVi7MERdBRw7tp-JqHkrLUUFkjuT_W-hVnk0Tuhsxb04T2mR7BtxDDZ3osmDU8Eic8jJa80C5N6CqHIKBniNAtVpIAOKXLu3JfC_/s1600/UOBID_.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Until Our Blood Is Dry</i> found its home with Welsh publisher,
<a href="http://www.parthianbooks.com/">Parthian Books</a>. The launch party was held in a crowded upper room at the
Wheatsheaf in Fitzrovia – a pub once frequented by Dylan Thomas. As if this wasn’t distinguished company
enough, the event was opened by distinguished Welsh poet, Danny Abse, who was
followed by another, much younger Rhondda poet, Sion Tomos Owen. Owen’s self-styled rant about the desperation felt by a new wave of unemployed was the perfect prelude to
Habianic’s quiet reading from the opening of her novel. Taking the voice of
foreman, Glyn Pritchard, she captures the despair and bitterness of a man who
has been promised that, if he can only keep the coal moving, his pit – and his
job – might be spared the chop. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am incredibly proud of my association with both of these
books. It’s a happy coincidence, and
utterly fitting, that they should see the light of day in the same week. Here’s
hoping they will both find the many readers they deserve.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My <a href="http://triskelebooks.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/review-until-our-blood-is-dry-by-kit.html">review of <i>Until Our Blood Is Dry</i></a> can be found on the
Triskele Book Club.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
You can read a <a href="http://bookmuseuk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/vlad-inhaler-by-lorraine-mace.html">review of <i>Vlad the Inhaler</i></a><i> </i>on the Book Muse
site. </div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-70311773395354417872014-03-17T01:37:00.001-07:002014-03-17T01:37:21.415-07:00The Writing Process Blog TourLike most writers, I am fascinated by the writing processes of other authors. I have always loved books like <i>Les Deux Solicitudes</i> (based on letters exchanged between Canadian writers Margaret Atwood and Victor Levy-Beaulieu). And more recently I was inspired by the YouTube video of Orna Ross interviewing Roz Morris, Jessica Bell and Kevin Booth on their creative processes. (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsoHgGC8qew">How To Write A Book: Seven Stages of The Creative Process</a>.)<br />
<br />
I was therefore delighted when Lorna Fergusson from (<a href="http://literascribe.blogspot.co.uk/">http://literascribe.blogspot.co.uk</a> and <a href="http://www.fictionfire.co.uk/">www.fictionfire.co.uk</a> invited me to take part in a blog tour exploring our writing processes. If you would like to read her take on the subject, you can find it <a href="http://literascribe.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/the-writing-process-blog-tour.html">here</a>.<br />
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMNydK3yM-c4_uaNT0UGVmfG3veq6kz8HiOba5rJrkciEirOUABqO8GA_kX9FL2HJFSvTrZjEX2_cLoocb_FEHkAeMen3Kabxv8hdfyoyV5ZnmHkgXP5jaB5eWjysXAIk9h6p9LmSSiOQR/s1600/Gilly+book+shots-53.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div>
So:<br />
<br />
<b>1) What am I working on now? </b><br />
I am at the very early stages of a new novel. I am pretty sure I know who the main characters are - three or possibly four generations of women with a close bond but who are not blood relatives. I know the world they live in, and I know at least one of their stories. But I haven’t worked out yet how their stories knit together. It all still feels a bit ephemeral and elusive – especially as time to spend working on it keeps getting swamped by the demands of my non-fiction writing.<br />
<br />
<b>2) How does my work differ from others of its genre? </b><br />
I suppose you would call my books literary fiction – which some might say is the box of misshapes that won’t fit any other category! <br />
<br />
My books tend to be issues-led. Both my first two books involved questions of identity, racism and childhood memory. They are also both set in a very particular time and place. The main events of <i>Gift of the Raven</i> take place in Western Canada in the first six months of 1971. <i>Ghost Town</i> is set in Coventry in 1981 – and the exact dates on which it begins and ends are pinpointed by real events!<br />
<br />
I’d like to think, though, that they are also good page-turning stories. <i>Ghost Town</i> includes elements of both a love story and a thriller, while <i>Gift of the Raven</i> is more of a coming of age story. <br />
<br />
<b>3) Why do I write what I do? </b><br />
<br />
It’s a compulsion. I write because a particular story takes me by the throat and won’t let go.<br />
<br />
<b>4) How does my writing process work?</b><br />
<br />
I spent so long editing my last book, I found I had actually lost touch with my own creative processes. One of the things that the ‘Seven Stages’ video reminded me was that I could give myself permission to work in a non-linear way. In these very early stages of creativity you don’t have to ‘begin at the beginning and go on till you get to the end and then stop.’<br />
<br />
Large chunks of <i>Ghost Town </i>were written on the commuter train going in and out of London. My children were small back then, and those 45 mins each morning and evening were pretty much the only times I had when neither work nor family were making demands on me. And I made the most of them!<br />
<br />
I am no longer a commuter, so that’s one element of my old creative process I can’t reproduce. But I can go back to working in longhand on large blocks of unruled paper. I can draw mind-maps and spider diagrams as a way of bottoming out issues with a character or a scene. I can write scene out of order and work out how they fit together later.<br />
<br />
For me, each new book is an entirely new world. No familiar territory to return to, no recurring characters, and no elements of genre to provide sign-posts as to which direction the plot might turn next. So I am on uncharted territory right now, mapping out a route as I go – climbing a few hills, taking bearings, noting landmarks. For those who don’t work this way, it probably sounds like a massively inefficient way to produce a first draft. But for me it is more efficient than being stymied by the tyranny of what comes next.<br />
<br />
The other factor in this early stage is research. I enjoy this WAY too much. I can spend days happily following an some diversion that will never be used in the book. I am very conscious that much of the research that I did for Ghost Town ended up being totally superfluous. On the other hand, it provided a foundation of authenticity for the book that – judging by the comments I get – readers do recognise. So it’s all about finding the right balance.<br />
<br />
The next step is to transcribe my longhand notes onto the computer. This becomes the first stage of editing for me, and when something approaching a coherent first draft appears out of the muddle. I will then work on this, chapter by chapter, refining it, mining it for themes, discarding the pieces that turn out not to be part of the whole picture. <br />
<br />
