I’m often asked about the Purpose of Poetry. Usually, I’m armed with a scattering of stock answers, duty bound to extoll its virtues. I have a vested interest, of course; an irrational desire to account for my professional choices. But in times like these, its a question I’m taking more seriously. A pandemic. A war. A volatile government. Bills that …
Beyond Submissions by Naush Sabah
I found myself in conversation with another editor recently and realised that despite being a published poet herself, she didn’t send work out to magazines. I asked why. ‘Well, apart from the one I edit, none of them are any good.’ We both laughed at this and I managed to not indignantly exclaim Hold on, what about PBLJ?! It was …
A dream cut out of the air by Joelle Taylor
There is no way to succeed in poetry. There is no way to fail. There is only poetry. Everything else is noise off-stage. The prize is the piece of writing you just found hidden in the air. The prize is indistinct. The prize is each other. The prize is the conversation, is being included, is having your thoughts carefully weighed. …
Be where the people are by Jemilea Wisdom-Baako
I step into boardrooms unsure of myself, the lanyard around my neck has a cute photo I took at the reception desk with my name; and title – Founder of Writerz and Scribez CIC. What does it mean to create something, to take it out of your mind and imagination and turn it into a living, breathing thing? My arts …
On reading writers I don’t know and whose names I can’t pronounce by Shazea Quraishi
As I write this, my view is of our tiny back garden where through the open window I can hear a child crying, someone playing the drums, Mehboob’s mother calling him. If I stand at my front door, I can see that the corner-shop-which-used-to-be-a-pub is now open, the Kurdish family who run it, having come from miles away. This is …
Academia / Odyssey / Lyric Essay by Jane Burn
Courage is multiplex. Part of courage is admitting what you do / do not know; courage is vulnerability before that which you greatly desire; courage is offering your underbelly to anomaly’s mercy. Courage is scrambling those acclivitous hills – each summit equating where you deserve / where you have fought to be. Academia is negotiation of cryptic terrain. The walls …
How to find your community when you don’t know anyone by Christy Ku
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Yet another guest speaker at our school gives this ‘advice’ to our teenage ears. They hurriedly mention their first job/internship came from their aunt/neighbour/family friend but hey, if they could do it we could too. “Make sure you really work your contacts! Knock on doors! The worst thing they can do …
Roots and Routes by Kat François
We continue our series of essays On Being A Woman Poet with performance artist Kat François’ reflections on her journey towards a life in poetry, the inspirational people and essential spoken word communities that showed her the way… I went to an all-girls inner-city secondary school and many of my teachers tried to steer us towards service careers, such as …