Artswords News December 2015

Dear Writers and Readers  
Here are a few offerings from Artswords for the first part of December before the seasonal break and celebrations kick in.  

Mum’s the Word meets on Tuesday 1st December at 7.30pm at Lower Shaw Farm. A friendly, informal group for mothers interested in writing, for further information, please contact Monica at montimms@waitrose.com. 

Poetry Swindon’s Christmas Quiz and Open Mic is on Tuesday 8th December. A chance to test your knowledge of, allegedly, several million poems but ‘only’ several thousand poets. Find out more and book your tickets here 

The Artswords Reading Group meets at Lower Shaw Farm on Tuesday 8th December at 7.30pm to discuss The Wallcreeper by Nell Zink. A husband sees a bird and prangs the car. The injured bird comes home with them. It affects their marriage, and their concern for riverbanks of ‘mud where birds can plunge their beaks.’ What do you make of it? Come along and let us know. 

All are welcome to Lower Shaw Farm’s annual Carols by Candlelight on Saturday 12th December from 6pm -7.30pm. An old-fashioned twenty-first century evening in the farmyard and the old cowshed, with all the right seasonal ingredients to eat, drink, and sing! 

There is no Artswords Writers’ Café and Kitchen this month, but it will reconvene on Thursday 28th January. 

If you wish to forward this newsletter, please do; and like us on Facebook or join the conversation on Twitter 

If you have any news or events for January, please let us know by the middle of this month. 

Happy reading and writing, and season’s greetings!    




Matt Holland & Annie Vickers
SWINDON ARTSWORDS 
LOVE LITERATURE! LOVE LIFE!

Artswords News November 2015


Dear Writers and Readers

It’s November. Days are colder and nights are longer. Clearly, a good time for more reading and writing.

This month has been designated as National Novel Writing Month: thirty days in which to write 50,000 words. Can it be done? With the support of fellow readers, writers, and Artswords tutors it should be. If you want to know more, see here.

An Artswords writing course with Jill Sharp is already running each Tuesday from 10am to 12pm at the Richard Jefferies Museum.

Mum’s the Word, a group for mothers interested in writing, next meets on Tuesday 3rd November at 7.30pm at Lower Shaw Farm. For further information, please contact Monica at montimms@waitrose.com.

Poetry Swindon’s Open Mic returns on Tuesday 10th November at 7.30pm with readings from former Battered Moons winner, Zelda Chappel. Find out more and book your tickets here

The Artswords Reading Group meets at Lower Shaw Farm on Tuesday 17th November at 7.30pm to discuss Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant. Set in Paris in the upper-middle class environment of journalists, it tells the story of Georges Duroy, who climbs his way up to be chief editor, and clambers into other places too. Lots of Gallic intrigue.

Then on Saturday 21st November, New York poet Kathryn Maris comes to Swindon to share her expertise. Find out more and book your place here.

This month’s Artswords Writers' Cafe and Kitchen takes placefrom 6pm on Thursday 26th November at Lower Shaw Farm. Cost £2. Starts with pot-luck supper from 6pm. If you can, please bring something to nibble or drink, to share with others. Following acclimatisation with food and friendly chat, we take time to look at our writing. You may simply read your work for up to 5 minutes; or, if you’d like your work to be the subject of helpful comments and discussion, bring 10 copies of one piece of writing. This should amount to no more than 500 words of prose or 40 lines of poetry.

Other News

 One of the undersigned is heading for Paraguay this month. If you want to read and see some of what he does there, check out http://paraguay53.blogspot.co.uk/

Please share this newsletter, like us on Facebook or join the conversation on Twitter.

And if you have any news or events for December that you would like to see promoted via this newsletter, please let us know by the middle of this month.

Autumn greetings.



Matt Holland & Annie Vickers
SWINDON ARTSWORDS
LOVE LITERATURE! LOVE LIFE!

Artswords News October 2015

Dear Writers and Readers

October is here, and so is a festival of poetry in Swindon!

Yes, the month begins on a high with the fourth Swindon Festival of Poetry, 1st to 5th October.  Come along and find out why poet Robert Peake calls it the ‘friendliest and least pretentious’ festival. Meet the bard of the barge, Canals Laureate Jo Bell, who will be offering poetry on a slow boat in Swindon!  Savour poems over lunch, cake, or tea; make poetry mosaics; join a workshop; or just listen and join in in any way you like. For further details, see here.