My editing bible has been a book I discovered years ago – <i>Revision </i>by David Michael Kaplan, who also gave me my favourite writing quote: “Before you can make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, first you need a sow’s ear.” Kaplan takes a triage approach to editing, starting with big structural issues and working his way down to line editing. There is no point, as he says, worrying about the <i>mot juste</i> for a sentence in the middle of Chapter 8 if you are going to end up deleting the whole of Chapter 8 because it does nothing to more your story forward!<br />
<br />
When it’s as good as I can make it, it’s time to let my Triskele colleagues loose on it. <a href="http://www.triskelebooks.co.uk/">Triskele Books</a> is an author collective that was born out of an online critique group. We have been critiquing each others work for over five years now and we trust one another completely. That means we can be tough, while still respecting each author’s own writing style. We each bring different skills to the editing mix too – an ear for the rhythm of a sentence, a nose for poor pacing, an eye for spotting inconsistencies. Between us, there’s not much we miss.<br />
<br />
At this point there must be a cooling off period. This enables me to view others’ comments dispassionately, but also to take cold, hard look at my work for myself. This final stage of editing has to be utterly ruthless. For me, it’s like giving a plant a hard pruning. Even branches that bloomed particularly beautifully, that seemed integral to the whole thing, sometimes have to be cut. <br />
<br />
Then finally it’s time to hand over to our wonderful proofreader, Perry Iles. Not only is he acutely allergic to sloppy adverbs, but if you have, say, had someone drive a car that wasn’t made until five years after your book is set, Perry will spot it. When he is done with it, your manuscript will be very clean indeed.<br />
<br />
And that’s it. A finished book, ready for typesetting and cover design. But right now, that still seems a very long way off indeed.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Next week I have invited three authors with links to <a href="http://www.triskelebooks.co.uk/">Triskele Books</a> to taken part in this blog tour, Gillian Hamer, JD Smith and Barbara Scott Emmett.</i><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMNydK3yM-c4_uaNT0UGVmfG3veq6kz8HiOba5rJrkciEirOUABqO8GA_kX9FL2HJFSvTrZjEX2_cLoocb_FEHkAeMen3Kabxv8hdfyoyV5ZnmHkgXP5jaB5eWjysXAIk9h6p9LmSSiOQR/s1600/Gilly+book+shots-53.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMNydK3yM-c4_uaNT0UGVmfG3veq6kz8HiOba5rJrkciEirOUABqO8GA_kX9FL2HJFSvTrZjEX2_cLoocb_FEHkAeMen3Kabxv8hdfyoyV5ZnmHkgXP5jaB5eWjysXAIk9h6p9LmSSiOQR/s1600/Gilly+book+shots-53.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a>Born in the industrial Midlands, <b>Gillian Hamer</b>'s heart has always yearned for the wilds of North Wales and the pull of the ocean. A company director for over twenty years, she has written obsessively for over a decade, predominantly in the crime genre. She is a columnist for Words with Jam magazine and a founder member of Triskele Books. She splits her time between Birmingham and a remote cottage on Anglesey where she finds her inspiration. You can find out more about her at <a href="http://www.gillianhamer.com/">www.gillianhamer.com</a> or follow her on Twitter @gillyhamer.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5zmDVhfHCMAQKTFQm2nj39aXDesM2gVBxQ_chqMXsUW8nWOIdAYnEkRDxnm72mt4ubywFHCqTWAgQNtHGBALOF49axiI4BDO-Z-L-UL26JS8atDltH4slMhW6qzVGEmbOqDMeLUdx8odK/s1600/JD+Smith+Bio+Pic+A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5zmDVhfHCMAQKTFQm2nj39aXDesM2gVBxQ_chqMXsUW8nWOIdAYnEkRDxnm72mt4ubywFHCqTWAgQNtHGBALOF49axiI4BDO-Z-L-UL26JS8atDltH4slMhW6qzVGEmbOqDMeLUdx8odK/s1600/JD+Smith+Bio+Pic+A.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a><b>JD Smith</b> (Jane) lives and works in the English Lake District. Having worked <a href="http://www.jdsmith-design.com/"> book cover design and typesetting</a>. She is the editor of the writing magazine <a href="http://www.wordswithjam.co.uk/">Words with JAM</a> and the review site <a href="http://www.bookmuse.co.uk/">Bookmuse</a>, the author of <a href="http://authl.it/B00CS5X020"><i>Tristan and Iseult</i></a> and <i>The Rise of Zenobia</i>, the Overlord series, published with the Triskele Books collective. Her blog can be found at <a href="http://www.jdsmith-author.co.uk/">http://www.jdsmith-author.co.uk</a><br />
as a graphic designer since the age of 17, her passion for books and everything literary took over and she now works predominantly on<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQcUkIR3ArMNFzoB6HJNcDRBcBu7FuP5FzCtr9SCUjhH3Dgf8DWIZ0dFtt77stpPx9ng7eWCLElyGXJMZS7FaeppFg6qX5XV9hDMFxyAlpIN4FcRXoLTVkkbuVZX7SLCrBy4_762SHLIt/s1600/BSE2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQcUkIR3ArMNFzoB6HJNcDRBcBu7FuP5FzCtr9SCUjhH3Dgf8DWIZ0dFtt77stpPx9ng7eWCLElyGXJMZS7FaeppFg6qX5XV9hDMFxyAlpIN4FcRXoLTVkkbuVZX7SLCrBy4_762SHLIt/s1600/BSE2013.jpg" height="200" width="171" /></a>After many years travelling the globe, <b>Barbara Scott Emmett </b>has returned to her home town Newcastle, where she writes in a room overlooking the Tyne. Having previously published plays, poetry, short stories and erotica she now concentrates on novel writing. <i>The Land Beyond Goodbye</i> and <i>Don’t Look Down</i> are available as ebooks. Her latest novel <i>Delirium: The Rimbaud Delusion</i> will be published in 2014 with the assistance of Triskele Books. Her blog can be found at <a href="http://barbarascottemmett.blogspot.co.uk/">http://barbarascottemmett.blogspot.co.uk/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-31257952174828790572014-02-21T11:05:00.000-08:002014-02-21T11:06:21.070-08:00Words and Music<div class="MsoNormal">
From the global reach of <a href="http://www.catrionatroth.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-joy-of-livestream-theatre.html">livestream theatre</a> to two
experiences that were altogether more intimate:</div>
<h2>
WORDS:</h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Hope Theatre in Islington is a tiny space above the Hope
and Anchor pub. In the evening it puts
on short runs of new and experimental plays. But Thursday afternoons are
reserved for ‘rehearsed readings’ of plays by new writers – tryouts for new
works that may go on to be produced elsewhere, fully acted out but with the actors
still working from scripts.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was there to see a two-act play called <i>Voltemand and Cornelius are Joyfully Returned</i>.
Like <i>Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern Are Dead</i>, the title refers to two minor characters from
Hamlet, and like <i>Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern</i>, the play revolves around two hapless characters lost in a
world that appears to baffle them. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Actor Paul Vates, the author of the play, has recreated some
of the rapid fire dialogue, the verbal misunderstandings, the stupidity masking
as madness (or madness masking as stupidity), of Stoppard’s original. But this
time, the world in which the characters are lost is not Hamlet’s, but the
German trenches in the midst of the First World War. And the question around which the play
revolves is whether Voltemand and Cornelius are really mad or whether they are faking
it to escape the lunacy of the trenches.
