Write Out Loud's March Newsletter
Howay!
I'm dreaming of a white Easter…
Welcome to the March newsletter from Write Out Loud, the group dedicated to increasing opportunities for writers of poetry to share their work.
This month our guest contributor is Keith Armstrong, a long time poetry and political activist based in Whitley Bay in the North East. He begins his article announcing the winner of the Northern Voices Poetry Award 2008 and then unveils the Northern Voices manifesto. Next month we have a cracking article from Agnes Meadows so watch out for that one, and if you want to contribute an article please get in touch with us, email info@writeoutloud.net
We were sad to hear that Rosemary Dun was hanging up her spangly frocks which seemed to signal the end of Bristol’s legendary Acoustic night which she has run for some time but latest reports suggest that the acoustic night goes on - check out our gig guide for details.
Meanwhile Hovis Presley has been in the news over the past month. Hovis, or rather his alter ego Richard McFarlane, was a founding WOL committee member and a friend to many of us, check out what’s been going on at http://tinyurl.com/2dgx88 including details of where you can watch Dave Morgan’s play “Hovis in Wonderland”.
For those of you who run poetry events we have a major web site development whereby you have complete control of your events (once they are accepted) i.e. you can update, cancel or delete single or multiple events, you can copy an event details to create a new one on a different date.
Try it and see just what can be done and if you have any problems contact paul@writeoutloud.net
If you’re new to the Newsletter you can become part of the Poets’ Showcase very easily by going to the showcase clicking on “Post your CV” and complete the form. It really is that easy and if there are problems there is always help at hand by emailing admin@writeoutloud.net
We are also pleased to announce that we are receiving sponsorship for the Rochdale branch of Write Out Loud from Bright Books, a rather wonderful bookshop that is also a wholesaler to schools, libraries and prisons - check it out http://www.brightbooks.co.uk and give it your support!
As public funding for the Arts becomes ever tighter, the support of organisations like Bright Books becomes more important to our work. We hope to publish details of further sponsorships soon. If you or your organisation want to get involved, please contact Paul@writeoutloud.net.
Regards
The Press Team
www.writeoutloud.net
NORTHERN VOICES NEWS 24/3/2008
The winner of the Northern Voices Poetry Award for 2008 is Catherine Graham. The trophy was presented to Catherine by last year's winner, poet Gordon Hodgeon, at the Northern Voices Amnesty International Poetry Benefit at the Bridge Hotel, Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 19th March 2008.
Catherine Graham is a Newcastle poet. She is winner of the Northumberland Writers' special award for most promising poet and received great acclaim when she read her work at the recent Tynedale Literary Festival. She was a runner-up in the 06/07 Pulsar Poetry Magazine Competition with her poem Watch Light which she wrote in memory of her late father.
Some of her poetry is included in 'Two Rivers Meet', an anthology of poetry from Limerick and Newcastle (Revival Press & Northern Voices), which will be launched in Limerick on 30th April, at a mayoral reception and at the legendary White House pub, and in Newcastle on Wednesday 25th June at the Bridge Hotel, with a reception attended by Newcastle's Lord Mayor on 26th June.
For further information about the award and for interviews please call 0191 2529531.
The objectives of Northern Voices are to offer a platform for the views and experiences of those people living in the North East of England who are normally denied a voice. The intention is to question and subvert established views of culture and the distortions which often surround them and give support to local autonomy and integrity as opposed to centralism and the anti-democratic hierarchies of government and big business, the aristocracy, mass media and the ever increasing number of quangos.
To contribute to the culture of the NE through a projects and events programme which celebrates its diverse communities, in particular those of the neglected working class, and the area's record of dissenting tradition. Recent projects have involved a touring show in Northumbrian churches; performing poetry on the beaches; working in the community of Spittal; profiling Whitley Bay's Spanish City and the Marsden Rock in South Shields; celebrating the Newcastle writer Jack Common and the Durham links of poet Christopher Smart; performing and recording with folk, pop, classical and jazz musicans and exhibiting with visual artists and photographers.
Important events have recently been staged with Amnesty International, the Tyneside Irish Cultural Society and the North East Labour History Society.
Northern Voices attempts to be original and innovative in its programme and to seriously engage with local people and issues rather than indulge in the predictable and unchallenging nature of many cultural events and projects which are often more to do with careerism and the overbearing machinations of cultural bodies which see the arts as a vehicle for commerce and business.
We have links with like minded people and institutions,locally, nationally and internationally by a commitment to collective action and to engaging in political activity in an historical context. Recently, reciprocal links have been established with Limerick and Cork, Bradford, Liverpool, Lincoln, Sheffield, Penrith, Aberdeen and Edinburgh and there are significant international links with, for example, Groningen in The Netherlands and Tuebingen in Germany, stretching back some twenty years.
Such links also question overly cosy notions of 'The North' and celebrate North East England's place in the world and particularly in Europe.
We also Offer help and advice to local people seeking to develop a voice. This can be through creative writing, songs and community research or on tape and through the media and new technology.
Membership is open to anyone who shares the objectives of Northern Voices and wishes to engage in community arts activity in the North East of England.
Northern Voices acknowledges project support from the Community Foundation, Awards for All and North Tyneside Council.
