****************************************************
AWA and SPit lit March events are open to EVERYONE
*****************************************************
Sheree Thomas - Out of This World! workshop update
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Leap Year Special - Sable LitMag Website - end of Feb
www.sablelitmag.org
****************************************************
There will undoubtedly be some x-postings - which is a
good thing - as it means we are supporting each other! Kadija
Workshops / Professional Development
10 February onwards - Showhow: Arts Development Sessions
7 March Out of This World: Speculative Fiction Workshop for Black Writers
(update)
Indelible Ink Writers Group
LIfe Coaching - Writing for a Career is no longer just a dream...
Readings/events
5 Feb - Destination Africa - poetry, drumming and Swahili classes with Freddy
Macha
5 Feb onwards - Alex Wheatle - dates around England
15 Feb - Poetry and Spirituality, Lecture Series - Poetry and Zen Buddhism -
with Professor Alan Spence
19 Feb - Indelibe Ink
2 March Displacement, Relocation, Identity: Revisioning Histories of Slavery
and Empire: A poetry reading and conference - with Jackie Kay, Jack Mapanje
and Fred D'Aguiar
4 March - Eric Jerome Dickey @ Borders
20 March - 2nd National Black Writers and Publishers Conference
21 March, Poetry and Sufism with Aamer Hussein
23rd-26th July 2004 Overseas Blues:European Perspectives on Black Music
(Conference)
_____________________________________________________________________________
Showhow: Arts Development Sessions February 2004
Showhows arts development sessions look at different issues facing artists
and arts organisations and aim to generate knowledge and learning through
conversational and informal panel based seminars. Panellists include
established practitioners from all areas of creative activity and each
session will encourage feedback and debate from audiences. All Sessions
take place at Arts Council England, London at 2 Pear Tree Court, London
EC1R 0DS from 17.30 19.30. Admission to Showhow Sessions is free, but
spaces are limited and available on a first come first served booking
basis. To book a place, or for more information, please contact Showhow on
[log in to unmask] or on 020 7831 4040.
10.02.04 Creative Space: Access in the Built Environment
What are the challenges in developing built environments for creative use
that aspire to physical and social accessibility; how does legislation and
regulation affect design; what models of good practice can illustrate this;
how can accessible features be made distinctive and how can mutual
ownership be achieved.
Panellists:
Cany Ash (Ash Sakula Architects, creators of Freeform Arts award winning
Hothouse building in Hackney)
Kate Elliott (Access Liaison Officer, Sadlers Wells, member of the venue
access team, responsible for access arrangements for clients and venue
users and organising the venues successful access scheme initiative).
Brian Vickers (Senior Access Officer, Artsline an organisation providing
access information for disabled people about London arts and entertainment;
has carried out access surveys on 100s of art galleries, museums, venues,
clubs, etc and has consulted on initiatives by London Tourist Board,
Society of London Theatres and City of London Festival and with spaces
including Barbican, Tate Modern, South Bank Centre and many others).
17.02.04 New Writers: Development Opportunities for Emerging Writers
How can emerging writers access funding, commissions and performance
opportunities; what are the current trends in the market for emerging
literature and performance; how can up and coming writers create a strategy
for their own professional development.
Panellists:
Kadija George (Literary Activist, organiser of Writers Hotspot and Managing
Editor of SABLE LitMag, has edited Six Plays by Black and Asian Women
Writers, Burning Words, Flaming Images and co-edited The Penguin Book of
New Black Writing in Britain; a broadcaster and teacher, award winner,
General Secretary for African Writers Abroad(PEN) and board member of the
Arvon Foundation).
Agnes Meadows (internationalist poet whose work includes the Farrago Slam
Club Best Performer Award (1998 & 1999), Christina Sergeyevna Award for
Outstanding Writing (2003) and numerous performances world-wide including
appearances at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (New York), Mediterranean Poetry
Festival (Bodrum), Pera Palas (Istanbul) and extensive work in Palestine
and Israel.
More Panellists TBC
24.02.04 Talawa: The Process of Evaluation
Evaluation of artistic work is crucial to organisational and professional
development in any context. This session examines why Black-led theatre
faces particular challenges in the internal and external evaluation of its
work: issues such as the paucity of technical, administrative and
management professionals from black communities and the under
representation of specialist critics in print and broadcast media and the
academic sector will be explored and measures that could improve the
situation will be identified. This Session co-produced with Talawa.