As for Yossarian in <i>Catch 22</i>, proof
of insanity is tantalisingly elusive. As one character says: “Every so often I
have a burst of lucidity and [the doctor] tears the papers up again.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was a clever move for Vates to set this in the German
trenches rather than the British. It helps
to shake the audience out of the ‘seen it all’ before mindset. This is not <i>Blackadder </i>or<i> Oh What a Lovely War</i>, but new territory.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The three young actors playing the lead roles were highly
impressive. They managed to convey a
depth of emotion even while juggling with the yellow pages of the scripts. In
fact, I quickly forgot the scripts were there at all (even when one of them was
thrust temporarily into my lap and then as abruptly snatched away). If
anything, the emotion was intensified by being in such a small space, with the
audience literally on top of the action.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’d love to see the play given a wider audience. With the
various commemorations of the First World War that will take place over the
next four years, the time is ripe for it to be picked up and given a full
production.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2>
& MUSIC</h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One week later, I was in Ray’s Jazz Cafe at Foyles Bookshop
in London to hear the music of <i><a href="http://newanderthal.wordpress.com/">Newanderthal</a></i>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The name derives, as frontman Ansuman Biswas explains, from
the fact that Neanderthals discovered language and fire, while our ancestors – homo sapiens, ‘the clever ones’ – invented
weapons. ‘I like to think the Neanderthals
sat round the campfire, sharing songs. Hence we are the <i>New</i>anderthals.’</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They describe their music as as ‘a potent blend of esraj-accompanied
Ethiopian and Bengali song forms, with mbira patterns derived from Steve Reich
and jazz-infused bass riffs.’</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The esraj is an Indian stringed instrument a bit like a
mandolin which is held upright on the knees and played with a bow. The extraordinary-looking
array mbira, played by Tom Green, is a modern adaptation of the African thumb
piano. In place of a long row of piano
keys, it has parallel rows of metal tines that when pressed and released
produce a sound like a harp, but more precussive. Then there is something that
looks like a kettle barbecue but which, in the hands of Biswas, makes a sound
between a marimba and a steel band, while Mal Darwen provides rhythm with an
acoustic guitar and an electric double bass.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And through this blend of sounds, like a gold thread through
a piece of shot silk, weaves the voice of Ethiopian singer, Haymanot Tesfa. Her
range is extraordinary – at times deep and powerful, underpinning the rest of
the music, and at times dancing across the top of it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cafe gigs are notoriously difficult. Often you have to
compete, not just with the espresso machines, but with an audience that,
instead of falling quiet, talks louder in order to hear themselves over the
music. Not this time. Tesfa’s voice wraps itself around table after table,
drawing them into her spell. People close their eyes, the better to listen and
pick out the different strands of the music.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I thought perhaps the group was creating arrangements of
traditional Ethiopian folk songs. But as
Tom Green explains afterwards, the process is somewhat more organic than that. Using patterns from Indian and Ethiopian music, the three instrumentalists
improvise a sound that blends their different instruments, while Tesfa finds
words and melody to harmonise. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The result is unlike anything you are likely to have heard
before. You can get a flavour of it from this extract on Soundcloud: <a href="https://soundcloud.com/haymanot">https://soundcloud.com/haymanot</a>. But if you get the chance to hear them
perform live, then grab the opportunity. You won’t regret it!</div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-35264856062369373992014-01-31T07:22:00.000-08:002014-01-31T07:22:02.608-08:00The Joy of Live(stream) TheatreI love live
theatre. I grew up going every summer to the Shakespeare Festival at Stratford,
Ontario and there are still certain things just the memory of which will send a
shiver down my spine. The sound of
the gong that would mark the start of the play on that curtainless apron
stage. The rustle of a costume as
an actor made their entrance down an aisle (oh, how I’d clamour to my parents
to make sure that we got one of those precious aisle seats!) Maggie Smith
holding the audience in the palm of her hand as Cleopatra...<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Recently,
however, there is no denying I have become a major fan of live streaming – the
technology that allows a theatre performance to be broadcast live to cinemas
around the country, or even around the world, giving you front row seats at a
fraction of the current cost of tickets to the theatre.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
In the last
couple of months, I have been to two such live-streams: David Tennant’s Richard II at the RSC,
directed by Greg Doran, and Tom Hiddleston’s Coriolanus at the Donmar
Warehouse, directed by Josie Rourke. Both these performances were sold out
almost as soon as tickets went on sale, so my chances of seeing either of them
in the theatres was virtually nil.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Richard II</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
If you have
never been to a live-stream, you might imagine that what you see is just the
view from a fixed-point camera, perhaps from the middle of the dress
circle. But it’s far more
sophisticated than that. Somehow,
without interfering with the live performance, they position cameras at
multiple angles, and take you, at times, right in close to the actors’ faces, so that you catch
details of the performance you wouldn’t see unless you had front row seats –
and perhaps no even then.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Both Richard
II and Coriolanus suffer from the fact that their central characters are not particularly
easy to like. Tennant’s Richard II reeled in the audience’s sympathies over the
course of the play, moving from an effete arrogance born of his certainty in
his divine right to rule, to a resigned humility as he accepts his fate.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
One of the
pleasures of a live-stream is that you are often treated to little interviews
with the cast and crew before the performance and in the interval. In this
case, before the play began, we heard an interview with the director, Gregory
Doran, who described Tennant as
“constitutionally incapable of not making a line sound like modern
English,” – gift that allows him to draw out some of the bitter humour Richard finds
in his own downfall.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Richard II
also marks the first return to the stage of Jean Lapotaire since the brain
haemorrhage she suffered in 2000, in the small but significant role as the
widow to the murdered Gloucester.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We also
heard the designer, Stephen Brimson Lewis, talk about going back to an old
technology to create a very modern-seeming effect. Curtains made of strings of fine glass beads (‘a bit like
the chain on your sink plug’) were hung in graduated layers through the depth
of the stage. Onto this were projected images – like the nave of the cathedral
in the opening scene – creating an illusion of depth. And because the curtains were semi-transparent, actors could
move behind and between them, accentuating the effect.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> </div>
<h3>
Coriolanus</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
In contrast
to the grandeur of the Richard II set, the live-stream of Coriolanus came from
the tiny Donmar Warehouse - a
converted banana ripening shed in London’s Covent Garden. The stage is a simple
square, surrounded on three sides by banks of seats, and this stark simplicity
was used to conjure the idea of a Roman arena. The only set dressing was graffiti projected onto the back
wall and the only props a ladder and a few chairs.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Tom
Hiddleston is young and athletic, and he brings a different dynamic to the play
than the older actors who are typically cast. (As Emma Freud asked in her
interview of the director, Josie Rourke, during the interval, “MTV named Tom
Hiddleston as the sexiest man on the planet – so why exactly did you cast him as Coriolanus…?”) And they are not averse to making the
most of that athleticism – sending
him scrambling up ladders at the
siege of Corioles where he earns his name and afterwards having him stand,
half-naked, as he showers blood from his body.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Deborah
Findlay is impressive as Volumnia – surely one of the strongest female roles in
any of Shakespeare’s tragedies. But the revelation of this production, for me,
