Mental Health & Me - Writing Competition

Literature’s love affair with the mind is an age-old tradition where creativity has always been closely entwined with mental distress, yet the subject of mental health is still widely considered a taboo subject. We hope that this competition will challenge the stigma around mental distress and promote social inclusion by giving entrants the opportunity to explore this topic using traditional and/or alternative forms of writing.

Has mental distress affected you or someone close to you? Are you particularly interested in the subject of mental health?  Are you a carer or have you worked with people suffering from mental distress and want to share your experience? If the answer’s yes, we’d love to hear from you!

Liverpool’s Mental Health Consortium in partnership with Writing on the Wall, is launching a writing competition to mark World Mental Health Day on Friday, 10th October 2014. We are inviting you to send us an original written response under the theme of ‘Mental Health and Me.’ You can send us a poem, a short story, a diary piece or a blog post, a letter, a piece of journalism or even a tweet, yes – a tweet!

CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE COMPETITION 

Good Luck!

Literature is no one’s private ground; literature is common ground; let us trespass freely and fearlessly and find our own way for ourselves– Virginia Woolf

For further information or if you have any queries, please contact info@writingonthewall.org.uk or ring
Writing on the Wall on 0151 703 0020.
Alternatively, you can email hello@liverpoolmentalhealth.org or ring
Liverpool Mental Health Consortium on 0151 237 2688

Writing on the Wall maintains a strong partnership with Liverpool Mental Health Consortium. We have worked together to deliver a What’s Your Story? project with LMHC targeted towards service users which was led by poet and writer, Clare Shaw. Click here for more details. 

Liverpool's First Virtual Book Fair

The first computers were introduced into my school, De La Salle, way back in the later 70’s/early 80’s. I was on my way out so didn’t get near them; they would have been simple word processors. When I worked in an office in the mid 80’s we had one computer, an Amstrad. The text on the screen was green on a black background and it printed onto sheets with holes down the side for a dot matrix printer. Very exciting. It was good for text documents and address lists, etc., but slow, awfully slow. When I went to university in 1999 it felt quite radical when one of the tutors handed us our course materials on a floppy disc. I’m not sure kids like my nephews would know what a floppy disc is now. At the risk of sounding like an old duffer - how quickly things have changed, exponentially, in the most recent past.

The book, the form of the book as a physical object, has stood well the test of time. Second-hand book shops are testament to their durability. Books generally don’t break or wear out. From bedside to beaches they’re our lifelong companions, but now the new kids on the block look like they may be gaining the upper hand.

The e-book, Kobo, Kindle, etc., the smartphone and the tablet, and the apps that accompany them, have eased into our lives as platforms for reading, writing and publishing, and have provoked an ongoing debate about potential dangers of the quality of self-published writing, of storytelling, etc., and a discussion on the future, or otherwise, of the book itself. Will e-books save the trees and rule the world, should we jump in with gay abandon, or, should we follow the advice of Children’s Laureate, Mallory Blackman, to ‘proceed with caution’?

Nielson, who document book sales on all platforms, reported recently that print sales have fallen by 10% last year while e-book sales have risen by 20% in the UK in 2013, with 80 million books being sold in the UK last year. This trend has continued over the past few years, and looks to continue, with e-book sales predicted to outsell physical books in future years. However, the monetary gap in sales gives some indication that this could take longer than the 2018 target being anticipated by some. The book trade in the UK in 2013 was worth £2.2 billion, a figure that currently towers over the £800m in sales for e-books.

Although there are many publishers living in morbid fear of this growth, this is contested by some. One of those arguing against the decline of the book, who has a big interest in the sale of physical books, is Tim Waterstone, founder of the national Waterstones chain. He argues the ‘product is so strong, the interest in reading is so deeply rooted in the culture and human soul of this country (UK) that it is immovable’. This appears to be backed up by sales figures last year from America, which appear to contradict the figures I gave for the UK, where e-book sales rose by just 4% compared to the sales of physical books, which rose by 11.5%. If this trend crosses the Atlantic, Waterstone may be proven right.