To accompany the festival, Artsite is hosting a special exhibition uniting artists with poets in Poetry with Postcards from Monday 28th September to Sunday 4th October


On 6th October, an eight-week ARTSWORDS Writing Course, with Jill Sharp, begins at the Richard Jefferies Museum.This course is timed to coincide with worldwide NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).
It offers practical advice and support in a relaxed but purposeful atmosphere. For further information see http://artswordsswindon.blogspot.co.uk/p/writing-groups_28.html  or ring 01793 771080 or email artswords@lowershawfarm.co.uk

Mum’s the Word, a group for mothers interested in writing, next meets on Tuesday 6th October at 7.30pm at Lower Shaw Farm. For further information, please contact Monica at montimms@waitrose.com.

On Tuesday 20th October at 7.30pm the Artswords Reading Group meets at Lower Shaw Farm to discuss The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrente. Without warning, Olga is left, by her husband, with two young children. Her world falls apart, in one sense, but, in another, she recreates it… Further information from Matt at 01793 771080 or matt@lowershawfarm.co.uk

This month’s Artswords Writers' Cafe and Kitchen takes place from 6pm on Thursday 29th October at Lower Shaw Farm. Cost £2. Starts with pot-luck supper from 6pm. If you can, please bring something to nibble or drink, to share with others. Following acclimatisation with food and friendly chat, we take time to look at our writing. You may simply read your work for up to 5 minutes; or, if you’d like your work to be the subject of helpful comments and discussion, bring 10 copies of one piece of writing. This should amount to no more than 500 words of prose or 40 lines of poetry.

Other News

As already mentioned, it’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November, a worldwide initiative to uncover the writer in us all. Discover more here.

On Saturday 21st November, New York poet Kathryn Maris comes to Swindon to share her expertise. Find out more and book your place here.

If you wish to share this newsletter with others, please do; and like us on Facebook or join the conversation on Twitter.

If you have any news or events for November that you’d like us to mention in the next newsletter, please let us know by the middle of this month.


Looking forward to meeting, greeting, and enjoying poems at the Swindon Festival of Poetry!




Matt Holland & Annie Vickers
SWINDON ARTSWORDS 
LOVE LITERATURE! LOVE LIFE!

Artswords News September 2015

Dear Writers and Readers  


After the relative lull of the last weeks of summer, we look forward to the return of our regular reading and writing groups and some September surprises.

Mum’s the Word, a group for mothers interested in writing, returns on Tuesday 1st September at 7.30pm at Lower Shaw Farm.  For further information, please contact Monica at montimms@waitrose.com

On Saturday 5th SeptemberRichard Skinner comes to Swindon for a Writing Masterclass at the Richard Jefferies Museum. Richard is a novelist, poet, essayist and writing tutor on the Writing a Novel course at the Faber and Faber academy. To find out more and book your place, click here
Cost: £45

This month, Poetry Swindon’s Open Mic night is on Tuesday 8th September at the Victoria Pub in Old Town. Guest poets are Chris McCabe and Lorraine Mariner from the Poetry Library. For further details and to book your place, click here.

September’s Artswords Writers' Cafe and Kitchen takes place from 6pm on Thursday 24th September at Lower Shaw Farm. Cost £2. Starts with pot-luck supper from 6pm. If you can, please bring something to nibble or drink, to share with others. Following acclimatisation with food and friendly chat, we take time to look at our writing. You may simply read your work for up to 5 minutes; or, if you’d like your work to be the subject of helpful comments and discussion, bring 10 copies of one piece of writing. This should amount to no more than 500 words of prose or 40 lines of poetry.