was Mark Gatiss as Menenius. I love his Mycroft, but I have been in two minds
about some of the other things I have seen him in. but here he displayed the same gift as Tennant – making
every word seem perfectly understandable and creating a character the audience
could relate to as if this were contemporary drama.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The other
piece of surprise casting was Birgitte Hjort Sørensen (Borgen’s Katrine
Fønsmark) as Coriolanus’s wife Virgilia. It is a part with very few speaking
lines and you might think she was wasted on it (especially as her English
appears flawless and almost unaccented). But one of the things I have noticed
about Scandanavian television actors is that that are often expected to express
a great deal without using any words at all. Because of the
way the play was staged, Virgilia is on view to the audience almost the
whole time, and especially for this live-cast, where the camera often comes in
very close to the actors’ faces, Sørensen has great scope to express all the fear, anger and grief of a
soldier’s wife.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Coriolanus
is the least known of
Shakespeare’s Roman plays. Unlike,
say, Hamlet or Julius Caesar, much of the audience will come to it not knowing
the story – and most of all, not knowing the ending. Josie Rourke and her cast would like to keep it that way, so
I won’t spoil it for you. Sufficeth to say that it made full use of Hiddleston’s
athleticism, and that even filtered through a screen, it was shocking.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<h4>
Simon
Russell Beale’s King Lear<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from the
National Theatre will be live –streamed on 1<sup>st</sup> May. I’m buying my
tickets now.</h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-79991762688623442182013-12-24T07:17:00.001-08:002013-12-24T07:17:38.657-08:00Homelessness - it ain't what it used to be<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I spent Christmas 1979 working in a homeless shelter in
Coventry.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Like Maia in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ghost
Town</i>, I’d spent the summer after a graduated volunteering at the Shelter,
and it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to go back there for
Christmas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Christmas Eve, I went to the midnight service at the ancient
Holy Trinity Church next to the Cathedral. And Christmas morning we borrowed
the kitchen at the local Methodist church to cook turkey and all the trimmings
for around 30 homeless men who had nowhere else to go.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Back then, most of those we catered for probably complied
with your stereotype of a homeless person. They were male. In their thirties or
forties, but looking a lot older. And almost all were alcoholics.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even back then, though, there was much to defy lazy
stereotyping. We did indeed have an ex-soldier, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>like Pongo, who had failed to adjust to civvy
street – who kept himself spotlessly clean and had a passion for mathematical
puzzles and lateral thinking. With a few exceptions, these guys were kind, often
funny, and fiercely protective of the women volunteers. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Move the clock on a few years and the nature of homelessness
was changing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First came the transients,
who hit the road looking for work when the recession hit in the early 80s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then there were those who slipped through the
cracks of ‘care in the community’ – the mentally ill who failed to adjust to
life outside an institution, but who hadn’t Pongo’s resources to cope on their
own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then there were the children –
the runaways and those leaving care at 16 – who in the late eighties had their
right to claim benefits taken away from them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By then I was working in an office on Kingsway in central
London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will never forget the drift of
homeless people that seemed, night by night, to move further north from the
river, starting on the Strand and moving their way up Kingsway until, by dusk,
every doorway would be occupied by a huddled form under a threadbare blanket or
a piece of scavenged cardboard.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To walk south over Waterloo Bridge towards the National
Theatre was even more heartbreaking. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within
spitting distance of the champagne-swilling excesses of the Square Mile, a cardboard
city mushroomed. There hard-core, old-style homeless men slept alongside
children who didn’t look old enough to be allowed out on their own – never mind
to be living on the streets.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Gradually things changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Policies – some well-meant and some ruthless – gradually reduced the
numbers of rough sleepers. And in the boom years of the noughties, the number of
homeless genuinely reduced.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It's on the rise again now, though you might not know
it. There are more rough sleepers to be seen in London than there have been for
a decade or more - but nothing like the numbers I saw in the late eighties. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Homelessness has become a hidden scourge.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Homelessness today is kids like Alesha in Polly Courtney’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Feral Youth</i>, living under the radar and
dodging social services as they sofa-surf from one unsuitable home to another.
It’s mothers with small children living in B&Bs with filthy communal
kitchens and stairways booby trapped with used hypodermics. It’s hostels for
young adults you wouldn’t home a dog in.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is the legacy of three decades of failing to provide
the housing stock that’s needed, runaway rent prices and – now – a government
that is hell-bent on reducing the welfare bill by cutting back on housing
benefit. Whatever side of the fence you sit – the three of those together makes
for a toxic mix. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Back in 1966, Ken Loach made <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cathy Come Home</i> – a film about a young woman forced into
homelessness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It helped to launch the
charity Shelter and brought about a change in the law that <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>gave a duty to local councils to house vulnerable
women and children.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We need another <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cathy
Come Home</i> . We need to change the narrative from ‘workless scroungers claiming
thousands in housing benefit’ to something that reveals the true picture of
homelessness in the 21<sup>st</sup> Century. And we need to do it before it’s
too late for kids like Alesha.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Christmas seems like a good time to start.</div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-53410221363617279992013-12-06T01:15:00.000-08:002013-12-06T01:15:32.979-08:00The Power of Reconciliation: RIP Nelson Mandela<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I was a very small child, my father wrote a book which
contained a short chapter on Apartheid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Both the book and my father were immediately banned in South Africa –
which didn’t seem to have much effect on us, as we didn’t live in South Africa
and had no immediate plans to travel there.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But it meant that my father became a minor focus for
anti-Apartheid activists escaping from South Africa, and for other South
Africans who came to view their country in a different light once they
travelled outside its borders. As a result, I grew up hearing extraordinary
stories of courage in opposition, of last minute escapes and daring subterfuge.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I arrived at University, one of the first conversations
I had was about the rights and wrongs of boycotting South African goods. And
when I started work, I would walk every day through Trafalgar Square, past the
South African embassy and see the handful of people holding their perpetual
vigil outside its doors.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I remember almost weeping when, in April 1994, that handful
of people swelled to queue that wrapped itself round the building, as ex-pat
South Africans queued to vote in the first free elections in the country’s history.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last year, I was privileged to attend the opening, on
Mandela Day, of the Shakespeare: Staging the World exhibition at the British
Museum, attended by Sonny Venkatrathnam who was a prisoner with Nelson Mandela on