I do wonder if the current financial strength of physical books could turn into a weakness for the bookselling industry, with one of the strengths of e-books being the ability to undercut the often, in my humble opinion, exorbitant price of physical books. As readers become more familiar with the new platforms, including mobile phones, I feel there is the potential for a very rapid shift from physical to e-books. I think generational shifts would be the key to this, as the younger generations are the first to grow up with the complete digital experience available to them, and we’ve yet to see the full potential of smart phones and phablets, which are favoured by younger people. Although personally I believe, in much the way the two are combined at, for example, Liverpool’s Central Library, the two will survive alongside each other for some time to come.

So it’s timely for Writing on the Wall to give people in Liverpool the chance to get in on this debate too. It’s a nice touch that it takes place in Liverpool’s magnificently refurbished Central Library, which, according to Trip Advisor, is one of Liverpool’s most popular tourist destination. The library has a good combination of books and new media, with rows of computers and iPads laid out among the book shelves. As a member of the library I enjoy having the ability to download e-books from their site, particularly the audio books.

Some argue it is in self publishing that the real revolution is happening. Long gone, it seems, are the days of fear and snobbery about ‘vanity publishing’. If the latest figures are anything to go by writers are taking to the new form with glee, and achieving some success too. In 2013, 18 million self published books were bought online, a growth of 79%. We’ll be featuring some self-published authors at the Virtual Book Fair, including Karl Coppack and Beth Reekles, and finding out from them the attractions, the pitfalls, and how it feels to be in total control of their work – from writing through to the publishing and marketing.

Writers have always had the option to self-publish, but, besides the issue mentioned earlier of ‘vanity publishing’, the major pitfall has always been marketing and distribution. It’s impossible for any single writer to match the power of the major book stores and distribution companies. Getting your book into your local independent book shop, or Waterstones through their community agreements, is some achievement, but it’s a long way from gaining the visibility you need to break through nationally.

But that monopoly has been broken, and any writer with a fair bit of social media savvy can find an audience for their work, given that it is of sufficient quality to have some legs about it (more about this later). I would argue for writers that the task for them is not to try and reach out to the whole market, but to target audiences for their work by getting their book into the right marketplaces.

Beth Reekles

A good example of this is Beth Reekles, a young author with a remarkable story, who is appearing at the Virtual Book Fair. Beth published her first novel on Wattpad at the age of fifteen. The Kissing Booth received an unbelievable 19 million reads and 40,000 comments/reviews. She has achieved this without the notoriety of a Fifty Shades of Grey, and clearly hit a more subterranean market based on the strength of the work itself. Beth has now signed a three book deal with Random House, successfully making the crossover from e-publishing to mainstream physical books. It’ll be interesting to hear whether she feels a more established author after signing up to Random House than she did as a successful e-book publisher.

A question jumps to mind: is it really the aim of self-published writers to get noticed by mainstream publishers?

Reading through the comments following an article on digital self-publishing, one complaint that came up time again was of the quality of the actual writing of self-published novels – for me Fifty Shades is a case in point. We could argue all day about the quality of many books that for no apparent reason make it into print, but there at least you’ve got an editor to blame (hopefully). Now that writers can bypass the gatekeepers of the publishing industry, do they too often they throw the baby out with the bathwater, forgetting that a good editor can transform a novel? If you can’t get a professional editor, or at least proof reader, which can be expensive, then at least get a knowledgeable and critical friend, or even better, friends, to run a critical eye over it. Writers will get the chance to pick up on some well tutored advice on this and other pitfalls with the writer’s desk at the Virtual Book Fair. Novelists Caroline Smailes, The Drowning of Arthur Braxton, Debbie Morgan, Disappearing Home, and LJMU Writing MA leader and novelist Jim Friel, The Posthumous Affair, will be putting a virtual spin on some words of wisdom they’ll be giving to writers interested in self-publishing.

In some ways I wonder if it matters so much in the overall scheme of things. When punk happened no one worried too much that bands didn’t have degrees in musicology. The best part was that they didn’t, and didn’t care. Quality will rise to the top, and hopefully survive, and the rest, well, if you loved an obscure punk band with one EP and three chords to their name, good enough; they all pitched in to create a movement that changed music for the better. Maybe this could be the punk revolution for the writers.

And maybe, when we talk of digital publishing, there is too much concentration on the novel. The form of the novel has been with us for time. It began to reach the heights at which we now regard it during the 18th Century. It is the perfect form. So why break something that ain’t broken? There are restrictions ‘imposed’ by the finances of publishing, although no doubt by readers’ attention span too, whereby the ideal form these days seems to be of about 70,000 words. I don’t see much reason why that would change with the advent of the e-book. What is most interesting is the opportunities and options that digital publishing, and the platforms we use to consume it, are presenting us with as alternatives to the novel.

