Free article on A Place For Words

Check out a new free article by Linda France on A Place For Words. Writing in Three Dimensions explores the difference between writing for the page, and writing for a place. Linda France is a poet with a huge amount of experience writing for public art commissions.

A Place That Makes You Go Ahhhh....

Prior to the discussion event, Writers Shaping Places, on Tuesday 30th June, UrbanWords has commissioned a new article by writer Chris Meade, drawing on his experiences of working with designers and public artists, Snug and Outdoor. It's an engaging read, which offers concrete examples of how writers can facilitate creative consultation and make a valuable contribution to the design process. The article - "The place that makes you go ahhh.." is free to download from the Articles and Critical Thinking section of the A Place For Words site.

Chris will be talking about the issues and examples he raises in his article at Writers Shaping Places, on Tuesday 30th June, 6.30-8.00pm at Shortwave, Bermondsey Square, London, and will then be in conversation with Kate Cheyne from Architects in Residence, and Sarah Butler from UrbanWords. There are a handful of (free) tickets left. Please call Spread the Word on 0207 735 3111 to book a place, if you haven't already.

We are setting up an online networking site to enable people to continue the conversation after the event, and to bring in people who cannot make the event, but are interested in the issues raised in Chris's paper, and in broader ideas about writing and regeneration. The site will be launched on 30th June and I will post up details of how to sign up on that date.

Writers Shaping Places: Free discussion event - 30th June

UrbanWords has teamed up with Spread the Word, the writer Chris Meade, and Architects in Residence to host a free discussion event on Tuesday 30th June at Shortwave, the fantastic new community cinema, bar and production facility within the Bermondsey Square regeneration scheme.

How do writers work with architects, designers and planners to explore and interpret people’s relationship with and aspirations for a particular place?

Join writer Chris Meade, UrbanWords Director Sarah Butler and architect Kate Cheyne, at Shortwave, a new cinema, cafe bar and production facility within the Bermondsey Square regeneration scheme, for an evening of ideas, discussion and the opportunity to network.

This event will also launch a new web piece by Chris Meade, sharing his experiences working with artists/designers Snug and Outdoor, and the conversation will be continued online after the event.

This is an opportunity for writers who teach or run community projects to explore new ways of working and for regeneration professionals to see how writers can add value to their work.

Date: Tuesday 30^th June
Venue: Shortwave, 10 Bermondsey Square, London, SE1 3UN (http://www.shortwavefilms.co.uk)
Time: 6.30 – 8.00pm (followed by the opportunity to network)

For further information contact: sarah@urbanwords.org.uk. Places are free but limited, please call Spread the Word on 0207 735 3111 or visit www.spreadtheword.org.uk from 8th May to book

This event is supported by Arts Council England, Spread the Word, Architects in Residence and Shortwave

Creative Writing and Consultation

Thank you to the 20 people who came to the creative writing and consultation event hosted by Create KX at the School of Life on Wednesday 19^th November. I found the workshop really interesting, especially the mix of people, ideas and approaches within that one room.

I wanted to post up some of my notes from the session as a way of reflecting and sharing the thoughts generated over the 2 hours.

Where does it end?

A conversation that really struck me was around the question ‘where does consultation finish?’ Are we stymied by the idea that consultation is something done to a group of people and then finished with? Instead, should we be looking at consultation as an ongoing process, something which is done with rather than done to? I wonder if our project-driven arts funding and our society’s need to ‘finish’ things (ok, that’s a grand statement, but I think there’s some truth in it) makes it problematic to argue for the ongoing. Maybe because we’re not sure how to measure its successes? I’m not sure.

What can writers offer?

We talked about writers working as translators, finding ways of crossing the communication gap between those involved in regeneration. We also talked about them as interpreters.

People were struck with the idea of writers creating more abstract responses which can then be interpreted by other professions (architects, designers etc.)

There seemed to be a feeling that the brief exercise led by Aoife Mannix achieved two main things. Firstly it was accessible, relaxed, enabled people to have their say. Secondly it to some extent worked as a warm up, diffusing mindsets, opening up thoughts, which could then lead to quite remarkable and personal responses to the question ‘what does home mean to you?’ that might not have been accessed if the question had been asked cold. I found this really interesting, that we might use creative processes to open a path to finding more accurate and intimate responses to important questions.

Here’s one of the communal pieces of writing we created with Aoife:

Candyfloss

Earl Grey, because I’m worth it

The smell of your skin on an autumn evening

Would you like to come for dinner?

Birdsong and Gravel

Home-full and home-less. So blessed and so confused by having two homes separated by sea. Home is love, but loves are split too. Home is somewhere between my father’s and my husband’s arms.

A bit of politics:

Someone raised the interesting issue of how creative writing might take a role in critiquing and challenging the bureaucracy and politics of regeneration. How might that work? And how might that be funded? We circled that question too – how does who’s paying affect what we do? Might we end up doling out propaganda rather than opening up genuine debate?

We touched too on the ethics of what happens afterwards, who takes responsibility for the listening that is needed if consultation is to work.

What’s important?

~ Doing with not doing to

~ Not going into the process with an idea of what the answer should be

What’s needed?

~ Really robust case studies that can be used to convince (maybe reluctant) organisations to engage with this method of working

~ Effective communication - people won't work in this wayif they don't know about it

I’m interested in this idea of case studies, perhaps in trying to get a project off the ground that sets out to consult in this way and explore and document the possibilities. And then the communication of that knowledge and experience comes second, giving people the confidence and skills to find their own ways of engaging with creative writing and consultation.