Panellists:
Dona Croll (stage / TV actress, recent appearances include National Theatre
production of Elminas Kitchen, Family Affairs (C5), and is RSC company
member)
Paulette Randall (Artistic Director, Talawa; has directed stage productions
including August Wilsons King Hedley II at the Tricycle and Errol Johns
Moon at the Rainbow Shawl at Nottingham Playhouse; TV directing credits
include Desmonds, Real McCoy and Comin atcha).
Roy Williams (playwright, works include No-Boys Cricket Club, Starstruck
and Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads which launched the National Theatres
Loft Space; is currently writing third commission for the Royal Court
Theatre).
*************************************************************************
Out of This World: Speculative Fiction Workshop for Black Writers
Dark Matter: Reading the Bones Short Story Workshop
By Sheree R. Thomas winner of the World Fantasy Award and the Gold Pen Award
Overview:
With the recent launch of her second volume in the groundbreaking
speculative fiction series, Dark Matter, award-winning writer and editor
Sheree R. Thomas will travel across the waters from the US to support
emerging women writers and writers of color interested in adding their
unique voices to the field.
In the Dark Matter writing workshop, emerging and aspiring writers will
come together to explore the speculative fiction genrescience fiction,
fantasy, magical realism, horror, newfolklore, and mythopoetic
works develop their craft, expand their reading interests and resources,
workshop original trunk stories, create new work from innovative story
starters, and discuss the creative process as well as some of the
publishing opportunities available to them in a supportive and
non-competitive environment.
About the Workshop:
The Dark Matter workshop is geared towards writers who are interested in
publishing speculative fiction - the broad umbrella term for science fiction,
fantasy, horror, magical realism, and other imaginative fictions.
Speculative fiction is the literature of ideas. It offers an opportunity to
explore the magical question that engages all fiction writers: What if?
What distinguishes these stories from others is its imaginative promise.
While another genre might require writers to remain firmly rooted in
consensual reality, the science fiction, fantasy, magic realism, and
horror genres allow writers to draw upon a potentially boundless realm of
thought and potential. All people speculate, and black writers dream no
less than anyone else. The Afrodiasporic body of speculative work is rich
and diverse, revealing a positive engagement with the genre that spans as
far back as the work of black nationalists in the mid-1800s, W.E.B. Du Bois
in the 1920s, George S. Schuyler during the Harlem Renaissance, Amiri
Baraka, Ishmael Reed, Charles R. Saunders, and Jewelle Gomez during the
Black Arts Movement, and the growing number of writers who currently are
building upon the legacies of Samuel R. Delany and Octavia E. Butler.
In addition to reading examples of Stories Well Spun, writing with engaging
story starter and collaborative exercises, and critiquing, the workshop
will also address the submissions process and discussing the various short
fiction markets.
For those interested in Sheree offering editorial feedback on a previously
completed work, please contact us to arrange.
www.africanwritersabroad.org.uk
Date:Friday 5 March - Introduction: 6.30pm-8.30pm
Sunday 7 March Starts - 10.30am. Full day workshop
Price: 25/ 15 low waged includes refreshments and light breakfast on Sunday
Venue:Electric Avenue Studios, Brixton (2 minutes from the Underground) (tbc)
To book call Kadija on:07980 269 138 or
email:[log in to unmask]
(Book early - Places are limited)
About the Instructor:
Sheree Renee Thomas is a writer, editor, small publisher, educator, and
mother whose work has appeared in numerous publications and literary
journals. She is the co-publisher of the literary journal, Anansi: Fiction
of the African Diaspora and founder of Wanganegresse Press. Wanga Press
first title, Mojo Rising: Confessions of a 21st Century Conjureman by
Arthur Flowers was short-listed for the Hurston/Wright Foundations LEGACY
Award and the PEN Open Book Award. A Cave Canem Fellow and a 2003 New York
Foundation for the Arts Fellow in Poetry, her fiction and poetry appear in
several anthologies and journals. In 2003 she was awarded the Ledig
House/LEF Foundation Prize for Fiction for her novel, Bonecarver, and was
nominated for the 2003 Rhysling Award in the Short Poem category for her
poem, "Starry Crown." Her work, "Black River Ritual" also received
Honorable Mention in The Years Best Fantasy & Horror: Sixteen Annual
Collection (St. Martins Griffin, 2003). She teaches short fiction at the
Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center in Manhattan. Her first anthology,
Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora, won
the World Fantasy Award and the Gold Pen Award. Her second book, Dark Matter:
Reading the Bones was published on January 2, 2004 by Warner Aspect. She is
currently editing a third volume, Dark Matter: Africa Rising (working title)
For further details, visit the AWA website - www.africanwritersabroad.org.uk
Organised by African Writers Abroad (PEN)
*********Dark Matter: Africa Rising Competition for Black Writers************
Write an outline for a speculative fiction story - science fiction,
fantasy, horror, futurism, magical realism, etc. - set in Africa. Maximum
250 words.