Then, on Tuesday 29th September at 7.30pm, the Artswords Reading Group reconvenes at Lower Shaw Farm.  We will be discussing Fathers & Sons by Ivan Turgenev.
What’s a nihilist, in Russia? Can a nihilist fall in love? And what about cynics and stolen kisses? How does this nineteenth-century classic play out to twenty-first century readers? Come along to find out!
Further information from Matt 01793 771080 matt@lowershawfarm.co.uk
 

Other News

 An eight-week ARTSWORDS Writing Course with Jill Sharp begins in October. This course is timed to coincide with worldwide NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).
It offers practical advice and support in a relaxed but purposeful atmosphere.
For further information see http://artswordsswindon.blogspot.co.uk/p/writing-groups_28.html or ring 01793 771080 or email artswords@lowershawfarm.co.uk
The Swindon Festival of Poetry, (the ‘friendliest and least pretentious’ according to poet Robert Peake) takes place from 1st to 5th October. Lots of wonderful poets! You can listen, be tutored by, or simply be inspired. Meet the ‘canal laureate’ Jo Bell, find out about flash fiction, or come and enjoy poetry over a cuppa with others. Further details available here

In partnership with the Poetry Festival, Artsite artists and poets have worked together to produce beautiful postcards.  An exhibition of the outcomes runs from 28th September to 5th October at Artsite.

If you would like to, please feel free to share this newsletter with others, like us on Facebook or join the conversation on Twitter.

If you have any news or events for October, please let us know by the middle of this month.

Happy reading, writing, and thinking!

Matt Holland & Annie Vickers

SWINDON ARTSWORDS 
LOVE LITERATURE! LOVE LIFE!

Artswords News August 2015

Dear Writers and Readers  

August is here and even though it’s holiday time for many, the passionate few can still find reading and writing-related activities in Swindon.

Every Monday in August, from 1 to 3pm, Mulberry Arts, at the Richard Jefferies Museum will be kicking off the week with a bit of Wood Magic family fun. Each week has a different theme. The cost is £5 per session or £15 for all six sessions over the school holidays. Find out more here.

From 11th to 13th August, physical-theatre company, The Last Baguette, will be joining forces with local educators, Pageturners Project to bring books to life in the Central Library. Children aged 9-12 will have the chance to explore the scariest stories lurking in the library to use as a launch-pad to create their own spookily-inspired drama. A terrific introduction to both the power of words and the power of performance. To find out more and book your place, click here.
Cost £5 (for all three sessions)

On Saturday 22nd August, author Jasper Fforde, will be hosting a one-day masterclass at the Richard Jefferies Museum. Jasper is well-known for his Thursday Next novels, which are set in our very own town, Swindon. Suitable for writers of all abilities, whether just starting or with work in progress or published. Tickets are limited. To find out more and/or book your place, click here.
Cost: £45 + booking fee

This month’s Artswords Writers' Cafe and Kitchen takes place from 6pm on Thursday 27th August at Lower Shaw Farm. Cost £2. Starts with pot-luck supper from 6pm. If you can, please bring something to nibble or drink, to share with others. Following acclimatisation with food and friendly chat, we take time to look at our writing. You may simply read your work for up to 5 minutes; or, if you’d like your work to be the subject of helpful comments and discussion, bring 10 copies of one piece of writing. This should amount to no more than 500 words of prose or 40 lines of poetry.

Note. This month we shall be once again welcoming local storyteller Chris Park to assist with and inspire our story-telling. We now also welcome anyone with 5-minute stories to tell. If you have a story, to tell, not read, and ideally a story from your life, please bring it along.

Other News
The Poetry Swindon Festival takes place 1st-5th October. Bookings are now open for residential places at Lower Shaw Farm. See http://www.lowershawfarm.co.uk/oct-2015#oct-poetry  Visiting the Festival this year with poetry and workshops are Jo Bell as poet in residence, Kei MillerLuke KennardTania Hershman, and Pascale Petit plus many more exciting voices and experiences. 

If you like literature as much as we do, please share this newsletter, like us on Facebook, or join the conversation on Twitter.
If you have any news or events for September that you would like to see in ARTSWORDS NEWS, please let us know by the middle of August.

Wishing you happy holidays, good reading, and creative writing.

Matt Holland & Annie Vickers
SWINDON ARTSWORDS
LOVE LITERATURE! LOVE LIFE!

Artswords News July 2015

Dear Writers and Readers  
  
Suddenly, it’s July, with strawberries, Wimbledon, sunshine, and storms!

But also some summertime reading and writing events.

This month's Mum’s the Word meeting, for mothers interested in writing, takes place at 7.30pm at Lower Shaw Farm on Tuesday 7th July. This month, the meeting will be a Writing Workshop, led by Jill Sharp. A real opportunity to get good guidance and inspiration on good writing. It promises to be productive fun!
For further information, contact Karen at 
mattkarensmith@yahoo.co.uk

And Poetry Swindon has things happening.