Robben Island for twelve years</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The exhibition included the’ Robben Island Bible,’ Venkatrathnam’s
copy of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Complete Works of Shakespeare</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only other books allowed on Robben Island
were religious texts, and in order to persuade the guards to let him lend it to
other prisoners, Venkatrathnam pasted Divali cards over the cover and convinced
them it was a ‘Hindu Bible’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book
was passed among the prisoners and 32 of them annotated the text, marking
passages that had particular meaning for them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The book lay open at the passage from marked <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Julius Caesar</i> by Nelson Mandela:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
“Cowards die many times before
their deaths, <br />
The valiant never taste of death but once.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When Nelson Mandela walked free from Robben Island in 1990,
his image in the world changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
almost thirty years, no photographs of him had been permitted. The images of
him we had all seen – on banners, on t-shirts, at every anti-Apartheid rally –
were of a young man, an amateur boxer. In an instant, as he walked through
those gates, that image changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was
older, much thinner, his hair beginning to grey.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But when he spoke, his image changed in a much more profound
way – from a Freedom Fighter to a man who was able to forgive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A man who could feel nothing but compassion
for his oppressors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A man who could hold
his nation together through the power of reconciliation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Today, the Rainbow Nation has lost its father. May they, and
all of us, continue to walk is his light.</div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-26126378573145924072013-12-02T03:53:00.000-08:002013-12-02T03:53:53.672-08:00Triskele's Black Friday ... and Saturday ... and Sunday ...Black Friday may have come and gone, but <a href="http://www.triskelebooks.co.uk/">TRISKELE BOOKS</a> have one more treat in store for book lovers. For just three days next weekend, from <b>6th-8th December:</b><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<b>ALL TRISKELE eBOOKS ACROSS ALL PLATFORMS </b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<b>IN US, UK, EUROPE & AUSTRALIA</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<b>WILL BE AT 0.99 </b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">We have CRIME FICTION:</span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>Gillian Hamer's</b> historical crime thrillers set along the wild Welsh coast, laced with an otherworldly flavour.</i></div>
</div>
<div>
<i></i><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="149px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/wMT1IfDMkRI73T4jPWN4EV1EPgjXZx74JwDmB-NFBzQoBehUHX7YRRFsh32lBMXbDFJJsXBQBoSYeC9vMPTJYfedWq_m-P-9vAamQIKn1cbD4iNWZ1Dpfa56XA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="99px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://authl.it/B00CWHHK9S" id="docs-internal-guid-48ee2db1-a393-b630-c29e-bc8d7c9bfa54" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://authl.it/B00CWHHK9S</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i></i></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="150px;" id="docs-internal-guid-5c8ba4d6-a355-cf4e-2715-fcbf591c7481" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/hE3QjTHize911oZwfJ2PhmX-k0HxWTXaOHW6xdgCEP5JeTptpi10l4V5Aq6nYrKfsCELUM_rhp7-O--veZPD1wUio0o3FYjm84IKMIv_qF99KOo_Ck546ZyU2A" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="94px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://authl.it/B0080JOA7W" id="docs-internal-guid-48ee2db1-a392-1a17-2f4d-7c63e64c6766" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://authl.it/B0080JOA7W</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/V4pb3a_JcWDI6mBGaDreeX4rF7AnOjcClW4SA1omagGgx1KehJqY4GVkEml8ivbUC_FFoMQhqMF29n0ArNexnQZkLI92-n8OeIXtPTHLMd42dUWWd11HJoD8gw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/V4pb3a_JcWDI6mBGaDreeX4rF7AnOjcClW4SA1omagGgx1KehJqY4GVkEml8ivbUC_FFoMQhqMF29n0ArNexnQZkLI92-n8OeIXtPTHLMd42dUWWd11HJoD8gw" width="97px;" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://authl.it/B00A6DL1RW" id="docs-internal-guid-48ee2db1-a393-ea34-fe08-31471605cef1" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://authl.it/B00A6DL1RW</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Or</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><b>JJ Marsh's</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">fast-paced international crime series, with the incomparable Inspector Beatrice Stubbs. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="150px;" id="docs-internal-guid-5c8ba4d6-a356-5cdd-6a79-be4b5a307b83" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/pKXPoBOO-drAeKjV-DtE4sLc_-ozGglaxdO-Taemocy8jByDxtEyQqEL7N6io5lsrQ9NbvRL_pKVzPESEC8OifGbFtDCMTZlDWomUU9PXollsjmcGT0QfVbI-g" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="100px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://authl.it/B007V512A4" id="docs-internal-guid-48ee2db1-a35f-4804-2772-5d66b63ca936" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://authl.it/B007V512A4</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="150px;" id="docs-internal-guid-5c8ba4d6-a356-2a96-ed0e-54c1adee8249" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/1e6pbUdo3i4bt6RMXuf3XGAkIQS2rByJVOgyt3DybkGQT3OrTi747rzHMeztoEAolyRUT_NNzzabu_3rcFPpqOW9yBqWQjjPpH8mqU7cF9-XUJfjh55c_9aT2w" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="100px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://authl.it/B00CUP0QPM" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://authl.it/B00CUP0QPM</span></a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="150px;" id="docs-internal-guid-5c8ba4d6-a356-450e-4194-b6209c5e2091" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/COtTCXYuze5vnSg1Ba92AfiK51LXElRQOljAwHI7Acte6TLDz3WNXIVQCrI6UOMY53oKAdnonDnQQ6--ybrR7oPN5x3LmNg4ClT_qr53k7LUN51hfk9oyXcimw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="100px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://authl.it/B00A5TYZS4" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://authl.it/B00A5TYZS4</span></a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">HISTORICAL FICTION:</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<i>The first two volumes in <b>Liza Perrat's </b></i>Auberge des Anges Perdues<i> series, set during the French Revolution and in Nazi</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><i>-occupied France... </i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><i>Or <b>JD Smith's</b> beautiful retelling of an ancient Cornish legend... </i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-48ee2db1-a361-06b1-f73e-f9246fe7cf1e" style="line-height: 1.3125; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-48ee2db1-a361-06b1-f73e-f9246fe7cf1e" style="line-height: 1.3125; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-48ee2db1-a361-06b1-f73e-f9246fe7cf1e" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; line-height: 1.3125; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5mVzReNQ0mbbhAzMln482y4VREBC1GxNHKRUx__DB4zdQiTvY1_CU0HGmVeHzShf4uAHNjGdStSMHWjHcWU1PzWBSNrNWDz261BooX8iOARJe_2J_Ci5NIQSx4vS_2cVfMifo9nmbQs/s1600/Copy+of+Tristan+and+Iseult+Cover+MEDIUM.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5mVzReNQ0mbbhAzMln482y4VREBC1GxNHKRUx__DB4zdQiTvY1_CU0HGmVeHzShf4uAHNjGdStSMHWjHcWU1PzWBSNrNWDz261BooX8iOARJe_2J_Ci5NIQSx4vS_2cVfMifo9nmbQs/s200/Copy+of+Tristan+and+Iseult+Cover+MEDIUM.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://authl.it/B00CS5X020" id="docs-internal-guid-48ee2db1-a393-4774-2881-c8feb95f4e6a" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://authl.it/B00CS5X020</span></a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; line-height: 1.3125; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBDfWGzQ3DJxK5sIEyDLOUxbg1oKfgILybJ9jt_-Pbk-wpxVlUerErRX6jFLeiLRFVDCXzXKWlsNG4ZEfBeCuDLYL56wYBK8vZ7tQLX1da3BklHFL_sCOWFs0_GXY0Z9mQXkM3c_JotQw/s1600/SpiritOfLostAngels_Cover_KINDLE.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBDfWGzQ3DJxK5sIEyDLOUxbg1oKfgILybJ9jt_-Pbk-wpxVlUerErRX6jFLeiLRFVDCXzXKWlsNG4ZEfBeCuDLYL56wYBK8vZ7tQLX1da3BklHFL_sCOWFs0_GXY0Z9mQXkM3c_JotQw/s200/SpiritOfLostAngels_Cover_KINDLE.jpg" width="125" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://authl.it/sh" id="docs-internal-guid-48ee2db1-a36c-38b1-96a0-36c19c82c2f2" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://authl.it/sh</span></a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="line-height: 1.3125; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/uU8eAqBkcGck5VNvolClfkJToYyxvps_5al3E5bHXFgeoI22J1dmB4y13wbLiuF_K3cds2pGgBEYHZRaIXEcl6p4DG-4xa-OI-G2EoYYdy9ZrsipMpgeoPQIqA" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/uU8eAqBkcGck5VNvolClfkJToYyxvps_5al3E5bHXFgeoI22J1dmB4y13wbLiuF_K3cds2pGgBEYHZRaIXEcl6p4DG-4xa-OI-G2EoYYdy9ZrsipMpgeoPQIqA" width="125" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://authl.it/sg" id="docs-internal-guid-48ee2db1-a36d-cf79-8d64-a2d3a2d822f0" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://authl.it/sg</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 1.3125; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<i></i><br />