Prize:
Signed copy of :
s Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora
s Dark Matter: Reading the Bones
s An opportunity to attend the only workshop that Sheree is teaching for
Black Writers in the UK (with the possibility of your story being published
in the next Dark Matter volume). *
s If you already write speculative fiction, Sheree R, Thomas, editor of the
Dark Matter series, has offered to read the winners manuscript and give
you feedback.
s One year subscription (4 issues) to Sable, the new LitMag for writers of
colour.
There will also be 3 honorary mentions who will receive a one year
subscriptions from Sable LitMag
Send the outline for your story to:
[log in to unmask]
Deadline :25 February 2004
Open to writers of Black African descent outside of the USA and Canada.
Winner and runners up to be announced on March 1st and will appear on the AWA
website
*Cost of workshop, lunch and refreshments during the day covered only. No
alternative prizes offered.
Entry constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use the
winner's name, hometown, likeness, and any text submitted for purposes
promotion on behalf of African Writers Abroad without further compensation.
This competition has been organised to coincide with the visit of award
winning writer and editor from New York, Sheree R. Thomas who will be
visiting London for one week from 5th March, is the editor of two volumes
of speculative fiction, Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from
the African Diaspora, won the World Fantasy Award and the Gold Pen Award.
The second, Dark Matter: Reading the Bones was published on January 2, 2004
by Warner Aspect.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<http://www.phenzology.com/live/default.asp?target=main.asp>
Indelible Ink Writers Group welcomes all aspiring and established
writers from any genre of writing, journalism to novel or short-story
writing to performance poetry who are serious about their work and would
find interest in regularly attending a forum of a group of individuals
with simular interests in regards to discussing, sharing and developing
their current views, ideas and projects with others.
Sessions will be a few hours at a time and will include writing, reading
work from others in the group, brainstorming, sharing your own work and
giving and receiving feedback from others that attend the group as well
as discussions related to writing and current social topics that may be
of interest at the time.
There will also be periodical presentations, performances and readings
from working writers from various genres within the writing world such
as novelists, journalists and performance poets.
This aims to be a friendly, relaxed environment with flexability in
regards to how each session is conducted. It will focus mainly on
discussion of the creative process and the theoretical and practical
aspects of that process which will be presented and inspired by those
who attend.
In all of this we aim to provide a conduit of creativity and inspiration
for the entire group from which each individual can draw on at any time
in order to empower their own personal goals within every area of their
writing.
We will be holding an informal launch party for the Indelible Ink
Writers Group.
This night will be an intimate night of music, poetry & spoken word
taking place on Thursday 19th February 2004 at INDO, 133 Whitechapel
Road, London, E1 1DT. Entry: FREE
To find out when and where Indelible Ink Writers Group will be held or
to discuss or expand on any of the information or aims mentioned here,
please telephone: 07940 059 952
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READINGS/EVENTS
DESTINATIONS HOLIDAY SHOW 2004
The Daily Telegraph Destinations 2004, organised by
Clarion Events, is the UK's largest consumer holiday
show. They represent various regions of the world,
which include 'Destinations Sensations' areas, two
'Meet The Experts Theatres' & the 'World Music Stage'.
