North West
Literary Arts
Volume 1 / Issue 7
The View from my window
Last month
we shared stories loosely exploring the theme “firsts.” The stories made us
laugh, think, listen, and cry. There
were stories about loss, love, acceptance, memory, family, and more. As we are
each month, Naomi and I were touched by the openness, truth, trust, and
generosity of each storyteller.
In the
spirit of the theme, Naomi shared an exclusive reading of May. The reading left us breathless and anxious to hear more.
Last month
was a first for me too. I shared drafts of my interpretation of the theme as a
work-in-progress on Patreon
where I will also be posting a recording of the piece. I am hoping to share my writing journey each
month. Writing is a process, by sharing mine I hope to empower other writers to
create, share, and publish their own.
April’s
theme is another true or false night. Storytellers do not have to tell us
whether the stories they share are fiction, creative nonfiction, or hybrid
pieces. I’ve already started writing mine. If you’d like
to share your 3-5 minute true story in person, via email, on our website,
Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram let us know.
At Stories at the Storey there’s
always room for one more.
What’s New?
We have some
exciting upcoming events and you’re invited!
Book Launch: April 28, 7-9PM, Waterstones King
Street, Lancaster: Join us as we celebrate the launch of Naomi Kruger’s, May. The event will include a reading,
followed by a lively discussion and light refreshments. The event is free and
all are welcome. Please order your free tickets via Eventbrite.
Interested
in volunteering? We need volunteers to help the event run smoothly. Some roles
could include seating guests, setting up, taking pictures, and/or social media
marketing and engagement. Email us at northwestliteraryarts@gmail.com
to get involved.
Funding and Developing Your
Creative Writing, Practice, and/or Project: May, 2018 (TBC). Join us for a free
event to discuss funding, developing, and delivering creative writing and other
arts projects. This discussion aims to provide information on funding
opportunities as well as providing an opportunity to network and collaborate
with individuals and organizations. The event is for practitioners, writers,
creators, etc... in literature, dance, music. We will also discuss crowd funding,
collaborating, the Arts Council’s role as developers, match funding, and
strategies to support one another to create sustainable arts. We will be joined
by Alison Boyle from the Arts Council. Alison is also offering individual 10
minute one-to-one sessions to discuss Arts Council proposals and your project.
If you are interested in an appointment, please contact Yvonne at northwestliteraryarts@gmail.com.
Other guests to be confirmed.
How
can this event be useful to you? We are organizing a collaborating/networking
event a week prior so that writers and other creative practitioners have the
opportunity to consider projects, explore potential collaborations, and develop
relationships. If you are interested in this free event or have a suggestion
about ways we can make the event more relevant, please get in touch.
London Book Launch: Join us on May 29th
for an evening of words with Jennifer Nansugba Makumbi and Naomi Kruger.
Jennifer will be reading from Kintu and Naomi will be reading from May. The
readings will be followed by engaging discussion, refreshments, and
opportunities to have books signed.
Tips and Prompts
Not sure how to start
your next writing project? This month’s tip could help. Between researching,
plotting, brainstorming, and visualizing, it takes a lot of steps to go from
idea to finished draft. While these can be necessary steps, they sometimes get
in the way of what we set out to do: write. Whether you outline, cloud, plot,
or map, if your current strategy is slowing you down, change it. How?
Just write. There is plenty
of time to plot, consider, research, and edit after you get the words on the
page.
- Imagine an idea.
- Write.
Before I start writing,
I mentally listen to my characters’ voices and begin picturing them in scenes.
I get to know them by imagining how they act and react, how they walk, and the
boundaries they are willing to cross. So before I pick up a pen
or type a word, I imagine.
Next, I write.
How do you start writing a piece?
Next, I write.
How do you start writing a piece?
Building Community, One Story at a Time
Have news
to share? Let us
know and we will share it either via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or email.
Twitter: @NWLitSalon
Facebook: North West Literary Salon
Instagram: North West Literary Arts
Want our
help with a project? Get in touch.
Thanks for reading,