<i></i></div>
<h4 style="line-height: 1.3125;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;">and of course my own CONTEMPORARY FICTION from Canada and Coventry:</span></h4>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-right: 1em; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0bEJ489Kgab757zrwoPqDmn32pI0YoR7UU_ikuagHWxWsKC4jyAjyMO4U69Hu127Gswz_i4INzNVxVwm9p9lS29zlGJFNdsPXbjXDUyqGkExzpPXlbqEnHAmKge8Y8h-ZDkMZMvgYDjE/s1600/Copy+of+Gift+of+the+Raven+Cover+MEDIUM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0bEJ489Kgab757zrwoPqDmn32pI0YoR7UU_ikuagHWxWsKC4jyAjyMO4U69Hu127Gswz_i4INzNVxVwm9p9lS29zlGJFNdsPXbjXDUyqGkExzpPXlbqEnHAmKge8Y8h-ZDkMZMvgYDjE/s320/Copy+of+Gift+of+the+Raven+Cover+MEDIUM.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://authl.it/B00CWD6HDM" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3b5998; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://authl.it/B00CWD6HDM</span></a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4bF-QbFEyfyxl8s9zuZ69XSGCo8j4mazrNRcrgESUfyPoOcFizq-dFkoqcJinqmdv-tPOuyUgnCRe9_GCSoJySYvOvhcTylrl_Uju75Rs2Q2Y5SNmX1YSpkUzVQqzkOaHZz6X2_LFLCg/s1600/Ghost+Town+Cover_MEDIUM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4bF-QbFEyfyxl8s9zuZ69XSGCo8j4mazrNRcrgESUfyPoOcFizq-dFkoqcJinqmdv-tPOuyUgnCRe9_GCSoJySYvOvhcTylrl_Uju75Rs2Q2Y5SNmX1YSpkUzVQqzkOaHZz6X2_LFLCg/s1600/Ghost+Town+Cover_MEDIUM.jpg" style="cursor: move;" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: 21px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3b5998; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://authl.it/B00G6K9DQU" style="text-decoration: none;">http://authl.it/B00G6K9DQU</a></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So if you have yet to sample one of the Triskele authors - or if you want to complete a collection you have already begin - now is the time to do it. Just click on the links below each cover image to find the sales point for your region.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>All Triskele eBooks across all platforms at the special Christmas price of 99cents/pence. </b></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<b>December 6th-8th 2013</b></div>
</span><span style="color: red;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<b>DON'T MISS OUT!</b></div>
</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="color: red;"><b></b></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><b></b></span></div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-17329759767562594972013-11-11T09:03:00.000-08:002017-02-01T05:54:49.458-08:00Jatinder Verma - Founder of Tara Arts<div class="MsoNormal">
On 4<sup>th</sup> July, 1976, five years before the murder
of Satnam Singh Gill in Coventry, another student by the name of Gurdeep Singh
Chagger was murdered in Southall. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just as it would in Coventry, the murder galvanised Asian
youths into a response quite different from the non-confrontational approach of
their parents. Starting with four days of spontaneous street possession in
Southall, the reaction spread out across the country, spawning the Asian Youth
Movement. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With slogans such as ‘Come what may, we are here to stay’
and ‘Here to stay, here to fight,’ the AYM was radical, secular and prepared to
take the fight to the opposition. Many of those currently involved in fighting
for civil rights - such as Suresh Grover from Liberty - cut their teeth with
the AYM.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Chaggar’s murder also galvanised a young <b>Jatinder Verma</b>. Verma had arrived in the UK from Kenya as a
teenager in 1968 – the year of Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood speech. As he told the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2008/jan/10/theatre1"><i>Guardian</i></a> in 2008, “<i>I saw my mother
struggling with four children in a strange land, wading through torrents of
abuse, repeatedly refused rented accommodation because of the smell of her
cooking, disparaged and devalued by shopkeepers and landlords, stripped of her
sari and her dignity on the factory floor.</i>”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Convinced of the need <span class="apple-style-span">to forge life out of Chaggar’s tragic death, in 1977,
Verma </span>set up <a href="http://tara-arts.com/about-us">Tara Arts</a>,
Britain’s first Asian Theatre Group in Britain.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here he talks to me about humour,
self-censorship, and why he still sees colour as the central issue in
inter-cultural exchange.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Jatinder, could you
start by telling me a bit more about why you set up Tara Arts?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiakhE-zM0px4pecLjH3esxMZTTRnYW-rG__ULxEs_WYT-hoOfwjKWLpRErEwEgL5pFlvjpliimkW2FL93Q45GRX7Mtm7tx0RLemV8SmkQnXYcZINV2GlE82Jpt9_ySj2U1r51hxb3jeM_L/s1600/Black+Album.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiakhE-zM0px4pecLjH3esxMZTTRnYW-rG__ULxEs_WYT-hoOfwjKWLpRErEwEgL5pFlvjpliimkW2FL93Q45GRX7Mtm7tx0RLemV8SmkQnXYcZINV2GlE82Jpt9_ySj2U1r51hxb3jeM_L/s320/Black+Album.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black Album<br />
NT-Tara co-production-2009 <br />
Alex Andreaou as Riyaz;<br />
Photo Credit Talulah Sheppard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Until Chaggar’s murder in 1976, Asian youth had been largely
invisible. Asians were perceived as a law-abiding
community, and Asian youth were ‘not a problem.’ But here they were saying, “These streets
belong to us too.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is another less well known line from Powell’s ‘Rivers
of Blood’ speech:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"It is by Black Power that the headlines are caught,
and under the shape of the Negro that the consequences for Britain of
immigration and what is miscalled 'race' are popularly depicted.<i> Yet
it is more truly when he looks into the eyes of Asia that the Englishman comes
face to face with those who will dispute with him the possession of his native
land.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We needed a space in which to
debate these issues and the feelings they aroused.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I strongly believe the way to
break through cultural barriers and break down prejudice is through empathy.
Through challenging the imagination. Arts in their various guises have always
suggested the nature of society. <span class="apple-style-span">They contest
myths. (To paraphrase Shelley) artists are the unacknowledged legislators of
tomorrow.</span><span class="apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-style-span"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This isn’t just about new writing.
It’s also about how you reinterpret the classics. Look at Othello. At least today he is usually played by a
black actor, which is a step forward from Lawrence Olivier blacking up! But
Othello is not black. He is a Moor. An Arab.
A non-Christian. That’s been
addressed academically but never yet on stage. I know that sooner or later that
is something I am going to have to do.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>You have said that
the dialogue between ETHNICITY AND NATIONHOOD is central to Tara’s work. Can you tell us a bit more about what you
mean by that that?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Britain is an
island, with all the faults and riches of an island nation. We don’t like people coming in. We still haven’t forgiven the French for the Norman
Conquest.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-style-span">It is
only really since the Second World War that coloured immigration has impinged
on the British consciousness. So
coloured immigrants have been caught up in the midst of huge challenges for
Britain in determining its identity in a post colonial world – such as, do we
align ourselves with a European axis or an American axis? Does the kingdom stay
united, or break up into nation states?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-style-span"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I remember taking
one of our plays to Dewsbury. When we
got there, we found ourselves surrounded by Victorian non-conformist buildings. Yet the inhabitants of those streets were
dressed as if they were still living in NW Pakistan. That is a challenge to a
nation whose self-image is still white. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As Ivan says in <span class="addmd">Dostoyevsky’s </span><i>The
Brothers Karamazov</i>:<i> “</i>One can love
one’s neighbours in the abstract, or even at a distance, but at close quarters,
it’s almost impossible.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I have always suspected that both xenophobia and elitism
run much deeper in the British character than racism itself. But you clearly believe colour is the central
issue.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I agree that Britain
likes to imagine that it is a meritocracy.