On Saturday 11th Julythere is a workshop and reading with Mario Petrucci. ‘The 16 Ways’ is a hands-on exploration of the major pathways into writing, including everything from the 'found text' to Larkin's pickles.
2pm – 7pm at The Richard Jefferies Museum.

The next OPEN MIC is back at The Vic on Tuesday 14th July at 7pm for 7:30pm with guest poets Jonathon Muirhead and Anna-May Laugher.  The Vic, Victoria Road, Swindon, SN1 3BD

The Poetry Swindon Festival takes place 1st-5th October. Bookings are now open for residential places at Lower Shaw Farm. See http://www.lowershawfarm.co.uk/oct-2015#oct-poetry  Visiting the Festival this year with poetry and workshops are Jo Bell as poet in residence, Kei Miller, Luke Kennard, Tania Hershman, and Pascale Petit plus many more exciting voices and experiences. 

The next Artswords Reading Group takes place at 7.30pm Tuesday 21st July at Lower Shaw Farm. The book is We are all Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. Family mysteries are one thing but family experiments quite another. Booker Prize short-listed novel of intrigue and enlightenment, of a kind.  For further information, contact matt@lowershawfarm.co.uk or ring 01793 771080

For other local Reading Groups that take place in Libraries, see HERE

This month’s Writers’ Café and Kitchen takes place from 6pm on Thursday 30th July at Lower Shaw Farm. Cost £2. Starts with pot-luck supper from 6pm. If you can, please bring something to nibble or drink, to share with others. Following acclimatisation with food and friendly chat, we take time to look at our writing. You may simply read your work for up to 5 minutes; or, if you’d like your work to be the subject of helpful comments and discussion, bring 10 copies of one piece of writing. This should amount to no more than 500 words of prose or 40 lines of poetry.

Note. This month we shall be once again welcoming local storyteller Chris Park to assist with and inspire our story-telling. We now also welcome anyone with 5-minute stories to tell. If you have a story, to tell, not read, and ideally a story from your life, please bring it along.

Other News:

The Richard Jefferies Museum has a programme of Writing Workshops and Literature events for children and families. Please see www.richardjefferies.org and click Education for full details.

If you want to keep abreast of literature development projects that Artswords will be organising or supporting, you can follow us via this monthly newsletter, or updates on Facebook and Twitter (see links below), or on our website here.

If you have any news or events for August that you would like to share with other readers of ARTSWORDS NEWS, please let us know by the middle of this month.

Happy summer, and reading and writing!


Matt Holland & Annie Vickers
SWINDON ARTSWORDS
LOVE LITERATURE! LOVE LIFE!

Artswords News June 2015

Dear Writers and Readers  
  

Hope your June is already busting out all over!

Here are some reading and writing events to help it along.

This month's Mum’s the Word meeting, for mothers interested in writing, takes place at 7.30pm at Lower Shaw Farm on Tuesday 2nd June.
For further information, contact Karen at mattkarensmith@yahoo.co.uk


And Poetry Swindon has a host of good things.

On 6th June, 13:30 to 16:30, at the Richard Jefferies Museum, Coate Water, SN3 6AA, there is a workshop: Smart Reading for Smarter Writing Martin Malone
£20 Members/£25 non-members
Some bursaries are available for members (email 
poetryswindon@yahoo.co.uk)
Eventbrite - Smart Reading for Smarter Writing: a workshop with Martin Malone



On 9th June, it’s Open Mic Night at the Savernake Community Centre, Savernake Street SN1 3LZ with guest poet Jill Sharp, celebrating the publication of her new pamphlet 'Ye gods'. Bring poems of your own or favourite poems to share with the audience.
£3 members/£5 non-members

Poetry Swindon Festival 1-5 October. Bookings are now open for residential places at Lower Shaw Farm. See http://www.lowershawfarm.co.uk/oct-2015#oct-poetry  
Visiting the Festival this year with poetry and workshops are Jo Bell as poet in residence, Kei Miller, Luke Kennard, Tania Hershman, and Pascale Petit plus many more exciting voices and experiences. 