You can see the form changing already with the advent of, for example, Kindle Singles, which allows people to develop short fiction, or essays, in a newly recognised form. Major authors such as Stephen King have used this form to quickly put out material they feel important (King’s essay was on guns in America).

One of my favourite apps, that shape the form to the platform, and to the reader, is LitNav, produced by Manchester’s Comma Press. Jim Hinks, Digital and New Writing Manager from Comma, will be demonstrating the app and the background to its development at the VFB. The app, available for free download, is designed to accompany readers on their journey, giving options of reading, or listening, to stories on the go – whether by train, car, walking, and can be selected for journey length and location. It features stories from all the continents, from major cities inc. Berlin, Shenyang, New York Istanbul, Alexandria, and of course, Liverpool (False Light by Margaret Murphy). It’s a brilliant idea, and a well executed app, which demonstrates just one way of really celebrating the new digital platforms.

There’s also Touch Press, who aim to ‘re-invent the reading experience by offering information that is enhanced with rich media and that adapts dynamically to the interests and experience of the reader.’ – at least that’s what their mission statement says. I downloaded and had a wander through two of their apps for iPad; one based on TS Eliot’s The Wasteland, and the other a rewriting of Five Fables of Scottish 15th C writer, Robert Henryson, by the great Irish poet Seamus Heaney.

Leaving aside whether you’re into Eliot and his poetry, The Wasteland app has something for everyone - it’s the experience that this platform gives you which matters here. The app gives you the poem, images of the original manuscript with annotations Eliot and editorial by Ezra Pound, audio of a range of people, from Eliot himself to Jeannette Winterson, and notes, commentary, etc. You can also make your own notes. I loved it.

I loved even more Heaney’s Five Fables. It also has commentary, introduction and text of the fables, but its best feature is the animation of the fables, with the voice and avatar of comedian Billy Connolly adding extra weight and dimension to the words. I imagine kids would love it, definitely wee Scottish kids.

The reason I mention Touch Press is that they have kindly given us some free downloads of their apps as prizes for people at the Virtual Book Fair, and we’ll have a digital station with iPads available for people to test them out and see what works for them.

All in all, really looking forward to the VBF – the Twitter competition, the kid’s digital corner with illustrations and storytelling, meeting the Salt writers, and of course our guest speakers. Most of all I’m hoping people can bring to it a little more than what we already know, which, like everyone, is relatively not a lot compared to the ocean of digital material developing, but, it’s a start, and a long way off from the first word processors at school.

Mike Morris

The Liverpool Virtual Book Fair

This summer Writing on the Wall is bringing you Publishers, Writers and Readers for Liverpool's First Virtual Book Fair as part of our city's International Festival of Business.

On Saturday 19th July 2014, WoW will introduce an exciting selection of writers and publishers who work across a range of platforms in publishing, self-publishing and e-publishing. Publishers will have the opportunity to platform their business to potential writers, display their wares and share their experiences with writers and readers to explore the potential future of life in a paperless world.

This event is expected to be an experimental and educational hands-on day of electronic, virtual reading, discussion and interaction, and a chance for all those interested in the business of writing and the digital world to have a look towards the future.

Writing on the Wall's Virtual Book Fair will take place on the 19th July in our city's stunning Central Library on William Brown Street with a full timetable of workshops, presentations and ending the day with a key note speech from a special guest.

All for free! 

Writing on the Wall Festival 2014

Festival, a gathering to celebrate maybe a harvest, or a particular day or week in a religious cycle, derives from Feast. This year we have had our fill. To be honest, in a very content and drowsy ‘we’ve ordered too many dishes in a curry house on Bold Street’ sort of way, we’re all stuffed.

As ever, after delivering thirty six events in the space of a month, the beginning of the WoW Festival seems such a long time ago. And though tired we are today, and to be candid, with times during the month when, with legs, back, head, aching, sometimes simultaneously, you do look either to the skies or within yourself and wonder ‘Are we mad?’, it’s worth having a quick look back at what we have achieved this month, and look again at why we do it.

We bookended our month with new writing; launching ‘Make Doves Not War’ a writing competition for young people by releasing ten doves into the skies above The Bluecoat, ending with our annual Pulp Idol Competition, crowning the winner of 2014/15, Craig Whittle, a writer who looks set to be published if he gets himself tied to his desk for the next few months.