It isn’t. One of the reasons that the British Raj felt so at home in
India was that, in its caste system, they saw themselves in the mirror. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And yes, today a lot
of the ill feeling is directed against Islam as a faith, but how do you
recognise a Muslim? I have walked down
the street outside this theatre and been called ‘Osama’.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In all the
literature around race, there is no real investigation of the visceral impact
of colour. There has been a failure to
engage with questions that we find difficult to examine. Our framework for discussion, such as it is,
has been borrowed from the US.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>A couple of years
ago, you adapted Hanif Kureishi’s <i>The
Black Album</i> for the stage. </b>[<i>The Black Album is about a search for
identity amidst the clash between fundamentalism and liberalism. Written in the
wake of the Rushdie affair, Verma staged the play twenty years later, in the
shadow of 9/11.</i>] <b>You said then that
one of the things that you wanted to achieve was to make a comedy out of
racism. How successful do you think you were?</b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What Kureishi is able to do so brilliantly is see fascism
for what it is, irrespective of race or faith.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But in terms of comedy?
No, not all that successful, if I am honest. I still have in mind to do a cabaret on race
– to make use of all those 19<sup>th</sup> Century writers whose work is
infused with racism. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We are just beginning to see comedy that is
self-referential, prepared to lampoon oneself.
But there is still a nervousness about making fun from without.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I know you’ve said
that, in the wake of the Rushdie affair, we began self- censoring over words
like </b><b>Muslim’, ‘Islam’, and ‘’Race’. Can expand on that?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgDCw4UneVPLZztSvxC9UBp2oovA2ASDRQNDXjaDFBJMdhHdc7tTy_ks0nCA1KY9amPACTp_1HN9CaZbOXhmagkc9WOe6W2nrnXwzR74EBbwZ-Yc79ONKUkcibKjGRktfBSPXpuv6a0Hhi/s1600/2013-DomesticCrusaders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgDCw4UneVPLZztSvxC9UBp2oovA2ASDRQNDXjaDFBJMdhHdc7tTy_ks0nCA1KY9amPACTp_1HN9CaZbOXhmagkc9WOe6W2nrnXwzR74EBbwZ-Yc79ONKUkcibKjGRktfBSPXpuv6a0Hhi/s320/2013-DomesticCrusaders.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Domestic Crusaders, 2013 <br />
(Taqi Nawaz as Sal and Kieran Vyas as Ghafur <br />Photo credit George Torode<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have come to realise that there can be times when a small
amount of self-censorship can be the right thing to do. Take the play we
currently have on: <i>Domestic Crusaders</i>
by <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #444444;">Wajahat Ali</span></span>. Three generations of a Muslim family come
together in the wake of 9/11to celebrate the 21<sup>st</sup> birthday of the
youngest son.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The oldest son is pursuing the American Dream. He comes home to find his younger brother
wearing a beard and looking as if he is on the road to radicalisation. The play
had a line where he says to his brother (referring to the beard), “And what’s
this filth on your face?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now the beard represents the beard of the Prophet. To call it filth would be extremely
challenging. In the end we decided to have the actor simply swallow the
word. (“And what’s this ... on your
face?”) And we did that for two reasons.
First, if anyone did decide to take offence, it was the actor, not me or
the writer, who would be in the line of fire, who might get beaten up. And
secondly, it would get in the way of the story.
The story is about young Asians seeking to carve a space for themselves in the
American landscape while remaining connected to their own cultures. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But censoring ourselves over what
issues we are prepared to discuss? That
can never be right.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are very few British Asian
playwrights. And none of our major playwrights have tackled these issues. Our
major theatres are all looking for ‘the Muslim play.’ At the same time, they
won’t touch Muslim plays. But not to do so is a failure to reflect the country
as it is.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-style-span">I know there are playwrights who won't write about the
Asian experience because they 'don't know the culture'. What do you mean, you
don't know the culture? What about Shakespeare, your literary 'god'? 'If you
prick us, do we not bleed?'</span><span class="apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-style-span"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-style-span">What matters is that someone has been seized by an idea and
has sweated for it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Thank you, Jatinder.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-14842015884140099162013-10-29T12:04:00.000-07:002013-10-29T12:04:36.502-07:00Concrete Jungle<br />
<i><b>Sukhbender Singh </b>is the author of </i>Concrete Jungle<i>, a radio play performed on the BBC Asian Network which shares its backdrop with Bob Eaton’s </i>Three Minute Heroes<i> and my novel, </i>Ghost Town<i>.<br /><br />"As the storm of racial tension in Coventry rises, two young Asians, Harri and Rudy, each have to make a choice about what's most important to them - music, girls, or standing up to be counted."<br /><br />Here he talks to me about growing up in Coventry in the 1980s, and the trials and tribulations of getting </i>Concrete Jungle <i>produced.</i><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sukhbender, what are your
memories of Coventry from the early 80s? Did you take part in the protest
marches that followed the murder of the young student, Satnam Singh Gill? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was born in India and came to Coventry when I was two. In
1981, I was fourteen - too young to be directly involved. My mum would never
have let us!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I do remember is that
going into Coventry City Centre could be a bit of a tortuous trail. We used make
sure we went shopping early because the skinheads didn’t come out until later.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most of those involved in the protests were around five
years older. Nineteen, twenty. It was one of the first times that young Asians
took a stand against racism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the
older generation, it was all about keeping your head down, not being noticed.
But now there was a new generation who felt British. I know some of the older
ones got involved in vigilante patrols, protecting their communities.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">How did you come to
write <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Concrete Jungle</i>?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Concrete Jungle</i>
was one of the first things I wrote. A classic example of ‘write what you
know’. It started off as film script. I first tried peddling it around in 1993,
and then again around 2000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first
time they all wanted it to be more like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My
Beautiful Launderette</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second
time round it was, “can’t you make it more like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bend It Like Beckham?”</i> The only thing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Concrete Jungle</i> has in common with either of those is that it’s
about Asians! After a while, I decided there was no point. I had to move on.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I started working on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Silver
Street</i>, which was a radio soap opera for the BBC Asian Network.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When that was canned, the BBC decided to put
some one-off dramas on the Asian Network, so I pitched <i>Concrete Jungle</i> to them.
I cut the film script down to 50 minutes, hoping that they might do a longer
piece, or maybe a two-parter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in the
end I had to squeeze it all down to 25 minutes, which didn’t give much scope.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2011 was an interesting time for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Concrete Jungle</i> to come out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not only was it the 30<sup>th</sup> anniversary, but we were in a
recession again, there was another Royal Wedding ... I was working with the
producer, James Pereis, who was brilliant and fully understood the script and
the times. But the BBC controllers didn’t know the history. They were concerned
about the riot scene and they didn’t like my using the word Paki.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can you tell the story of that time
without using that word?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They wanted to
sanitise it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The play used comedy to highlight the tensions of growing up
Asian, which wasn’t all about racism. It was about not having a job, unrequited
love, all that stuff. It wasn’t overtly political, but there were political
undertones.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The playlist for
Concrete Jungle includes tracks from Two Tone Bands like The Specials, The
Selecter and The Beat. Yet Horace Panter has said that not that many young
Asians would go to The Specials’ concerts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How do you think Coventry’s Asian youth viewed Two Tone and Ska? Did it
speak to them, or did they feel excluded? Were you a fan yourself?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A few Asian kids were into things like The Jam and The Clash.
