London night

Down to The Smoke last night for the writLOUD event and a bit of a gad about town with an old friend, a banker, my daughter and her lover. Had a blast – but the best ‘lit bit’ was a reading by John Lucas – an MA student on Birkbeck’s Creative Writing MA. He read his story – Becoming Marc Almond – and it did it for me. Have a read and see what you think.

Met some lovely people, including Jill McGivering, who also read a moving passage from her new novel The Last Kestrel (you can read a good chunk of it here). I started the book this morning and I’m halfway through (I got some reading time thanks to various train journeys) and so far it’s pretty compelling stuff.

Thanks to James Vincent and the writLOUD crew.

Reading at writLOUD

I’ll be reading at writLOUD on August 9th. writLOUD is a monthly readings event showcasing both new writers from Birkbeck’s Creative Writing courses and established authors.

I’ll be reading from my novel Among Thieves, and I’ll be joined by Jill McGivering who’ll be reading from her first novel, The Last Kestrel – ‘a deeply compassionate and thoughtful novel, written with the humanity that is a trademark of her reporting’ (Fergal Keane). Jill is a Birkbeck, MACW alumnus and BBC senior foreign news correspondent.

There will also be readings from Matthew Wright, Azra Hussain and John Lucas.

Admission is free of charge, but with a suggested donation to Oxfam of £3.50.

To reserve places in advance, email writloud@aol.co.uk or rock up at RADA Foyer Bar, Malet Street, London WC1E 7JN Monday 9 August 2010, 6.30-8.15 pm

In the teeth of the novel

I’ve been rather busy with work and writing over the last three months and have let the blogging slip. Sorry. But there have been some interesting developments re: new novel. About three months ago I sent the first 80,000 words to my agent. It’s a nail-biting experience sending such a wet baby off for scrutiny – and this novel – unlike the other two – has had a forceps delivery. So when my agent came back with some sound but gulp-worthy crits I had to get my head down and do some serious hard labour. So there you are – I’ve been off the map for weeks and weeks, but I’ll try and put some posts up very soon.

In other news, I have become a member of the Tindal Street Fiction Group.

Coventry Inspires

Among Thieves was the winning book in the Murder and Mayhem section of the Coventry Inspiration Book Awards and on 16th of June I went along to St Mary’s Guildhall in Coventry for the awards ceremony.

The whole thing began with a civic reception, hosted by Coventry’s Mayor. Then there were photos of all the winning authors in strange local-paper-styleee poses. And finally there were the awards themselves.

The event was a resounding success and Joy Court, Learning Resources Manager at Coventry City Council and organiser of the awards, had gathered a brilliant crowd of schoolchildren, teachers, library personal and book lovers, as well as several of the winning authors.

Discovering A Song of Jean

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I last posted here – work/family have been filling my time but I’ve also been hacking apart an almost complete novel and trying to put it back together again. This involves courage – and some writing. I’m determined to have a new #1 draft by the beginning of the summer so I can take a few weeks off before the rewriting process begins – so this post might be my lot for another few weeks.

In the last couple of months I have been accepted as a member of the Tindal Street Fiction Group (TSFG). The group meets once a fortnight and so far I’m enjoying the experience. The evening goes like this: reading, analysis, pub. An excellent format in my opinion. I’ve never belonged to a writing group before and although TSFG has been established for years it doesn’t feel cliquey.

I have just discovered – while writing this post and trying to find links to TSFG – that one of the members, Sybil Ruth, is the author of a poem that I have read and reread since I first came across it last year. The poem won the Mslexia Poetry Competition and is called A Song of Jean – and you can read it here.

I suddenly feel even more chuffed about being a member of TSFG.

Jackdaw with Crowbar: The return

After a pause of eighteen years my friend and one time musical collaborator, Tim Ellis, has instigated the return of Jackdaw with Crowbar, the seminal multi media group. The group were pioneers in the field of multi projection film montage as performance with live music in the eighties and early nineties. Tim said:

Back then we had a group of up to eight musicians and three projectionist film makers, we were entirely analogue using 8mm film and actual musical instruments or sound devices. This time round three of us are using modern technology to create a new set of material. I can recollect many occasions on tour when one of the film makers would be editing in the back of the truck because the films used to break from repeated use at concerts. Now we use laptops and digital  projectors so in theory its more stable, and brighter. Although we miss the texture, depth and colour of film we are spoilt by the immediacy of working in digital.

Live performance warm up set:
22nd March 8pm
KoKo’s Bar
45 Warwick Street
Leamington Spa
CV32 5JX

Live Performance – Flatpack Festival by 7 Inch Cinema:
27th March 9pm
Vivid
140 Heath Mill Lane
Birmingham
B9 4AR

Flatpack is an annual festival providing a platform for new filmmakers and moving image creativity together with a playful and original programme of cult classics re-imagined, silent cinema re-scored and material re-invented.

Hope to see you there!

Outthinking the pimps

It was International Women’s day on Monday and I thought I’d share some correspondence between myself and a couple of valued friends. It would be great to know what other women out there think – so please comment or get in touch and Happy (belated) International Women’s Day to you all.

——
From Sam:
Just wanted to use this occasion to draw your attention to three things (among many) that I have noticed over the last few weeks.
Firstly, the recent Shane Meadows film called This is Abuse commissioned by the government and directed at teenagers to address recent very worrying increases in violent sexual and emotional abuse in teenage relationships.