I’m not sure there’s another festival so intent on creating, supporting and publishing new writing, either by ourselves or bringing writers before publishers and agents who can take them further than we can at the moment.

Some of the biggest names in literature have entertained packed venues – Irvine Welsh springs to mind immediately, chatting to Kevin Sampson in Oh Me Oh My to an audience of 200, and then Levi Tafari, with poetry we commissioned (a first for WoW), telling the news of the seamen and servicemen stranded in Liverpool in 1919-21, to an audience that filled Toxteth Library.

We like our themes, and getting into issues that affect us and our audience. So what did we cover this year? Well, we can mention The War – WW1 specifically, and we did – firstly by talking about peace (that’ll be the doves mentioned earlier), and then by talking about the effect on the war of those who stayed at home and those that returned expecting some kind of heroes welcome, or even just a nice sarnie with a cup of tea, sugared. We had George Garrett at war and peace, then a panel of writers discussing the war through the lens of journalism contemporary to 1914-18, its effect on women, and the importance of gathering the memories of those gone before.

We returned to Garrett with the incredible debut night of his play Two Tides, set in war time Liverpool, with feathers given to shirkers and, feisty window cleaners who ditch their skirts for trousers and take no lip from anyone. We packed out the Unity Theatre for that one and gained a Four Star review – not bad for a rehearsed reading. Levi’s event was all about the war on blacks in Liverpool after the war for freedom had been fought, and how prescient it was that UKIP’s charge to becoming the biggest party in the Euro elections was taking place at the same time – a campaign based on bigotry that makes you wonder how one hundred years have passed by with some of the population experiencing a perpetual groundhog day with no thought back to how these movements have played out in our recent past.

But the war theme – the Shell Shock, wasn’t just about 1914-18. The war against our privacy came into focus with Luke Harding talking about NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden, and the continuing war on The Enemy Within, with journalist Seamus Milne enthralling a packed, and admittedly hot and sweaty house up at Frederiks Bar, about an event that happened thirty years ago – The Miners Strike. The strike changed my life, it gave me a political consciousness that a thousand books could not have achieved. I remember well seeing the scenes of the police attacking the strikers at Orgreave, but I never imagined we’d be discussing it now. The issue has been kept alive, in ways similar to Hillsborough, with a combination of the campaign for justice for those caught up in the events, arrested, injured, etc., but also by the continuing revelations of the role of the secret services, surveillance and targeting of activists and others, both at the time and subsequently.

Talking about spies, the event that delivered the most spontaneous response from an audience was during Spy in the Camp featuring Phil Scraton (a long time Festival Favourite who again delivered a salutary reminder of the need to Speak Truth to Power), and journalist Rob Evans who spoke on the undercover police who formed relationships and had children with environmental activists, while concealing their true identities. But as good as these two were the night belonged to Janet Alder speaking about the death of her brother,Christopher.

Christopher Alder, died on the floor of a police cell with officers standing around joking and making racist remarks. He was handcuffed and struggling to breathe. They let him die. How many charged, how many arrested? Take a wild guess. It’s not often you hear audiences gasp at an event. We feel like we’ve heard it all, seen it all. Janet Alder relating how she went to the police station to find out the cause of her brother’s death only to find herself being followed by the police through the local shopping centre after she left the station, drew just the first of many such gasps from us all. But it was just devastating when she said she found out, two years after they had buried Christopher, that not only had they not buried him (an older woman’s body was in the coffin) but that he was in a mortuary wrapped within five or six body bags, and that his body had been used to train police recruits in forensics. Her campaign for justice continues. Contact Sharon, give her a platform to Speak Truth to Power. She, and Christopher deserve your support.

Bloody hell, cheer up will you WoW. Ok, there’s funny stuff on the way. The truth is that even in the above events there was plenty of humour – even though a bit dark at times.

The women score high this year on being both funny and uplifting. If you ever meet Silent Witness actor Liz Carr ask her to demonstrate her ‘ugly smile’. It’s not that Liz’s smile is ugly, far from it, but in her Funny Girls act at Leaf she treated us to the smile she keeps in reserve for people she politely wants to get to bog off. It cracked everyone up, and, as we all found out at Magnet on our last night, the whole WoW team have ‘Ugly Smiles’ too. Caroline Clegg, Helen Walsh and Marai Larasi, at three ‘Top Girls’ themed events, connected with our audience in a way that people at the top of their game sometimes do, when, as they all were, they are generous with their time and their thoughts, and want to commune with people rather than just speak to them.