But most of them were listening to Bhangra or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Filmi</i> (Bollywood music). My brother loved Two Tone, though and so I
got into it. No one else captured the zeitgeist quite like they did.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When The Specials announced their Concert for Racial Harmony,
we were very excited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we couldn’t
afford the tickets. And we were all scared things would kick off again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everybody thought the National Front would
use it as an excuse to make more trouble, though in the event, that didn’t
happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">This is potentially a
huge question – but how do you think things have changed for young British
Asians in the past thirty years? Is Coventry in particular a better place to be
growing up than it was thirty years ago – or a worse?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s hard for me to say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As an adult, your cognitive map of the city changes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the vibe is not the same as it was during
the 80s recession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There aren’t the same
tensions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It feels like a calmer place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I understand it’s now one of the safest
cities in England. There was a small demonstration by the English Defence
League a while back, but hardly anyone turned up.<br />
<br />
<b>Thank you, Sukhbender. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Coming soon: Jatinder Verma, Artistic Director of Tara Arts, the first Asian Theatre Group in Britain (founded in 1977).</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="mso-element: comment-list;">
<div style="mso-element: comment;">
<div class="msocomtxt" id="_com_1" language="JavaScript">
<!--[if !supportAnnotations]--></div>
<!--[endif]--></div>
</div>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045307949683627851.post-5976316970105987282013-10-23T04:33:00.000-07:002013-10-23T10:57:56.915-07:00Three Minute Heroes<br />
<h4>
<i>Bob Eaton was Artistic Director of the Belgrade Theatre,
Coventry from 1996 to 2003.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During that
time, he wrote and produced </i>Three Minute
Heroes<i>, a “jukebox musical” about a young Ska band in Coventry, set against
a background of the same events that inspired Ghost Town.</i></h4>
<h4>
<i><br />Here he talks to me about why it was so important to him to
put on a play about the Two Tone era, how he approached writing it and what
Coventry is like today.</i></h4>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">First can you tell us
a bit about your background.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you
Coventry born and bred?</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No. In fact, I was Manchester and Liverpool during the
Two-Tone era. So, really, my experience of Two Tone was much the same as the
rest of the country - seeing the Specials and The Selecter on Top Of The Pops.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">So how did you come
to write <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Three Minute Heroes</i> ?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I started work under Peter Cheeseman at the Victoria Theatre
in Stoke on Trent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He pioneered the idea
of developing work for the stage that was based on real local events, which
made me think a lot about how theatre relates to the community - the ‘soil in
which it grows,’ as it were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There was also a bit of me that was a bit of a wannabe rock
’n roller who had been persuaded to do my exams and go to university instead...
I guess that was why, in the late sixties and early seventies, I started
developing the idea of what these days you’d call ‘jukebox musicals,’ using
actors who were also musicians, which was a new idea back then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I went to the Everyman Theatre in
Liverpool in 1981, I put on a show called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lennon</i>,
which is still being produced now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
was a local story, and timely, as he’d been killed the year before.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So when I came to the Belgrade Theatre, I knew from the
start that I wanted to do something about Two Tone, even if it took me a few
years to get round to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a local
story, it was exciting, and it had a political dimension to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent a long time talking to people like Pauline
Black, Neol Davies and James Mackie from the Selecter, and Horace Panter and Roddy
Byers from The Specials, finding out how Two Tone had come about for them. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was a strange period musically. Punks and latter-day mods
were coming together with musicians with a soul/funk/Caribbean background. And
then you had people like Pauline, who was mixed race but had grown up in a
white (adoptive) family, and (as she herself says) the nearest she had come to
Caribbean music was Joan Armatrading.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the same time, this wave of fascism and racism was
building, and musicians were reacting to that.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Three Minute Heroes</i>
wasn’t a documentary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We decided to tell
it as the story of a group of young musicians coming up in the wake of bands
like The Specials. We had five young actors, some of whom could play a
bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then we had a live band,
directed by Akintayo Akinbode.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">As well as the joys
of the Two Tone era, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Three Minute Heroes</i>
also addresses the rising tensions between skinhead and Asian youths, and the
protests that followed the murder of the young student, Satnam Singh Gill. How
did you go about portraying those events on stage?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We dealt with it indirectly, I guess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the members of the band – a Rasta – is
set upon in the Precinct late at night and badly beaten up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their roadie – the unmusical one who feels a
bit left out - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>becomes a skinhead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then, appalled by the violence he sees
around him, joins CovWAR* and goes on vigilante patrols. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">[*Coventry Workers Against Racism – which in my novel became CovARA – the Coventry Anti-Racist Alliance]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And though the band breaks up, they come together again one
last time to play at The Specials’ Concert for Racial Harmony.</div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Your play had two
seasons at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, in 2000 and 2001. How was it received
by a Coventry audience?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The audience was always very mixed – but on the nights that
were the most packed, there were a lot of men of a certain age and waist size –
ex rude-boys, jumping on stage and dancing at the first opportunity. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On one amazing night, after the end of the show, the band on
stage was joined by Neol Davies, then Pauline Black, then Horace Panter ...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’d love to put it on again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ve been talking to the current Artistic Director at the Belgrade.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">There was a screening
a couple of years ago, at Coventry’s Two Tone Central, wasn’t there?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Screening is a bit grand. It was a video I’d shot on a hand
held camera, with the stage half-blocked out by someone’s bald head. I think
about seven people came.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Earlier this year, you
were involved with Shaun Prendergast’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Re-Creation
Quartet</i>, shown as part of Coventry’s Mysteries Festival.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can you tell us a bit about that?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Re-Creation Quartet was a cycle of four short plays
focused on different periods in Coventry’s history, each one to be staged in a
different square in Coventry. The last of the four plays was a Two Tone
story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shaun didn’t really know the
history, so I more or less re-wrote that one. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We worked with kids from Ego Performance, and we had a band,
including Harrington Bembridge, the drummer from The Selecter. They performed it
in Broadgate, which is now all pedestrianised. We had kids of all races dressed
up in 2-Tone gear. Skinheads with shaven heads. Maggie Thatcher and Arthur Scargill
on stilts. Dancing riot police.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The audience
were all skanking. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Those kids were all far too young to remember the events
from first time round.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they were all
so into the whole 2-Tone thing, it makes me think maybe its time has come
again.</div>
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
[Click <a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/108574838044816197362/albums/5889416477697726913?banner=pwa">here</a> and scroll down to see some fabulous pictures of the performance from John Coles ]</h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">You still live in
Coventry now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How would you describe the
city today?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
I think it’s much more chilled. A nicer place to live. It had a bad reputation at one time for late night violence, but that’s all abated. For my kids, growing up in Coventry, racism isn’t even a question. There are poorer areas of the city of course – Foleshill Road and Stoney Stanton Road. But unlike some cities, it isn’t ghettoised. People from different backgrounds mix.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Thank you, Bob! <br />Coming soon to this blog: Sukhbender Singh, author of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00yy76h">Concrete Jungle</a>, and Jatinder Verma, founder of <a href="http://tara-arts.com/#/">Tara Arts,</a> the first Asian Theatre Group in the UK.</h4>
LibraryCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11461629705267459809noreply@blogger.com0