Battered Moons Poetry Competition is open for entries until 30th June. For full details visit www.batteredmoons.com

The next Artswords Reading Group takes place at 7.30pm Tuesday 16th June at Lower Shaw Farm. The book is H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. ’To train a hawk you must watch it like a hawk. . . . The hawk’s apprehension becomes your own.’ A story of the hawk’s taming and the author’s un-taming. Costa Biography Award winner.
For further information, contact matt@lowershawfarm.co.uk or ring 01793 771080.

This month’s Writers’ Café and Kitchen takes place from 6pm on Thursday 25th June at Lower Shaw Farm. Cost £2. Starts with pot-luck supper from 6pm. If you can, please bring something to nibble or drink, to share with others. Following acclimatisation with food and friendly chat, we take time to look at our writing. You may simply read your work for up to 5 minutes; or, if you’d like your work to be the subject of helpful comments and discussion, bring 10 copies of one piece of writing. This should amount to no more than 500 words of prose or 40 lines of poetry.

Note. This month we shall be welcoming local storyteller Chris Park to assist with and inspire our story-telling. We now also welcome anyone with 5-minute stories to tell. If you have a story, to tell, not read, and ideally a story from your life, please bring it along.

Other News:

The Richard Jefferies Museum has a programme of Writing Workshops and Literature events for children and families. Please see 
www.richardjefferies.org and click Education for full details.

Long-time multi-tasking Artswords soul and helpmate Hilda Sheehan is concentrating on Poetry Swindon Festival and events, plus projects at the Richard Jefferies Museum, and related work. Stepping into her shoes at Artswords, especially on the social media and networking front, is word and Swindon-friendly and Annie Vickers, whom we welcome.

If you want to keep abreast of Literature development projects that Artswords will be organising or supporting, you can follow us via this monthly newsletter, or updates on Facebook and Twitter (See links below the newsletter), or on our website http://artswordsswindon.blogspot.co.uk/p/latest-news.html

If you have any news or events for July that you would like to share with other readers of ARTSWORDS NEWS, please let us know by the middle of this month.



Matt Holland & Annie Vickers
SWINDON ARTSWORDS
LOVE LITERATURE! LOVE LIFE!

Artswords News May 2015

Dear Writers and Readers  

Welcome to May!
We have launches, launches everywhere, and daisy and dandelions too.
Aren’t we the lucky ones!
Hope you get a chance to visit and do something related to writing or reading in the beautifully re-vamped and newly re-launched Richard Jefferies Museum, now as much like a living writer’s writing pad as it is a museum for a long-dead one.  See www.richardjefferies.org
And another launch takes place in a few days’ time: the Swindon Festival of Literature, at 5.30am on Monday 4th May. For full details of the early start and the subsequent fortnight of literary frolics at www.swindonfestivalofliterature.co.uk
It’s full of good things but we’d like to draw your attention to a few fascinating Artswords-supported events.
5th May WALTZING WITH FRANCES & MARTINE 6.30pm
Arts Centre, Devizes Road 01793 524481
5th MayWRITING MOTHERHOOD 8pm
Arts Centre, Devizes Road 01793 524481
7th May ANNA WHITWHAM & PADDY FITZPATRICK 8pm
Arts Centre, Devizes Road 01793 524481
9th May SWINDON SLAM! 7.30pm
Arts Centre, Devizes Road 01793 524481
11th May POETRY SWINDON OPEN MIC 7.30pm
Museum & Art Gallery, Bath Road, SN1 4BA 01793 466556
14th May WHAT I BRING 7.30pm
Central Library, Regent Circus SN1 1QG 01793 463238
15th MayTHINK SLAM! 8pm
Arts Centre, Devizes Road 01793 524481
Maybe see you at one or all of them!

The next Writers’ Café and Kitchen takes place from 6pm on Thursday 28th May at Lower Shaw Farm. Cost £2. Starts with pot-luck supper from 6pm. If you can, please bring something to nibble or drink, to share with others. Following acclimatisation with food and friendly chat, we take time to look at our writing. You may simply read your work for up to 5 minutes; or, if you’d like your work to be the subject of helpful comments and discussion, bring 10 copies of one piece of writing. This should amount to no more than 500 words of prose or 40 lines of poetry.

