Winter Garden

Over the winter months, I will be tending a Winter Garden of words on my Word Garden blog.

Inspired by the idea of a garden designed to be at its best during the winter months (whether outside or under an elaborate glass structure), I will use the Word Garden blog as a space to grow ideas for a new piece of writing, to be completed in Spring 2011.

To do this, I need your help. From December through to February I’ll be putting together a collection of words, images and ideas. Please visit the blog and answer the question: What would feature in your perfect Winter Garden? Winter Gardens that don’t have the protection of glass canopies are creative in their use of colour, texture, light and smell; so I’ll be focussing on those four elements. Leave a list, a poem, a description, or just a single word.

I’ll be blogging each week, sharing extracts and ideas as they grow towards a final piece, which might be a story, might be a poem, or might be something completely different….

Image: bortescristian

Voices in Print - New Commission from Stream

Stream Arts have just announced a new commission for a print-based project as part of their Voices strand.
They are looking to commission a print-based project which adopts an innovative approach to the theme of ‘Voices’, focussing on the experiences of Peninsula residents and giving voice to the diversity of people living and working in the area. The project should draw upon the extensive material that was collected during the previous Voices projects, using this research as the basis of the project, and making use of the new Voices website, which has interactive and social media elements, to generate discussion and communication (http://peninsulaprojects.net/voices)

More info here: http://streamarts.org.uk/blog/186

Thoughts on writing and the city....

Check out David Ogunmuyiwa's fabulous guest blog for the South Bank Centre's Global Poetry System...

From Manchester Rain to Antarctic Dreams

I'm guest curator for the Southbank Centre's gorgeous Global Poetry System this week. Visit the site to see my journey through the found poems on a global poetry map.

Throughout August, the four members of the Found Materials network, of which I'm part, will be selecting 8 featured poems from the site.

Writing and Regeneration - Free resource

A free resource pack introducing writers and literature organisations to the complex and exciting field of regeneration is available to download from the literaturetraining website. An UrbanWords commission from literaturetraining and the National Association of Literature Development.

(Re)generating change: writing the public realm

A fantastic new article by Rosa Ainley, commissioned by UrbanWords, is now up on the A Place For Words website.
Rosa reflects on Leysdown: Rose-tinted, a Visioning project for Leysdown on the Isle of Sheppey, in collaboration with muf architecture/art and local people, which has been nominated for numerous awards and has had a tangible impact on the regeneration of the town.

Ballooning, Balancing, Balconies and Birds - texts installed

I've just installed four texts in Cremorne Gardens, Chelsea, prior to the story walks I'll be leading there on Tuesday 27th July.

Please visit the Cremorne Gardens sections of the Word Garden blog and answer the four related questions - answers will be incorporated into the walk. You can also read the texts and download your own copies if you'd like...