Black Poppies Arts & Crafts Workshop

5th December at Kuumba Imani at 10am-4pm

You are invited to take part in this exciting free workshop with artist, Faith Bebbington to make Black Poppies for our exhibition to be displayed at Liverpool Central Library. This is part of Writing on the Wall's From Great War to Race Riots Archive Project which explores a fascinating archive of letters and documents highlighting the plight of black soldiers, seafarers, and workers in Liverpool following demobilisation in 1919.

All Welcome. If you would like to book a place for this workshop

please sign up using our online form here

If you have any queries, please email info@writingonthewall.org.uk

Pulp Idol 2015/16 Book Launch

Celebration Event: Thursday 10th December
The Music Room at The Philharmonic Hall, 7.30pm. Free 

Come down to the beautiful new Music Room at the Philharmonic Hall to celebrate local writers. 
12 writers made it to our Pulp Idol final and have had the opportunity to work with established editors before getting their work published. With great success from previous finalists Pulp Idol is an inspiring opportunity for writers. Pulp Idol focuses on supporting new original voices and getting them heard. We provide a platform for up-and-coming writers, helping with exposure to new audiences and providing contacts with key publishers and agents. Join WoW in celebrating their fantastic work over a few drinks and live music.

On the night we will also be holding a Q&A with previous Pulp Idol winner, John Donoghue to discuss his debut novel, The Death's Head Chess Club. The Book has just sold to America and is being translated for Norway, Poland, Italy, Greece, China and Brazil. It's an incredible tribute to the success of our Pulp Idol novel writing competition.

John says, 'I really do feel that, to a great extent, I owe this to Pulp Idol. My agent (Carolyn Whitaker from London Independent Books) contacted me after seeing the anthology of the finalists' first chapters. It was she who managed to get me in front of a highly respected editor, Ravi Mirchandani, leading to the subsequent book deal.'

Black Poppies Workshops

Internationally renowned poet Levi Tafari is exploring the lives of men and their families stranded in Liverpool after WWI and responding creatively through story-telling and poetry workshops in Liverpool Central Library every Saturday throughout November. All welcome to join the sessions, find out more here 

Here is some of the work that has been created in the first session by participants...  

My War

By Pat Dinsmore 

You want me to fight for this country,

I am important, I matter

We suffer, we hope for a better future

To be important, to matter 

I draw on my recourses, my strength 

To carry on being important, to matter 

I return from my exertions in the bleakness

To be important? To matter?

No, it is more than bleak here

Aggression from my fellow man

I’m not important, I don’t matter   

------

Fear and Loathing in Liverpool

By Owen Allen

I arrived today 

But the promise of arrival faded into the truth of my pitiful situation

With an almighty crash like a wave on the Dockland stone wall

I realised there was nothing here for me 

No love, no warmth, welcome or friendship

Instantaneously I have become viewed as a parasite 

My heart is heavy and my soul is torn

How can I be viewed as worse than a stray dog!

Why am I being treated so? Alas, I don’t know 

All I know, are hateful stares and insults by tongue 

In a language I am unfamiliar with 

I am experiencing terror now 

I have no lodgings and it is well past the witching hour

As I walk these streets barefooted and ragged trousers 

I resemble little of the conventional native philanthropist 

I resent into the labyrinth of darkness

Maybe, just maybe this darkness will be my friend


------


Validation
By Janaya Pickett 

My ancestors where fragile,
Like a baby,
Defenceless,
That almost didn’t happen.

Yet my great grandparents’ eyes met
And their parents’ too:
Loves that stretch back
As far as I can imagine.

In whatever way they came up,
Everything was against them:
Time, the tide, their tan.

Here I am

By proxy of ghostly histories.
Tales more spectacular
And grizzly
Than any Tolkien could muster;

Of black heroes
And goddesses
And the darkness that worked against them,
But never won

Because here I am.
Feeling a million years old,
I nurse my daughter:
That ancient practice

Protected at great length
By the light and lives
That we now speak of in the past tense.
Unbreakable codes,
Unquestionable Strength.


--------


Black Poppies 
By Eileen Kyriacou

Like steadfast pillars, they stood in unison.
As brave soldiers, they were enslaved by war.
Some boys not yet men, when they took up arms.
They fought so that others could live in peace.
Not compelled they showed legion for the country.
Did anyone note that bravery in their eyes?
Who’d contemplated plight of their families?
Wives and Mothers left minus their brave men.
Children kept pining for much-loved fathers.
For those left behind still the battles raged.
Who stands at their graves now and sheds a tear?
Gallantries of the brave weren't in disguise.
In the majesty of black now, all are portrayed.
For their blood flowed too in those rivers of red.

BLACK POPPIES

Creative Writing Workshops with Levi Tafari

Saturday 7th and 14th November at Liverpool Central Library
Saturday 21st and 28th November (Venue TBC)
Guided tour of the exhibition, 1pm. Creative Writing Workshop, 1.30-3.30pm

Writing on the Wall present a fascinating archive of letters and documents highlighting the plight of black soldiers, seafarers, and workers in Liverpool following demobilisation in 1919. This archive contains testimony from men from the Caribbean, West Africa and other colonial territories, who had fought for England on land and at sea during the Great War and were then left stranded, destitute and subject to racial violence on the streets of Liverpool.