The man from the telly, Phil Jupitus AKA Porky the Poet, and working class wordsmith Phil Wells endeared themselves to me for life when they asked, ‘Can we go for a Chinese later?’ before the gig had even started. These two could well be my favourite ever act. They performed Proletarian Poetry from Two Stout Lads and yes, they were rather good. Ping Pong poetry was a treat, and they were good fun all night on and off stage. The Chinese was decent too.

We continued our legendary Rebel Rant series with Owen Jones and ‘People Power’. A full house, 300 and more, listened to a mix of history lesson – going back to the Chartists and other radical movements, arguments around contemporary issues including the bedroom tax, and a discussion about what people can do now to organise and campaign for change. An audience member said that after reading Chavs he’d formed a band ‘The Chavistas’ and Owen was now their manager. Owen seemed pleased to have an alternative career if the journalism and politics goes pear shaped.

One of the dynamic aspects of our festival is the way it gives a big platform for new writers and performers from the projects we run throughout the year. The participants from three of these appeared. Our young writers ‘Word Up’ performed an incredibly strong gig on the Central Library roof during Light Night, while our older young writers from Well Spoke wowed audiences in The Brink on the same night. We brought old and new together for a right old tasty poetry bake-off between Manchester CommonWord poets and the writers from our ‘What’s Your Story?’ project we ran with The Stroke Association. The food they cooked together was very, very good, and the poetry wasn’t too shabby either. The Stroke Survivors also provided inspiration in Manchester as they ‘performed’ as Living Books in The John Ryland Library following a project run by performance artist Curtis Watts.

There were plenty of touching moments during the festival. One was when we released the ten doves at the launch. I’d feared it may be a bit of a cheesy event, but it was anything but. The main event with the school pupils writing messages of peace on paper doves and then holding them aloft while the doves were released was surprisingly moving. The second was when Malcolm X spoke. Even though I knew it was superb and very nice guy Elliot Barnes-Worrell dressed up as Malcolm, the moment he began speaking was the cue for hairs on the back of the neck for many of us in the audience.


History can be brought alive when you approach it creatively. Never more so than in our George Garrett Archive Project. In May we delivered a major launch and exhibition of the Garrett archive at Central Library, a short, high quality film narrated by Alexei Sayle, a major installation built by Liverpool John Moores University students that has appeared in various venues across the city, a series of public talks by our tutors and volunteers, published an introduction to Garrett’s work and two of his best stories, launched a major website that contains an excellent collection of articles, archive and a timeline of his life, and held a sold out debut performance of his first play, Two Tides. Not bad for one month. We can safely say Garrett’s name is some way better known that ever before. We’re not finished yet though – check out the Garrett blog for future plans.

I haven’t mentioned every festival event – we’ll update later about Ronan Bennett, the BlackDrop writers, Tim Brannigan, Danny Morrison, Kevin Higgins, Lindsey German, Rosie Wilby, Niall Griffiths and Kelly & Victor, Jazz Time, Adam Lee and Jay Griffiths. All superb events though, sometimes humorous, a little bit of argument here and there, but always inspirational meeting and listening to these world class writers.

As I said earlier, tired now, but already looking forward to WoWFest 2015.

I said I’d say something about why we do it. See above.

By Mike Morris
Project Manager of Writing on the Wall

For more photos go to our Facebook Page.

'The Snowden Files' with Luke Harding and Brian Reade

Cast your mind back to 2012. For me it was the year of Lana Del Rey's Born To Die album, the year I passed my driving test, the year the Olympic Games were held in our capital city, the year of the Mayan Doomsday prophecy. It was also the year the name Edward Snowden became universally known and we were hit with the revelations that the Orwellian state depicted in the novel, 1984, was actually worse than we ever imagined. Now, if that sounds dramatic it's because it is.

Edward Snowden, an American computer genius and former employee of CIA deliberately leaked thousands of highly classified documents revealing the NSA had information on all phone calls, direct access to Google, Yahoo and Facebook information and the GCHQ had been siphoning off and storing all Internet transactions for a number of days. Basically. Big Brother is watching you, at all times.