Note. We now also welcome anyone with 5-minute stories to tell. If you have a story, to tell, not read, and ideally a story from your life, please bring it along.

Other News:

The Richard Jefferies Museum has a programme of Writing Workshops and Literature events for children and families. Please see www.richardjefferies.org and click Education for full details.

The Battered Moons Poetry Competition is now open for entries: www.batteredmoons.com

If you want to keep abreast of Literature development projects and festivals that Artswords will be organising or supporting, you can follow us via this monthly newsletter, or updates on Facebook and Twitter (See links below the newsletter)

If you have any news or events for June that you would like to share with other readers of ARTSWORDS NEWS, please let us know by the middle of this month.

Happy May days and, from 4th to 16th, hope to see you at the Swindon Festival of Literature!

Matt Holland & Hilda Sheehan
SWINDON ARTSWORDS
LOVE LITERATURE! LOVE LIFE!

Artswords News April 2015

Dear Writers and Readers  
 
Dawn choruses, clocks forward, light evenings, and hosts of golden daffodils: we are definitely in England, and springtime is here!

And you probably do not need a reminder about this: the twenty-second Swindon Festival of Literature, 4th – 16th May.

A little film of its programme launch is here https://www.youtube.com/embed/v3DkmMRFEPQ?rel=0&showinfo=0   and its website, with full programme details, here www.swindonfestivalofliterature.co.uk

 But as for this month, here’s what’s happening in April.

This month's Mum’s the Word meeting, for mothers interested in writing, takes place at 7.30pm at Lower Shaw Farm on Tuesday 14th April.
For further information, contact Karen at mattkarensmith@yahoo.co.uk

On Tuesday 14th April, the Poetry Swindon Open Mic welcomes you to share poems, stories, or songs, for up to 5 minutes each. This month the editors and contributors from 'The Book of Love and Loss' are guest poets. The ticket cost is £3 BG members and £5 to non-members.  The evening starts at 7pm to sign up and the new venue is the The Victoria, 88 Victoria Road Swindon Wiltshire SN1 3BD. For further details, please email Sam Loveless at sam.loveless1988@gmail.com
Eventbrite - April Open Mic fest. The Book of Love and Loss

At 7.30pm Tuesday 21st April at Lowers Shaw Farm the Artswords Reading Group meets to discuss Big Brother by Lionel Shriver. He may be an older brother and cool jazz pianist but Edison’s know-it-all monologues and bad diet do not please Pandora. How much should she sacrifice in order to ‘save’ her big brother?

For further details, contact: matt@lowershawfarm.co.uk

For other local Reading Groups that take place in Libraries, see HERE

On Saturday 11 April Poetry Swindon have a workshop: Making Poetry Films with Elephant Foot Print film makers Chaucer Cameron and Helen Dewbery  There are only a few places left so please enquire at poetryswindon@yahoo.co.uk for details.
Eventbrite - Poetry Film Workshop with Chaucer Cameron and Helen Dewbery
To see the full Poetry Swindon Programme, see HERE

The next Writers’ Café and Kitchen takes place from 6pm on Thursday 30th April at Lower Shaw Farm. Cost £2. Starts with pot-luck supper from 6pm. If you can, please bring something to nibble or drink, to share with others. Following acclimatisation with food and friendly chat, we take time to look at our writing. You may simply read your work for up to 5 minutes; or, if you’d like your work to be the subject of helpful comments and discussion, bring 10 copies of one piece of writing. This should amount to no more than 500 words of prose or 40 lines of poetry.

Note. We now also welcome anyone with 5-minute stories to tell. If you have a story, to tell, not read, and ideally a story from your life, please bring it along.

Other News:

The Richard Jefferies Museum has a programme of Writing Workshops and Literature events for children and families. Please see www.richardjefferies.org and click Education for full details.

The Battered Moons Poetry Competition is now open for entries: www.batteredmoons.com

If you want to keep abreast of Literature development projects and festivals that Artswords will be organising or supporting, you can follow us via this monthly newsletter, or updates on Facebook and Twitter (See links below the newsletter)

If you have any news or events for May that you would like to share with other readers of ARTSWORDS NEWS, please let us know by the middle of this month.

Happy reading and writing, and don’t forget to book your Festival tickets!

