Having the courage to step forward
Today I’d like to extend another heartfelt thank-you to the five people who stepped forward to share their poetry at the Brighton Book Festival’s outdoor Open Mic on Saturday, 20th June.
Despite some initial technical difficulties with the mic and a few false starts, thank you, KC, for creating the physical space that allowed us to make the most of the equipment we had. If I am fortunate enough to be asked to host again, I now know exactly how to arrange things to accommodate an outdoor setting, with people milling about and not necessarily focused on your reading 😉.
But despite the initial issues, five other people stepped forward and shared their words, completely unplanned and unscripted; they would have had no idea when they signed up for the festival that this was a possibility.
It takes a particular type of courage to sign up ahead of time, having decided this is something you want to do. Quite another to say in the moment, ‘I’m going to go for it.’ And then share your innermost thoughts in a public space.
So I commend all those spur-of-the-moment, Open Mic’ers and sincerely hope to see you at one of our monthly Off The Page, Open Mics at Afrori Books, Brighton. Our next gig is on Sunday 19th July.
I am proud that I somehow persuaded three complete strangers, as well as one person I’d met only twice before and the person I struck up a conversation with as I arrived at the festival, to share the stage. It’s amazing what you can do with a silver ice-bucket, a pen and a packet of Post-It notes.
Until next time
PS for those who want to sign up for July, please email us at authorsopenmic@gmail.com
Metamorphosis
For years, I have been intrigued by Franz Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis’, the story of Gregor Samsa, who awakes one morning to find he has somehow been transformed into an insect. I started reading this novella in my first year at Poly, but for some reason I don’t think I finished it. Given that we have recently returned from Prague, the city of his birth, I think it is probably time I did.
The image was taken at the Franz Kafka Museum.
Because I also think it will help me finally complete the second instalment of ‘Gloria, a reluctant guardian angel’, which I first wrote in 2018 as part of an exercise in writing with exaggeration and
hyperbole. I created Gloria, a powerful, infinite being who freely goes about her business on Earth as a Black working-class woman in her fifties.
But in part two, things won’t go so well for Gloria, and this is where Kafka comes in, along with the tortoises we had as children. Gloria will find herself trapped inside a tortoise because she has somehow managed to piss off the wrong beings, or maybe the right ones. Having sat with this idea for a little while, without quite knowing how to move it forward, I’m going back to the source, to Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis’. I also have some research to do on tortoises 😉.
Thank you, Prague, for a wonderful stay; it was just what the doctor ordered.
Until next time
PS
Though now I am also thinking about Albert Camus’ The Plague. But that’s a story for another day.
Who remembers Mr Benn?
For those who don’t, Mr Benn was a cartoon character from the early 70s who would visit a shop, try on a costume, and then have an adventure related to that costume.
I grew up watching Mr Benn and his adventures on the BBC, and what I remember most is him taking off his bowler hat before magically appearing in the costume he’d chosen for the day.
From the original thirteen episodes released in 1971/72 and put on constant repeat, his adventures included being an astronaut, a cook, a caveman, and one involved a magic carpet. A fourteenth episode, The Gladiator, was released in 2005.
Well, it hit me that, in my sixties, I am having a Mr Benn moment as I splash around in the messy middle of life – too far from who I was to turn back, yet not quite close enough to clearly see the future me. But in the meantime, I can enjoy trying new costumes and having new adventures as I carve out the next stage of my life.
A few short years ago, it would have seemed too frightening to relinquish the identities of business owner and career coach; they have been part of me for over twenty years. But it will soon be time to let them go and make room for something else.
I am thankful I took the leap and started a life-writing course in 2017. I am thankful for the creative writing Open Mic I co-host with Oliviyah Bain at AfroriBooks, and for the online version I host as part of the Diverse Executive Coaches Directory. I am thankful for Age Is a Stage at the Theatre Royal Brighton, and I am particularly excited about the prospect of working as an Extra. All part of my Mr Benn adventures.
Though I am now beginning to wonder about Lego Janice and her adventures 😉.
But on a more serious note, with the number of 16- to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training exceeding 1 million, why can’t we provide more pathways to a better future? A chance for our young people to try a range of job roles and make it as easy for them as it is for Mr Benn? This is from someone who used to run a learning shop.
Might well come back to this.
Until next time
PS For those who want a trip down memory lane, you can access the Mr Benn Archives here.