Arts Professional Article

Arts Professional have published a short article about writing and regeneration as an online 'addition' to their current issue, which focuses on arts and regeneration. It's got a terrible title, but do take a look. You can get to it from the Arts Professional
website homepage. Go to 'web exclusives' and then to (ahem...) 'Words of Wisdom'.

Roundtable Discussion at the TINAG festival

25 people came to a roundtable discussion asking 'is there a role for creative writers and creative writing in the process of regeneration' at Cafe Oto, in Dalston, last Friday, as part of TINAG's three day festival exploring 'the city'.

I found the discussion fascinating. We had 6 panellists, who gave a broad range of responses to the question. It was a beginning of a conversation really, and we could only just scratch the surface in the hour and a half, but there is talk of setting up further discussions and possibly a network of those interested in this area of work.

I am in the process of writing up the session for TINAG's festival publication and will post more details as I progress.

Something that struck me on Friday was a conversation a woman who attended the event. She works with young people in Newham, and her initial response to the discussion was 'but we're interested in activism, not words.' I tried to explain that I am also interested in real change and in real empowerment for people who are experiencing regeneration, and that I see the potential for writing to have a powerful effect on urban change. As our conversation progressed, she started to say that maybe she saw that writing might be one way in to engage with people and articulate their views and aspirations, with the intention of engendering change. I am hoping that conversation will continue.

A free workshop looking at creative writing and community consultation

UrbanWords has teamed up with Create KX to deliver a workshop exploring how creative writers can contribute to the process of consultation. The session is free, but you need to book. Details below:


What Do You Think?

A community/ an organisation/ a place can be seen as a tapestry of stories, each thread essential and compelling.

The space to write down, savour and enjoy these words enables communication and sparks passion.

We all know the pen is mightier than the sword, but can creative writing ensure successful consultation? Can writers provide a vital role aiding regeneration?

Join us for a stimulating workshop on using literature and creative writing as part of the consultation process for change and urban renewal.

The workshop will delivered by UrbanWords (www.urbanwords.org.uk) and poet, Aoife Mannix (www.aoifemannix.com).

3.30-5.30pm, Wednesday 19^th November

The School of Life, 70 Marchmont Street, London WC1N 1AB

Free, but booking essential. Email info@createkx.org.uk to book your place.

BS1 Project - exhibition in Bristol 24th - 30th October

A week long exhibition at 94-96 Horsefair, Bristol, marks the culmination of BS1, a series of temporary art commissions responding to the creation of Cabot Circus, a new retail centre for the city.
UrbanWords worked with the artist Neville Gabie, and Insite Arts, to commission Donna Daley-Clarke to respond to the site. She has written 3 stories, Dirt, Stone and Glass, which will be available at the exhibition and soon up on the project website.
There's an opening evening on Thursday 23rd October, 5.00-9.00pm, and the exhibition's open 24th-30th, 11.00am - 5.00pm. Click here to go to a flyer for the event.

Playing in Urban Places

I am speaking at a conference in Leeds on 3rd October. My paper is called Narrating the City. It asks whether there is a role and a space for literature and creative writing to inform and explore our relationship to urban space. The paper connects the concept of narrative to that of navigation. It considers who authors a city, compares the role of the resident/visitor/walker in a city to that of the reader, and looks in very practical terms at how such ideas can be applied through participatory literature work.

Currently it looks like this:

... but I'm getting there! Will be posting my ideas as they develop.

Information about the seminar below:

a seminar:
Playing in Urban Places.
3 October 9am – 5pm
Followed by an evening reception.

This seminar seeks to investigate the creative ways that a city is uncovered and discovered, while generating a platform for discussion and debate around the experience of interacting with location. Using the work of Alex Hartley as a contextual springboard the day will become a stimulating event to explore creative and innovative engagement with the urban.

This is a seminar for artists, architects, curators, educators, students, and those working in related fields of geography, urban planning, literacy, and so forth.

The day will showcase an international selection of researchers and artists through paper presentations, interactive installation, sound, video and performances, on the following themes:

o Innovative engagements between art and architecture

o Navigating places, paths and barriers

o Subversive and transgressive acts to take back the city

Our panel of speakers include:
Chair: Professor Guy Julier - Architecture, Landscape & Design, Leeds Metropolitan University

Keynote Speaker:

Playing with the Potential of Public Spaces

Dr Quentin Stevens – Senior Lecturer Urban Design, The Bartlett School of Planning, UCL

Speakers:

Sarah Butler - UrbanWords
Dr John Crossley – Leeds University
Matt Delbridge – University of London
Marianna & Daniel O’Reilly
Laura Robinson & Dr Liz Stirling – Leeds Metropolitan University
Victoria Stanton
Varsity of Maneuvers - Birgit Binder & Jorda Planellas
John Wild RCA

To book please call the box office on 0113 812 5998, all forms of payment accepted, or call in person to the Gallery & Theatre Office between 9am and 5pm, Monday-Friday.

£75/£45 concessions [lunch and evening reception included]

gallerytheatre@leedsmet.ac.uk

www.leedsmet.ac.uk/arts

UrbanWords at TINAG festival

UrbanWords will be hosting a roundtable discussion, exploring the role creative writers can play in the process of regeneration and urban change, as part of This Is Not A Gateway's festival exploring multidisciplinary approaches to the city. Visit the This is Not a Gateway site to find out more.

2 articles to look out for

Look out for articles in NAWE's latest journal (issue number 45) and the regeneration journal New Start Mag (Volume 10, no 442) which go into some of the thinking on the A Place For Words site in more detail. The articles are also available to download from A Place For Words