Secondly, the recent Home Office sponsored Sexualisation of Young People Review led by Dr Linda Papadopoulos which calls for changes in the laws governing advertising and marketing, particularly but by no means limited to the internet, to address increasingly overt sexualised images directed at children.

Thirdly, the recent Haven – Wake Up To Rape survey which reported various worrying trends including 54% of women surveyed thinking that rape victims are responsible for being raped.

I don’t know what you see, but what I see (among other things) is a rise in Pimp Culture where we as a society are ‘turning out’ young women and grooming them to accept as normal levels of violence and abuse where their ideas of self-worth reside entirely and only in their attractiveness and availability to men. (See among other discussions Penny Marshall’s piece in the Mail 6.3.2010, Charlotte Raven in the Guardian 6.3.2010 etc).

I don’t have much of a public voice, but I urge those of you that do to speak up and encourage debate on these subjects or we will very shortly find ourselves waking up in a country and a culture we don’t want to live in and that we don’t want our sons and daughters to live in.

As Steve Biko famously said:

The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.

—————————

From Mez:

I have passed this on to various other women – worth everyone thinking about it but I fear I/we will be preaching to the converted. Am I being pessimistic? I have felt for a long time that we need to mobilise and negotiate a new kind of feminism – I’m not sure what it will look like (I’m not good at formulating isms or ologys) but as it stands there’s nothing for young women to get their teeth into or at least they don’t feel that feminism has anything to do with them – whenever I mention the F word in seminars or lectures they look at me as if I’m mad!

They’re simply NOT educated about feminist issues and I, personally, would press for women’s studies I some form to be part of PHSE in secondary schools along with contraception/ethics/drug and alcohol info. These things should be addressed at a fundamental level so that young women can be supported (and inspired) and have some strategies and confidence to stand up to seemingly irresistible peer and media pressure. I applaud the government for producing the This Is Abuse videos (read about it last week) – but it needs to go further.. Much further.

It’s late – I’m crapping on rather but I feel strongly about this too… and as I said in my forwarded version (which was as concise as my reply to you is baggy) —- I simply add ‘hear hear’ – but where this is a shortened form of ‘hear him hear him’ I advise us all to ‘hear her, hear her’.

——————-

From Sam:

Yes, I completely agree that education is the issue.  I think our generation of women assumed that the argument for equality was such a no-brainer and the gains of our mothers so enshrined in law (in as much as they have been…..) that we didn’t need to restate it all to following generations, that it would be understood and accepted.  This was a big mistake, I think, and we are reaping the rewards of this now. We therefore need to get a bit clever about how we ‘re-sell’ ideas about gender respect and equality to the yoof – and this is where you in particular are vital I think.  Marketing, particularly via internet, viral campaigns etc etc is so much more sophisticated now – we don’t have to tub-thump this time round.  We need to tickle them, please them, shock them, infiltrate them.

If five year olds (and their parents) can be conned into walking around in t-shirts saying ‘Jailbait’ or ‘Hot Sexy Babe’ in sparkly letters they can also be persuaded to want one saying ‘Rocket Scientist’. We’ve just got to outthink the pimps…..

Aye Write!

Mitchell Library Glasgow

I’m off to Scotland tomorrow to Aye Write! Glasgow’s Book Festival. I will be reading in The Burns Room at the Mitchell Library – and this will be followed by the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize announcement at 6pm.

The event is free and from the website looks as if it’s open to all – but if you don’t fancy that then the most talented AL Kennedy is giving a talk at 7pm in the same building.

I’m nervous. The building looks rather large. I wonder, if you spend a lot of time in buildings that are grand and imposing do you begin to think of yourself as grand too? Maybe this is explains why people who live in cities often think they are more sophisticated than the rest of us – they can’t help themselves, it’s simply their environment. Whatever, I don’t spend much time in grand buildings. I prefer a small room, with a desk, and a stack of books, several pens, some paper and a computer – oh and I’d like a view one day – onto a garden or the sea. Yes, I am nervous. Wish me luck.

Among Thieves listed for Commonwealth Writers’ Prize

Among Thieves has been shortlisted for The Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best First Book Award in the South Asia and Europe region. The regional shortlists were announced yesterday and I was delighted to find that another Tindal Street author, Anthony Cartwright, has also been shortlisted in the Best Book category for his novel Heartland.

The Director of the Commonwealth Foundation, Mark Collins, said:

The Commonwealth Writers’ Prize is distinct and unique in that the books that win often have strong insight, spirit and voice about the incredible diversity, history and society of the Commonwealth. The Prize aims to reward the best of Commonwealth fiction written in English and in doing so, spots rising talent and creates new literary figures from the Commonwealth. This is the Prize to watch for tomorrow’s best-sellers.

I feel proud to be shortlisted – and proud of my publisher for championing the literature of diversity. You can read about all the other shortlisted titles in all regions here.

Have a Heart for Haiti

Click to enlarge

Some good friends of mine have organised this benefit gig for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. There will be theatre (slapstick panto from OTFM), drumming from the amazing Saskia and Vieux Bakayoko, DJs and live music. Worth going for the talent alone but most importantly because all proceeds will go to Haiti via the Lambi fund.

Gig: Have a Heart for Haiti
When: Friday 19th February at 7pm
Where: The NEW Bath Place Community Venture (Old Library on Avenue Road)
Cost: £4