So why did Edward Snowden, who describes himself as a patriot, whose roots are strongly embedded in American ideology do something so drastic and radical, hailed as the most significant leak in U.S history? 'The Snowden Files' attempts to shed light on this.

L1 Waterstones played host to the interview and book signing of 'The Snowden Files' by award winning foreign correspondent, Luke Harding. Harding was instrumental in the revelations through The Guardian newspaper of exposing what he says were 'matters of public interest' also known as the mass surveillance scandal which caused global uproar.

Luke captures Snowden’s story from the day he left his girlfriend on the island of Hawaii carrying a hard drive full of secrets, to the weeks he shared those secrets in Hong Kong, and his battle for asylum. Now unable to leave Moscow, a hunted individual, he faces US espionage charges and an possible future in exile.

The proceedings began with an introduction from Mike Morris of Writing on the Wall. Interviewing Luke was Award-winning Journalist and best-selling author, Brian Reade of the Daily Mirror and recipient of the prestigious Cudlipp Award for Journalistic Excellence  in recognition of spearheading the twenty year Daily Mirror Hillsborough campaign for justice.

Luke Harding is a relaxed well spoken figure. Which is hard to believe considering the roller coaster of events he has been on over the last two years. He's a fascinating man, talking about his experiences with a laid back ease. I felt decidedly unnerved throughout the event when faced with the sheer magnitude of the surveillance, lies and deceit.

The men were at ease with each other and the interview presented itself as more of a conversation, Brian guided the topics with grace and experience and there was some much needed light relief and banter in their exchanges.

Luke started at the beginning with his involvement in reviewing some 55'000 documents in a dingy room of offline computers and the feeling of the monumental implications of the discovery.

He discussed the negotiations with the British government, their underestimation of the amount of documents 'we know you have 30,40' when the total was 55'000 and their complete unwillingness to compromise including threats of indictment. The Guardian eventually destroyed the computers holding the information because of the increased pressure but as Harding pointed out, other individuals in different parts of the world had copies of the highly classified documentation so it was 'Half violation of press freedom and half pantomime'.

When queried about the lack of coverage by other British newspapers of what was truly a ground breaking and enormous story he referenced a couple of things. Firstly, the other press agencies did not have copies of the original documentation which would make it difficult to write a credible story but he also made reference to the request via memo by those in power to ignore the it.

What was quite poignant was his offering on Snowden's motives. Harding believes the elusive ex spy was not 'anti secret but anti accountability' this was the reason he did not give the information to WikiLeaks but carefully selected who he entered into dialogue with. He says his sole motive for leaking the documents was ‘to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.’

The general consensus from the audience was that the book captured the horror of the 21st century. Concerns were raised about the failure of oversight measures to scrutinise the UK and the importance of them in issues of public security. Harding stated that without them you cannot make sensible decisions.

 A discussion was had on the increasing use of smart phones and the dangers of them in matters of public security. Luke's response to an audience members of what we should do was comforting, 'Stay cheerful and positive and love thy neighbour' on the other hand his stories of how your phone can have its microphone turned on unbeknownst to you and record conversations and track your whereabouts did make me want to put mine in a blender. Keeping it in a cocktail shaker was recommended as an anti-spy device.

A question was asked on how decisions were made about which out of those 55'000 documents should be published. Harding responded that they had to see what was in the public interest and what could cause possible harm. For example information on the war or terrorism would not be legitimate information but things like spying on human rights groups would be.

Luke spoke about his time in Russia likening it to a 'badly written spy thriller' in reference to the way he was surveyed.  He spoke about his computer being hacked and deleting passage when he was writing the book, so much so he wrote notes for whoever was doing it to find. He mentioned it to a German Newspaper and the deleting ceased. He also stated he didn't find any evidence that Snowden was a Russian spy and the profile he thinks most fits is the one of 'principled exile'.

An audience member asked if Luke thought anything would change and if the Guardian have done what they set out to do. Luke talked about the minor reforms that Obama unveiled in relation to storing information but he sensed that it was 'business as usual'. I struggled with this response and I could see others did to. If a government isn't accountable even when the evidence is irrefutable how can we have faith in the structures that serve us? Which prompted the next question. What do they want with all this information. Luke was sceptical about the reasons they gave and the needle and haystack analogy was used. Harding stated they have so much data they don't can't decipher it, so much so, they missed the invasion on Crimea! Surely that is a piece of information you want on your radar. He stated which I whole heatedly agree with, that it is 'profoundly Un-British that we were all under suspicion.'