Matt Holland & Hilda Sheehan
SWINDON ARTSWORDS
LOVE LITERATURE! LOVE LIFE!

Artswords News March

Dear Writers and Readers  
 
The year marches on into March. Snowdrop and snowflakes give way to daffodils, frogspawn, and and the launch of a little old Literature festival.

At midday, as the Town Hall clocks strikes 12, on Thursday 19th March in the town’s prize-winning Central Library, hot off the press, the programme for the twenty-second Swindon Festival of Literature will be launched, provided one of the undersigned stops writing long sentences like this and instead, gets on with solving last-minute changes, challenges, and queries.

But we would like you to know that, as a fully-qualified recipient of this monthly missive, you are invited to the afore-mentioned launch. RSVP
swindonlitfest@lowershawfarm.co.uk

Here’s what else is happening in March.

This month's Mum’s the Word meeting, for mothers interested in writing, takes place at 7.30pm at
Lower Shaw Farm on Tuesday 3rd March.
For further information, contact Karen at
mattkarensmith@yahoo.co.uk

On Tuesday 10th March, the Poetry Swindon Open Mic welcomes you to share poems, stories, or songs, for up to 5 minutes each. Our guest poet this month is George Ttoouli. The ticket cost is £3 BG members and £5 to non-members.  The evening starts at 7pm to sign up and the new venue is the
The Victoria, 88 Victoria Road Swindon Wiltshire SN1 3BD. For further details, please email Sam Loveless at sam.loveless1988@gmail.com
Eventbrite - OPEN MIC NIGHT with Guest Poet GEORGE TTOOULI

At 7.30pm Tuesday 24th March at
Lowers Shaw Farm the Artswords Reading Group meets to discuss This Boy by Alan Johnson. One man’s story, from post-war to politics, but also a story of two women, a part of London, and England.


For further details, contact: matt@lowershawfarm.co.uk

For other local Reading Groups that take place in Libraries, see HERE

On March 15th at 2pm Poetry Swindon have a workshop: Documentary Poetics with Dr Andrea Brady.  There are only a few places left so please enquire at poetryswindon@yahoo.co.uk for details.

To see the full Poetry Swindon Programme, see
HERE

The next Writers’ Café and Kitchen takes place from 6pm on Thursday 26th March at Lower Shaw Farm. Cost £2. Starts with pot-luck supper from 6pm. If you can, please bring something to nibble or drink, to share with others. Following acclimatisation with food and friendly chat, we take time to look at our writing. You may simply read your work for up to 5 minutes; or, if you’d like your work to be the subject of helpful comments and discussion, bring 10 copies of one piece of writing. This should amount to no more than 500 words of prose or 40 lines of poetry.

Note. We now also welcome anyone with 5-minute stories to tell. If you have a story, to tell, not read, and ideally a story from your life, please bring it along. At the last Cafe, we had some great stories!

Other News:

On Thursday 26th February at the Poetry Society's Poetry Café, Swindon Poets met Suffolk poets in a joint poetry reading of six poets from each area. It was a great opportunity to showcase the exciting voices coming out of our town and to meet poets from further afield. Maurice Spillane is Swindon's Poetry Society representative and he did a great job in making the opportunity happen. We'll be doing it again we hope. 


In a new edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary, certain ‘nature words’ were culled because they were deemed ‘no longer relevant to modern-day childhood’. The words removed included these. acorn, adder, ash, beech, bluebell, buttercup, catkin, conker, cowslip, dandelion, fern, heather, ivy, kingfisher, lark, nectar, otter, pasture, and willow. Their replacements included these. attachment, broadband, bullet-point, celebrity, chatroom, committee, cut-and-paste, and voice-mail. And, for blackberry, read Blackberry.

According to a recent YouGov poll, being an author is the number one most desired job in Britain. Not only would the most people like to be one (60%), the smallest percentage would not like to be one. The only other one of three jobs preferred by a majority is almost equally as bookish. It’s being a librarian (54%).

If you want to keep abreast of Literature development projects and festivals that Artswords will be organising or supporting, you can follow us via this monthly newsletter, or updates on Facebook and Twitter (See links below the newsletter)

If you have any news or events for April that you would like to share with other readers of ARTSWORDS NEWS, please let us know by the middle of this month.