The show takes place in London at Earls Court from 5th
to 8th February 2004.
1-Freddy Macha & Kitoto show African dance &
drumming Thursday 5th Feb. 4.45 5pm. One Music
performance at 7 pm.
3-African hair styles, basket making & crafts- Uli
Kyusa 3.30 pm 3.45 pm. Every day
4-Sega dancers from Madagascar. 11.45 am pm 5 & 6th
Feb .11.15. 11.30 pm 7 & 8th Feb
5-Freddy Macha Kiswahili language / African drumming
Performance Workshop 3pm 3.20pm Every day.
6-Mbira Music with Linos Magaya from Zimbabwe 11.45
12 pm 7th & 8th Feb
Plus many other events
For further info about the show please visit
www.DestinationsShow.com
Or
Neeshat
Media Moguls
t: 020 8902 5575
www.mediamoguls.com
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Alex Wheatle. Described as Graham Greene for the hip hop generation , Alex
will be singing copies of his new book Brixton Rock set in the 80s at the
heart of reggae London at the following venues.
Thursday 5 Feb: 7.30 , Books Etc, Unit 5, Level 1, O2
Centre 255, Finchley Road, London NW3 6LU
Thursday 12 Feb: 7.30 Books Etc, Fulham Broadway
Retail Centre Unit, 3 Fulham Road, London SW6 1BW
Wednesday 18 Feb: 7.30 Borders ,122 Charing Cross Road
London WC2H 0JR
Thursday 19 Feb: 7.30 Borders, N1 Centre, Islington,
London N1 0PS
Saturday 21 Feb: 2pm, Borders, Birmingham, Bullring
Shopping Centre, Birmingham B5 4BE
Tuesday 24th February 7.45 New Cross library, 283/5
New Cross Road SE14.
Tuesday 2 March, 7.00, Index Book Centre 16 Electric
Avenue, Brixton, London SW98JX
11 March, 7.30 -9.30 Peckham library , 122 Peckham
Hill Street, SE15 5JT
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Poetry & Spirituality Lecture Series.
>
>The Poetry School, in association with The Poetry Society and St
>Paul's Church invites eminent speakers to talk on poetry &
>spirituality.
>
>at St Paul's Church, Bedford Street,
>Covent Garden, London WC2E 9ED.
>
>Sunday 15 February, 3pm
>
>Professor Alan Spence discusses the influence of Zen Buddhism on
>haiku and other verse forms that celebrate the moment of spiritual
>insight, the here and now.He will refer to the work of Basho, Issa,
>Buson and Shiki as well as more modern writers like Santoka. He will
>look at how the spirit of 'seeing into the life of things' infuses
>much Western poetry, including the work of the imagists and the
>Beats, and also at aspects of Scottish Poetry which share this
>sensibility - from the Celtic saints to Glasgow Zen!
>
>Alana Spence has been described as 'one of Scotlands most
>accomplished literary talents'. Published works include The Magic
>Flute, Stone Garden, Glasgow Zen and Seasons of the Heart. He has
>received the Scottish Writer of the Year McVitie Prize and is
>currently Professor in Creative Writing at the University of Aberdeen.
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
INDELIBLE INK
[log in to unmask]
An intimate night of music, poetry & spoken word.
THURSDAY 19TH FEBRUARY 2004
@ INDO
133 Whitechapel Road
London
E1 1DT
Doors open: 7pm
Show starts: 8pm
Close: 11pm
Entry: FREE
Directions
Nearest Buses: 25/106/205/253
Nearest Tubes: Whitechapel / Aldgate East
To register to perform at Indelible Ink or for any further enquiries.
Tel: 07940 059 952
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Displacement, Relocation, Identity: Revisioning Histories of Slavery
and Empire: A poetry reading and conference that will coincide and
engage with 'Naming the Money', an exhibition of new work by
internationally acclaimed artist Lubaina Himid to be exhibited at the
Hatton Gallery in Spring 2004.
Tuesday 2 March, 7pm: Poetry Reading featuring Fred D'Aguiar, Jackie
Kay and Jack Mapanje.