The questions turned to Snowden's future. Harding gave his thoughts, stating that Putin loves irritating America so will probably keep Snowden for as long as he can.

This story made The Guardian a global brand. The newspaper had already tried to 'crack' America three times previously but this was the story that finally did it.

The interview closed with a question on Snowden's return to America. Harding believe that public opinion is changing and sometime in the future he may be able to return to his home.

Luke Harding thanked the attentive audience and signed copies of his book. It was an unsettling and riveting evening in equal measure. Another brilliant event from Writing on the Wall.

Buy 'The Snowden Files' from News from Nowhere NOW

By Natalie Denny

The Great Poetry Bake Off

This weekend we were treated to two very different events as part of Writing on the Wall Shellshock writing festival.

The first was held at the community bakery, Homebaked Anfield which played host to The Great Poetry Bake Off. This event celebrated the release of a collection of poetry entitled Sweet Tongues by writing group Commonword including contributions from over fifty poets drawing on local and international cuisines to create a diverse menu of poetry. The anthology includes established and new writers and reflects the global influences that are evident in the UK’s popular cuisine.

Our poets were a mixture of young people, their mentors and members of the Stroke Association who were previously involved in the What's Your Story? project.

The proceedings started with an introduction by Madeline from Writing on the Wall and was hosted by Reece from Commonword.

The stroke survivors poetry was simple yet moving, short but effective and really conveyed the struggle but most importantly strength and spirit of the poets. Through their pieces we were given access to their thoughts, feelings and experiences, detailing an incredible journey to rebuild their lives. The poems dealt with the small things like relearning to tie shoe laces to serious issues of depression, living with paralysis and adapting to the limitations of their bodies. What struck me is the charm, humour and wit used to convey these stories, giving us a glimpse of the poets wonderful personalities.

The Sweet Tongues poets used food as a tool to explore issues such as divorce, health, culture and heritage and families evoking strong imagery and a sense of nostalgia in their pieces. The poems complimented each other well and the positive energy in the cafe was almost tangible.

Since the morning of the event both teams of poets had been cooking together to get to know each other and create a varied culinary spread for the show. I had the honour of chatting to some of the poets before and after the performance who thoroughly enjoyed the Great Poetry Bake Off experience as did I. This was an event that I probably wouldn't have attended usually but I'm glad I did. It was a beautiful way to spend an afternoon. Projects like this are really important for fostering community cohesion and allowing people from a whole range of backgrounds the space time and support to be creative.

Find out more about Commonword
Find out more about the What's Your Story? Project

By Natalie Denny 

Malcolm X Speaks!

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Malcolm X’s famous Ballot of the Bullet speech. To commemorate this Writing on the Wall hosted Malcolm X Speaks in the bustling Ropewalks Square, enlisting the theatrical talents of Elliot Barnes-Worrell to reenact sections of Malcom's most iconic speeches.

Malcolm X is a controversial character. His call to Black Americans to to fight for civil rights by whatever means necessary and indictment of White Capitalist America in the harshest terms meant he was accused of preaching violence and racism. Despite this he has been hailed as one of the most influential African Americans in history.

Elliot Barnes-Worrell struck a dominant figure and performed effortlessly giving the speeches unmitigated conviction. He is currently touring with the Royal Shakespeare Company performing in Richard II, a rising star possessing a talent to inspire and entertain a crowd. It was hard not to feel emotional and Elliot captured the power and presence of Malcolm X's words, transporting us briefly back to 1964, enabling us to imagine the pain and anger of those times.

The sections performed chartered development of Malcolm X's political ideologies throughout his career and were accompanied by ABUVV (Jaylyn), an innovative recording artist, songwriter and audio engineer from New York playing poignant music inspired by Malcolm X and the civil rights movement. The audience was treated to a mixture of Jazz, Hip Hop, Blues and Soul from the likes of Sam Cooke 'A Change Is Gonna Come', 'Mavis Staples 'We Shall Not Be Moved', Public Enemy 'Fight The Power', KRS One 'Sound Of The Police', and James Brown 'I'm Black And I'm Proud' providing the perfect soundtrack for the event.

By Natalie Denny