As part of the Weeping Window experience, Writing on the Wall invites you to join internationally renowned poet Levi Tafari in exploring the lives of these men and their families and to respond creatively through story-telling and poetry. These creative writing workshops will be include a guided tour of the archive. Join the team for all four workshops or simply drop in for one.

Check out the new From Great War to Race Riots website - www.greatwar-to-raceriots.co.uk 
 

For more information contact WoW on
0151 703 0020 or info@writingonthewall.org.uk 

WoW Winners!

Congratulations to all our writers and performers who have taken part in our two competitions this month. As always, it has been an incredible standard of talent! 

 

Pat Fearon came first in this year’s Mental Health and Me writing competition with her spoken word piece, The Edge. The event was a brilliant success with all the entrants work being both celebrated and appreciated. Thank you to everyone who submitted a piece of work and congratulations to all of the finalists!
 

Poetry 1st: Rosie Mansfield, 2nd: Paul Daw, 3rd: Kelsea Greene

Spoken Word 1st: Pat Fearon, 2nd: Susan Fagan, 3rd: Luke Chandley

Journalism 1st: Ellie Smith, 2nd: Sarah Jones, 3rd: Joann Roberts

Diary/Blog 1st: Denis Caryle, 2nd: Eleanor Taylor, 3rd: Faris Khalifa

Short Stories 1st: Joe Lavelle, 2nd: Susan Martin, 3rd: Brian Hutchinson

Letters 1st: Christina Ashworth, 2nd: Emily Monk, 3rd: Mike Churchill

Tweets 1st: Natalie Denny, 2nd: Eleanor Taylor, 3rd: Jennifer Bishop
 

You can get a copy of all the finalists published pieces from News From Nowhere bookshop or on kindle here. 

__

Congratulations to Raven Maguire for taking the crown at our Superheroes of Slam 2015 Liverpool heat. Great work from all our entrants and our runners up Tom George and Bradley Thompson.
 

We had a fantastic evening watching all 13 very talented performers! Some were writers, rappers and poets, others were there as they wanted to try something new. It was a brilliant evening of diverse work from Liverpool poets and performers. Thank you to all involved.

Raven will be taking part in the Superheroes of Slam final in Manchester on 23rd October Three Minute Theatre. Everybody come down and cheer on Raven. Find out more here. 

Handle with Care

Tuesday evening I went along to Writing on the Wall’s heritage project, From Great War to Race Riots. I didn’t know what to expect, it was my first time. The group, made up of community members and led by Tutors Madeline Heneghan and Emy Onuora, attended a weekly two-hour session, and had already started exploring the archives of letters and telegrams that date back to 1919. The project consists of an array of letters that reveals the horrific plight of black soldiers and seafarers, who had fought for Britain in the Great War, and who had now been told to leave these shores and my city. As the group worked tirelessly putting the documents into date order, it was evident that they had everything under control.

Although I was made to feel welcome, I must admit, I felt like a spare part.  It was suggested that I read through the documents, in order to familiarise myself with the project. I have to say, that after the first couple of letters I was hooked. I had been transported back in time. A time seeming so surreal, you could hardly imagine it.

The group had stopped for a well-earned tea break and I eased in as a new comrade, once I realized that each and every one of us had at least one thing in common. We had bonded over our shared passion as we engaged in a time gone before us.  On some level, and in our own way, I wouldn’t be wrong in saying, that each of us had made a connection sharing this specific time in British history, and that it had led us on an extraordinary journey.

What I have come to understand is that, like the rest of the group, I had grown fond of the men and their families that leapt out from the pages heading straight towards my heart and have remained there since.  These archives are such an important insight into our cities heritage.  It’s only fitting that they should be handled with care in every sense of the word.

I cannot wait to return next week.  

Thanks everyone! :) 

Miriam O’Carroll

Off The Page 2015

It's back for the second year - Readings, workshops, games and displays for all the family, showcasing the variety offered by the Merseyside Literature Partnership.

Off the Page is coordinated by a consortium of venues, organisations and university departments offering a wide range of activity in the region. From community projects to readings by established writers, the day provides a taste of the richness of literature currently available on Merseyside. Come along, join in and find out more about what’s happening - both on and off the page. All events are free, but booking is required for some events.

Have a look through this years brochure and see what you'd like to come to...

Writing on the Wall will be hosting two workshops during the day -

Marvel Comic Workshop, Studio, 1pm-2pm
Join the notorious Tim Quinn for an exclusive, hands-on workshop to make your own comic book creation! Tim Quinn: scriptwriter, illustrator and editor for the Beano, The Dandy and Dr Who Magazine, before heading State-side to work for Marvel Comics on the world famous Spider-Man, X-Men and the Incredible Hulk
Free, Booking Advised

What's Your Story? Taster Workshop The Art Box, 2.30pm–4.30pm
Everyone has a story to tell, all you need are the right words. Join WoW for an exciting and exclusive one-off creative writing What’s Your Story? workshop. Professional poet and creative writing teacher, Sarah Maclennan will be sharing his expertise and guiding aspiring writers through the creative process through a range of different writing genres.
Free, Booking Advised