For more information email Keith Armstrong at k.armstrong643@btinternet.com
I'm dreaming of a white Easter…
Welcome to the March newsletter from Write Out Loud, the group dedicated to increasing opportunities for writers of poetry to share their work.
This month our guest contributor is Keith Armstrong, a long time poetry and political activist based in Whitley Bay in the North East. He begins his article announcing the winner of the Northern Voices Poetry Award 2008 and then unveils the Northern Voices manifesto. Next month we have a cracking article from Agnes Meadows so watch out for that one, and if you want to contribute an article please get in touch with us, email info@writeoutloud.net
We were sad to hear that Rosemary Dun was hanging up her spangly frocks which seemed to signal the end of Bristol’s legendary Acoustic night which she has run for some time but latest reports suggest that the acoustic night goes on - check out our gig guide for details.
Meanwhile Hovis Presley has been in the news over the past month. Hovis, or rather his alter ego Richard McFarlane, was a founding WOL committee member and a friend to many of us, check out what’s been going on at http://tinyurl.com/2dgx88 including details of where you can watch Dave Morgan’s play “Hovis in Wonderland”.
For those of you who run poetry events we have a major web site development whereby you have complete control of your events (once they are accepted) i.e. you can update, cancel or delete single or multiple events, you can copy an event details to create a new one on a different date.
Try it and see just what can be done and if you have any problems contact paul@writeoutloud.net
If you’re new to the Newsletter you can become part of the Poets’ Showcase very easily by going to the showcase clicking on “Post your CV” and complete the form. It really is that easy and if there are problems there is always help at hand by emailing admin@writeoutloud.net
We are also pleased to announce that we are receiving sponsorship for the Rochdale branch of Write Out Loud from Bright Books, a rather wonderful bookshop that is also a wholesaler to schools, libraries and prisons - check it out http://www.brightbooks.co.uk and give it your support!
As public funding for the Arts becomes ever tighter, the support of organisations like Bright Books becomes more important to our work. We hope to publish details of further sponsorships soon. If you or your organisation want to get involved, please contact Paul@writeoutloud.net.
Regards
The Press Team
www.writeoutloud.net
NORTHERN VOICES NEWS 24/3/2008
The winner of the Northern Voices Poetry Award for 2008 is Catherine Graham. The trophy was presented to Catherine by last year's winner, poet Gordon Hodgeon, at the Northern Voices Amnesty International Poetry Benefit at the Bridge Hotel, Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 19th March 2008.
Catherine Graham is a Newcastle poet. She is winner of the Northumberland Writers' special award for most promising poet and received great acclaim when she read her work at the recent Tynedale Literary Festival. She was a runner-up in the 06/07 Pulsar Poetry Magazine Competition with her poem Watch Light which she wrote in memory of her late father.
Some of her poetry is included in 'Two Rivers Meet', an anthology of poetry from Limerick and Newcastle (Revival Press & Northern Voices), which will be launched in Limerick on 30th April, at a mayoral reception and at the legendary White House pub, and in Newcastle on Wednesday 25th June at the Bridge Hotel, with a reception attended by Newcastle's Lord Mayor on 26th June.
For further information about the award and for interviews please call 0191 2529531.
The objectives of Northern Voices are to offer a platform for the views and experiences of those people living in the North East of England who are normally denied a voice. The intention is to question and subvert established views of culture and the distortions which often surround them and give support to local autonomy and integrity as opposed to centralism and the anti-democratic hierarchies of government and big business, the aristocracy, mass media and the ever increasing number of quangos.
To contribute to the culture of the NE through a projects and events programme which celebrates its diverse communities, in particular those of the neglected working class, and the area's record of dissenting tradition. Recent projects have involved a touring show in Northumbrian churches; performing poetry on the beaches; working in the community of Spittal; profiling Whitley Bay's Spanish City and the Marsden Rock in South Shields; celebrating the Newcastle writer Jack Common and the Durham links of poet Christopher Smart; performing and recording with folk, pop, classical and jazz musicans and exhibiting with visual artists and photographers.
Important events have recently been staged with Amnesty International, the Tyneside Irish Cultural Society and the North East Labour History Society.
Northern Voices attempts to be original and innovative in its programme and to seriously engage with local people and issues rather than indulge in the predictable and unchallenging nature of many cultural events and projects which are often more to do with careerism and the overbearing machinations of cultural bodies which see the arts as a vehicle for commerce and business.
We have links with like minded people and institutions,locally, nationally and internationally by a commitment to collective action and to engaging in political activity in an historical context. Recently, reciprocal links have been established with Limerick and Cork, Bradford, Liverpool, Lincoln, Sheffield, Penrith, Aberdeen and Edinburgh and there are significant international links with, for example, Groningen in The Netherlands and Tuebingen in Germany, stretching back some twenty years.
Such links also question overly cosy notions of 'The North' and celebrate North East England's place in the world and particularly in Europe.
We also Offer help and advice to local people seeking to develop a voice. This can be through creative writing, songs and community research or on tape and through the media and new technology.
Membership is open to anyone who shares the objectives of Northern Voices and wishes to engage in community arts activity in the North East of England.
Northern Voices acknowledges project support from the Community Foundation, Awards for All and North Tyneside Council.
For more information email Keith Armstrong at k.armstrong643@btinternet.com
Thu, 27 Mar 2008 08:49 am