Happy reading, writing, and spring feelings!

Matt Holland & Hilda Sheehan

SWINDON ARTSWORDS
LOVE LITERATURE! LOVE LIFE!

Artswords News February


Here we are, already one twelfth of the way through the year, enjoying snowdrops and occasional snow flurries.

The question is, are we making good use of our time, or, as recommended by The Idler Academy (see www.idler.co.uk ) should we be more laid back about things?

Well, for better or for worse, Artswords prefers to busy itself with putting on good things to do with reading, writing, and Literature Development. So, if you want to see what’s on offer, check out our website at www.artswords.co.uk

Here’s what’s happening in February.

This month's Mum’s the Word meeting, for mothers interested in writing, takes place at 7.30pm at Lower Shaw Farm on Tuesday 3rd February.

For further information, contact Karen at mattkarensmith@yahoo.co.uk 

On Tuesday 10th February, the Poetry Swindon Open Mic welcomes you to share poems, stories, or songs, for up to 5 minutes each. Our guest poet this month is Paul Sutton. The ticket cost is £3 BG members and £5 to non-members. Refreshments will be available for sale.  The evening starts at 7pm to sign up and the new venue is the The Victoria, 88 Victoria Road Swindon Wiltshire SN1 3BD. For further details, please email Sam Loveless at sam.loveless1988@gmail.com
Eventbrite - Poetry Swindon Open Mic with Paul Sutton

At 7.30pm Tuesday 17th February at Lowers Shaw Farm the Artswords Reading Group meets to discuss Twenty Years A Growing by Maurice O’Sullivan. Where is the Great Blasket? What’s it like to live on an island, without much changing, except for the weather and such? What’s the role of folk tales? What are they? 

For further details, contact: matt@lowershawfarm.co.uk

For other local Reading Groups that take place in Libraries, see HERE

On Saturday 21st February Poetry Swindon have a workshop: Smart Reading for Smarter Writing with Martin Malone. This workshop will provide a general introduction to the sort of critical and theoretical possibilities open to us when we read poetry; so that our own writing may become more self-aware and our decisions more intelligent.1:30pm to 4pm at the Richard Jefferies Museum. Full details and payment on the button below:
Eventbrite - Smart Reading for Smarter Writing: a workshop with Martin Malone

To see the full Poetry Swindon Programme, see HERE

The next Writers’ Café and Kitchen takes place from 6pm on Thursday 26th February at Lower Shaw Farm. Cost £2. Starts with pot-luck supper from 6pm. If you can, please bring something to nibble or drink, to share with others. Following acclimatisation with food and friendly chat, we take time to look at our writing. You may simply read your work for up to 5 minutes; or, if you’d like your work to be the subject of helpful comments and discussion, bring 10 copies of one piece of writing. This should amount to no more than 500 words of prose or 40 lines of poetry. 
Note. We now also welcome anyone with 5-minute stories to tell. If you have a story, to tell, not read, and ideally a story from your life, please bring it along.

Other News:

The Corinium Museum in Cirencester is running a poetry competition. They are looking for poems of up to 40 lines inspired by an object displayed or theme interpreted at the museum. The closing date for entries is 6th February 2015.  CATEGORIES:The competition is open to three age categories:16 years old and above, 11-15 years old, Under 11s  See HERE for full details.


On Tuesday 27th January, we marked Holocaust Memorial Day in Swindon. Words‘charged with meaning’ and poetry both played a part.
See http://www.swindonviewpoint.com/video/remembering-holocaust
 
Talking of poetry, in a recent article, Jeanette Winterson says as much about poetry in general and poetry in particular as she does about poems by Carol Ann Duffy.
One after another, she hits nails on heads, we think.
See if you agree at http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/17/jeanette-winterson-on-carol-ann-duffys-the-worlds-wife
 
If you want to keep abreast of Literature development projects and festivals that Artswords will be organising or supporting, you can follow us via this monthly newsletter, or updates on Facebook and Twitter (See links below the newsletter)

If you have any news or events for March that you would like to share with other readers of ARTSWORDS NEWS, please let us know by the middle of this month.

Happy reading and writing!

Matt Holland & Hilda Sheehan
SWINDON ARTSWORDS 
LOVE LITERATURE! LOVE LIFE!