Wednesday 3 March 9.30am - 5pm - An interdisciplinary conference that
will engage with ongoing attempts to revision, represent, and rewrite
the entangled histories of enslavement, empire, and diaspora. Confirmed
Plenary speakers for the conference are: Lubaina Himid, Alan Rice and
Fred D'Aguiar. There will also be Parallel sessions that will explore
the theme in relation to Art, History, Literature and Museums.
Date: 2 & 3 March 2004
Location: Newcastle University
For more information on the event, to view our programme for the day, or
to download a booking form, please visit our conference website at:
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/niassh/americas/displacement
Please direct all other queries to the conference administrator, Sarah
Barber:
Newcastle Institute for the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
40/42 Great North Road
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU UK
ph. +44 (0)191 222 5064
fax. +44 (0)191 222 5069
email. [log in to unmask]
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/niassh
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4 March
Eric Jerome Dickey - Bestselling African American author
introduces his first UK publications - The Other Woman
Borders - Oxford Street- 6.30pm
T:020 7292 1600
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The Second National Black Writers and Publishers Conference
Cutlureword in association with Zion Arts Centre
Saturday March 20th
T:0161 832 3777
E:[log in to unmask]
15 pounds/10 conc. Price incldes evening entertainment with the legendary
speakeasy band at the green room
Full registraiton and programme details will be sent with confirmation on
booking
Day starts at 10.00am, with poetry session, lunch and book launches and
fiction session
Plenary Q and A session at the end
Green roome event starts ant 7.45
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Sunday 21 March, 3pm
>
>Aamer Hussein will explore both lyric poetry, in which Sufi thought
>conflates secular love with love of the divine, and narrative verse
>romances that borrow stories from the Quran as well as from
>pre-Islamic folklore to embody the tenets of Sufi belief. He will
>look at some influences of the Islamic metaphysical tradition on
>poetic forms in the non- Arabic speaking Muslim world and examine the
>inventive use of spiritual tradition in modern political poetry.
>Poets to be discussed include Hafez, Jami, Shah and Rongowarsito.
>
>
>Aamer Hussein was born in Karachi and moved to London in the 70s. He
>has a degree in Classical Persian with Urdu from SOAS and later did
>postgraduate research in existential philosophy and psychoanalysis
>before turning to write short fiction. He is the author of three
>volumes of short stories: Mirror to the Sun, This Other Salt and
>Turquoise.
>
>
>For more information and to book tickets, please contact: The Poetry
>School, 020 8223 0401 or email [log in to unmask]
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OVERSEAS BLUES: EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVES ON BLACK MUSIC
A Conference at the University of Gloucestershire,
Oxstalls Campus
23rd-26th July 2004
Black musicians have found a wide audience in Europe for well over a
century. The interest of Europeans in Black music, especially Blues and
Jazz, is obvious through the publication of journals and magazines, and the
continued sale of recordings. Performers as diverse as The Fisk Jubilee
Singers, Paul Robeson, Sydney Bechet, Josephine Baker, Cy Grant and Big
Bill Broonzy have all had enormous influence. How and why that should be
so, and its effects are the subject of this conference organized by the
University of Gloucestershire and European Blues Association.
The conference will focus on the spread and influence of Black music,
particularly but not exclusively the Blues, from the Americas to Europe.
It will also consider the response of the European audience. The
significance of Europe as a base or location for black performers and
recording artists, the influence of black music on European popular music
and culture, and the contribution of European writers, such as Paul Oliver,
David Horn, Charles Shaar Murray,Tony Russell, among others, to the study
and development of black music will provide a central subject for
discussion and examination.
The conference will include academic and non-academic papers, and include
some performances. It will take place on the Oxstalls campus of the
University of Gloucestershire and will proved a fitting lead-in to the
Gloucester Blues Festival, which will begin the following week. The cost
of the conference will be:
Weekend Resident, B&B, lunch and dinner = L240
Weekend non-resident, lunch incl. = L100
Daily rate, incl. lunch = L50
Conference dinner (Saturday) = L20
Proposals for papers and all other enquiries should be sent to Prof. Neil
Wynn, Humanities, Univ. of Gloucestershire, The Park, Cheltenham, Gl50
2QF.
E-mail: [log in to unmask]; phone 01242 536242.
Proposals no later than 30th April 2004.
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