Awards

Yesterday I took part in the annual Waterways Storymaking Festival awards ceremony. 

As always a huge amount of work must have gone into the planning of this event because it all came together seamlessly on the day. The organisers really excelled themselves in presenting such an enjoyable and uplifting event - just what we all need at the moment! And this year the event was different as it took place remotely. While we were able to enjoy the ceremony from the safety and comfort of our homes on a blustery March afternoon, for an hour and a half (which flew in), we were transported across our beautiful country through the evocative words and images submitted by entrants.

I've participated in several of the previous awards ceremonies and have been very fortunate to have had entries shortlisted and won prizes in previous years in the poetry and prose categories, so it was lovely to listen to the shortlisted entries in each of these categories this year. I was delighted when a couple of my writing friends had their talent and work recognised. Well done!

And I was thrilled that this year I had an entry shortlisted in the photograpy category. Instead of being on tenterhooks waiting to see the other entries, hear the judges comments and the results in an auditorium, I was going through these emotions at home. A beautiful photograph of a swan and it's reflection rightly won this category but I was delighted to be a runner up with my entry called 'The Sun Sets on Summer'.

If you missed the online event yesterday, you can watch it here and see all the shortlisted photographs and hear each entrant speaking about their image, along with all the shortlisted poems and stories.

https://www.facebook.com/waterwaysstorymakingfestival/videos/465955344606191/

I thoroughly recommend it as a restful way to spend an hour and a half looking at beautiful images of our wee country and listening to the creative words such beautiful words have inspired. Thanks to the Waterways Storymaking Festival for making this such a memorable event. Well done everyone!

Dates

As we look forward to the days when we have a bit more freedom, many of us are desperately looking for dates to plan towards - when we can meet up, when we can eat out and when we might even go on holiday. It's good to have something in the diary to look forward to, but at the moment taking things one day at a time and not looking too far ahead may mean we're not too disappointed if plans don't go as we might like them to.

During the last week I celebrated a couple of important dates in the diary - World Poetry Day (21st March) and the first Northern Ireland Writers Day (23rd March) by taking some time to write. And I was delighted that the poem I created on World Poetry Day, aptly called 'I've  a Date', subsequently featured on Inspiration in Isolation's site this week. You can read it here https://www.inspirationinisolation.co.uk/post/i-ve-a-date

And on Northern Ireland Writers Day I was lucky to be able to take part in a Poetry workshop facilitated by Daljit Nagra through the Royal Society of Literature where new writing prompts resulted in a few creative sparks - never before had I thought that 'maths' and poetry could be so closely linked. Watch this space to see what might develop...

Constants in Chaos

Photographs came up on my timeline today from one year ago. They are from our last trip out before we went into the first lockdown. Little did we know that day as we made our way to HMS Caroline what the next year was going to bring. It was a dreich day and there were very few people on board as we explored. As we walked round each deck we were careful not to touch handrails and doors and were already carrying small bottles of hand sanitiser.

During this strange year there have been some constants that have kept us anchored and grounded. For me, keeping connected (virtually) with friends and family has been so important. In the old days I always looked forward to our monthly writing workshops with Coney Island writers and being able to keep meeting (albeit virtually) throughout the last twelve months has been one of these important constants. Our Saturday morning meeting has been something to look forward to and yesterday was no different. It was lovely to see everyone across the screen and hear what everyone has been doing (or in most of our cases not doing) in the writing world. It's difficult to keep the creative juices flowing all the time but when they don't flow it's important not to beat ourselves up about it. Recently I've struggled to write, and to be creative. And when that happens I've consoled myself knowing it's temporary. This strange period will end, eventually. And instead of writing I've lost myself in someone else's writing.

 

Last week when World Book Day was celebrated, alongside spending some time reading from my current pile, and taking part in a couple of workshops organised by Women Aloud Northern Ireland, I treated myself to this gorgeous anthology. And I'm loving dipping in to it every day. In a busy world  when some days there isn't time to read a chapter from a book, there is ALWAYS time for a poem. And already I know this is going to become a favourite, and a new constant in a chaotic world.

Every Picture Tells a Story

I heard a couple of weeks ago that a photograph I'd submitted to the Waterways Storymaking festival has been shortlisted in their photography competition. 😀 This week I took part in recording 'telling the story' behind the picture, in preparation for the virtual Storymaking festival event at the end of next month. 

Below is another photograph I took the same evening, just a few minutes before the one that's been shortlisted was taken.

The Lagan Navigation Trust's Waterways storymaking festival is always very well organised and celebrates storytelling about our inland and coastal waterways in a variety of creative expressions including prose, poetry, music, photography, video, art and embroidery. I'm really looking forward to the virtual event next month. Fingers crossed 🤞

Snow Excuse

A weather warning with a forecast of heavy snow showers and blizzards would normally have meant  our Coney Island writing get together would have been cancelled. But not this time 😀 One silver lining of Coronavirus lockdown is virtual Zoom sessions can still go ahead when the snow is falling and roads are treacherous.

And while on Saturday we were, just like children, looking out our respective windows, distracted by the snow falling outside, comparing snow falls in each of our neighbourhoods, it was good to know we didn't have to go out and drive through the snow. Instead we could stay cosy, drinking coffee, eating buns, cakes and biscuits and chatting.

Eventually after catching up on each other's news, and sharing writing news, we all knuckled down and did a few writing exercises. With all the pressures we current face living in lockdown, it's sometimes hard to find space, both physically and mentally to write. And that's ok. Surviving lockdown is the priority. There is a time for everything, and while now may not be the best time for everyone to write, our writing will return. What's good in these difficult days is having a supportive and encouraging writing group where we can show up without a worry, even if we haven't done our homework!

Keeping routines

While the world around us is constantly changing in ways beyond our wildest comprehension, it's good to have routine, with solid, steady  life-affirming activities.

One of these activities for me is baking. And another is writing. Both are creating something new from raw ingredients and they combine together perfectly when I'm with my Coney Island writing pals. Yesterday we met up (by zoom) for our monthly writing session. While we really miss seeing each other in person, I still look forward to these meet-ups where we can catch up on each others news over a coffee and do some writing. And we got down to using raw ingredients in our writing, back to basics, thinking about our vocabulary and gramnar. Just altering the quantity and quality of each raw ingredient can improve the end result considerably.

It was good to get the creative writing juices flowing again after a break over the holidays with this supportive group. I consider I'm very blessed to be part of it. It was encouraging to look back on our writing year together - it's quite an accomplishment that we've managed to keep connected throughout 2020. And chocanana muffins were the perfect accompaniment. 

Everyday Magic

Last year, when I saw a writing friend Jo Zebedee was working on a new project mapping local stories I sent a few of mine for her to consider, inspired by local landmarks and beauty spots.

I'm delighted that she's now completed this gorgeous project and released it today. You can view  'Everyday Magic' here

https://www.scribblemaps.com/maps/view/Everyday_Magic_/YX9bkdl4LG 

And you can read my stories set in the Goblins, Whitehead and Carrickfergus - 'The Goats and Gobbin Saor', 'An Emerald  Excursion' and 'Fearless Fergus, King of the Castle', along with many other lovely local stories. Enjoy!