Author Archives: Sarah Butler

Writing Residencies Briefing now online

Earlier this year I was commissioned to write a ‘briefing’ about writing residencies by NAWE, Poetry Ireland, Scottish Book Trust and Literature Wales.

The briefing is aimed at writers new to writing residencies and has bags of practical advice on how to get started, as well as five case studies of work by Andy Croft, Jay Bernard, Liz Weir, Patrick Jones and Liz Niven.

The resource is free to download from NAWE’s website.

Posted in News | Leave a comment

Writing Urban Space: Zero Books

I was thrilled to get my copy of Writing Urban Space: Exploring the relationship between imaginative writing and the built environment, edited by Liam Murray Bell and Gavin Goodwin, this week. The book brings together papers from a conference at the University of Surrey a couple of years ago. It includes an essay by me about UrbanWords, called Can Writing Shape Place? And one by the fabulous Rosa Ainley.

You can get hold of a copy directly from the publishers.

Posted in News | Leave a comment

New Media Writing Prize 2012

I am thrilled to be one of the judges of this year’s New Media Writing Prize, which highlights inspiring work, raises awareness and provokes discussion about new media writing, the future of the ‘written’ word and storytelling.It is run by Bournemouth University, and supported by if:book uk.

Anyone can enter, and it’s free. The deadline is 5th October 2012. Visit the competition website for full details.

Posted in News | Leave a comment

Tideline now available to download

Tideline, a beautiful book documenting a public art/oral history project in Belvedere, East London, with photos by Eva Sajovic and design by Esther Yarnold, is now available to download from the Belvedere Stories website.

We launched the book, and celebrated the project by following the poetry waymarkers through Belvedere marshes, followed by tea and cake at Belvedere Community Centre on 5th May 2012.

walk

A walk through Belvedere following the poetry waymarkers

 

walk

In the marshes

Posted in News | Leave a comment

The Greatest Possible Distance

I was honoured to be asked to be on the selection panel for Neville Gabie’s The Greatest Distance project, along with Writer and critic, David Lillington, Artist and writer Bill Drummond, curator Danielle Arnaud, Archaeologist and sports historian, Jason Wood, Arts Consultant Sam Wilkinson.

We met at the Danielle Arnaud Gallery on 8th June to discuss over 100 proposals suggesting where Neville should go, and what he should do there, in order to achieve the greatest possible distance from the Olympics at the moment of the opening ceremony. It was a fascinating (and difficult) process. Visit Neville’s blog to hear some audio files of our conversation and see where the project is at.

Posted in News | Leave a comment

Where Are You Going? Hoardings at Farringdon Station

As part of All Change Arts‘ contribution to Islington’s fabulous Word Festival, I worked with poet Yemisi Blake and local residents and employees around Farringdon Station to create texts for a new hoarding in front of the Cross Rail site on Cowcross Street.

Continue reading 

Posted in News, Past Projects | Leave a comment

photoWANDSWORTH story now downloadable

I was asked to write a new short story inspired by shortlisted entries to Wandsworth Council’s photoWANDSWORTH competition. An illustrated version of the story, called In View, is now available to download from Wandsworth Council’s website.

Selected images with story excerpts were displayed as a show-reel on library computers and at Southside Shopping Centre, as projections as part of the Wandsworth Arts Festival, May 27. I also read the story as part of the prize giving event at Wandsworth Town Library on 23rd April 2012.

launch photo

Here’s a slightly excrutiating picture of me reading at the prize-giving event at Wandsworth Town Library

Posted in News | Leave a comment

TIDELINE – A Celebration – Saturday 5th May

TIDELINE – A Celebration

Saturday 5th May

12.30pm and/or 2pm, Belvedere – details below

Tideline was a Heritage Lottery project in Belvedere, delivered by the London Borough of Bexley. I worked with local people and Trinity school to uncover memories and stories about the area. These were used as inspiration for a new series of poems, one of which has been installed as series of signs, running from Belvedere Station to the river wall. We have also produced a beautiful book about the whole project, featuring oral history accounts from local people and photographic portraits by Eva Sajovic. There’s more about the project at www.belvederestories.co.uk

The celebration has two parts – you are very welcome to join us for one or the other, or both!

12:30pm     Tideline Wayfarer Walk
Meet at the Norman Road entrance to Belvedere Station
Follow the Tideline signs with me to the river wall via the marshes. We will then walk to Belvedere Community Centre, making the entire route approximately 2.5 miles.

2 – 3.30pm    Tideline Celebration, Book Launch and Exhibition
Belvedere Community Centre, Mitchell Close, Belvedere, DA17 6AA
Join us to celebrate with tea and cake. Find out more about the project as a whole and see the project publication. Everyone who has contributed to Tideline will be able to collect a copy of this on the day.

We are able to assist with transport to and from the celebrations, so please get in touch if this would be helpful or if you have any other access requirements or questions.

Please RSVP to camilla.brueton@bexley.gov.uk  

Posted in News | Leave a comment

photoWANDSWORTH 2012 prize-giving event 23rd April

Wandsworth Council invited me to create a new short story, based on winning entries to their photoWANDSWORTH 2012 competition.

The photoWANDSWORTH 2012 prize-giving event takes place from 5.30 to 7.30pm on Monday 23 April at Wandsworth Town Library, 11 Garratt Lane, London SW18 4AQ

Join us over a glass of wine to hear me read from my new short story, written in response to twelve selected entries to the competition. Prizes will be awarded for winning photographs in three categories: first, second and young person award.

The selected images with story excerpts will be displayed as a show-reel on library computers and across the road at Southside Shopping Centre, as projections. The projections will remain at Southside until the end of the Wandsworth Arts Festival, May 27. The full story will be available to download from www.wandsworth.gov.uk/photocomp with printouts for all those attending the event.

Please RSVP: jkenyon@wandsworth.gov.uk

Below is a short reflection on creating the story:

First of all I had to come up with a series of prompts for the competition. The aim was to inspire entrants to create images that would in turn inspire me to write a new short story. I chose 4 themes that I hoped would help me create a coherent plot and allow entrants a fairly free reign:
1. Arrival of a Stranger
2. A secret is revealed
3. Demanding an answer
4. Looking for a way out

I was struck, looking through the 12 selected images, how many of them were of people with their faces turned away from the camera, or partially obscured. Then there was someone running in the fog, frost on a playground, the blurred edges of a scene from Wandsworth Common, a hand reaching into a bag, lost objects by the river – all of which gave me an overriding feeling of loss and mystery, of things being just out of reach and not quite knowable. So I started to plan a story that would explore these emotions in its plot, and in the atmosphere of the story itself. Having made this decision, I then used the individual photographs in different ways – to suggest emotion, character, plot, and location. So the man sitting alone on a bench I imagined as the story’s narrator, waiting for a woman who never turned up. The hat and shoe by the side of the Thames became the narrator’s lost children. The runner in the fog became a dream, symbolic of loss. The car driving over Chelsea bridge at night gave me my final scene. I also tried to embed the very idea of photography and the theme of seeing or not seeing within the story, borrowing imagery and language from photography to further explore the themes of the story.

I would like to thank Wandsworth Council for the opportunity to be involved with PHOTOwandsworth 2012, and the competition entrants for giving me such rich material to work with.

 

Posted in News | Leave a comment

Tideline: Poetry installed in Lower Belvedere

I am so excited about the beautiful poetry ‘signage’, just installed along a route from Belvedere Station, through the marshes to the Thames.

We’re in the process of putting together a book about the whole project – more later!

Find out more at www.belevederestories.co.uk

Posted in News | Leave a comment