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SGB was Kentish Town Guest poet. He read some of the young peoples work as well as one of his own compositions.

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work in progress from some of the young people at the Kentish Town Library during the Circuit Live Poetry project

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DV8’S CIRCUIT LIVE LYRICISTS LIGHT UP THE BOOTH

DV8 Training’s Circuit Live team has spent the past few weeks working on their wordplay and soaking up the advice from mentors Dean Atta and Natalie Maddix. As they prepare to put down the pen and hit the studio, our Waltham Forest Library partners dropped in for a quick catch up.

“I am really impressed by the work that the young people have produced and the angles they have taken with the Olympic themes,” enthuses Damien Nembhard, the Arts Award practitioner from Waltham Forest Library. “Circuit Live has been a great project for the learners and I’m happy to see it manifest into some amazing spoken word and music.”

A recording artist in his own right (see link below), Damien will be attending the event at the British Library along with Maddy Fogelman and other members of the Waltham Forest team.

“Circuit Live has introduced us to Fusion from DV8 Training and a fantastic group of creative young people who live in the area,” says Maddy, Waltham Forest Libraries Development Officer (Young People). “It was great having Dean Atta as our Circuit Live poetry mentor; he has inspired the group and even performed at one of our recent open mic night. We’re hoping to collaborate again with DV8 in the near future and get young people involved in our projects and vice versa. Our forthcoming Black History Month project, Caribbean Through A Lens, could be a great starting place for this process.”

As the days count down to the big performance, it already looks like the Walthamstow team is on a winning streak. Make sure you are at The British Library on Thursday, Sept 13th to see the whole story unfold. 

Words: iitsFusion

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BRIXTON CIRCUIT LIVE in a creative writing session at Seven in Brixton with artists-in-residence TY & Malika Booker.

"the eyes trying to function open too stunned to work out there through the window & into the dark with it's various glints & glows: mosquito, very distant cockcrow, sound system drum, the tumbrel of a passing engine somewhere some/ where in that dark. It must have been an ear/ ring's earier sound that sprawled me to the window..." bk: Trench Town Rock by Kamau Brathwaite.

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Nicholas Makoha is a dynamic writer born in Uganda and has lived in Kenya, Saudi Arabia and currently resides in London. He is one of ten contemporary poets in the UK to have been selected for Spread the Word’s Complete Works development programme. During the programme he has been mentored  by eminent poet George Szirtes, both writers in exile.

As a resident artist of Spoke-Lab he developed a 1-man- show “My Father & Other Superheroes”. One man’s honest revelation of how pop culture raised him in the absence of his father. It was showcased at Stratford Theatre East and toured to Olso with the British Council. He was the Writer in Residence for Newham Libraries in a venture conceived by Spread the Word and Newham Libraries and Arts Service together with Arts Council England.

In 2008 he completed a project with the Tate Modern in which his poem “Vista” was used as part of a video installation to promote the Turner prize in 2008 for Tate Remix.

Nick is the director of the Youth Poetry Network through which he provides a charismatic and responsive approach to workshop facilitation in Business and schools. Clients include the London-Chicago Teenage Poetry Slams, the National Endowment for Science, Stephen Lawrence Centre, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) and Creative Partnerships. As a former NESTA mentor he is an ongoing advocate of young people wishing to work in the Arts and Media.

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CYL’S CIRCUIT LIVE SPOKEN WORD PROJECT

CYL’s Poetry Workshops will be held at: Deptford Lounge, Giffin St SE8 4RJ

 Tuesday 27th August - Friday 31st August at 12-3pm

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BRIXTON CIRCUIT LIVE - Home Pleasure (PART 2):

Listen to Jill Scott's family reunion/ take note of the lyrics - Notice how the singer/ song writer makes sharp observations about her family. The beauty of this piece is that each character is mostly represented by a sentance, but as audience members we are given hints of back stories and some of the depths to this character.

Now make an observation of friends and family members and write your own family piece.

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CIRCUIT LIVE COMES TO BRIXTON

WITH ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

TY AND MALIKA BOOKER

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Ready to wax lyrical live on stage? Why don't you sign up for the Open Mic taking place at Walthamstow Library on 30th August. For more info click here

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ENRICHMENT TRIP: CHECK OUT DEAN ATTA @ LYRIX ORGANIX: RELAY TOUR

Walthamstow Library's very own poet in residence, Dean Atta, has truly taken the Olympic spirit to heart. Alongisde his work on the Circuit Live project with DV8, he is a pivotal member of the Lyrix Organix relay team. Check Mr Atta out at one of the dates below, as he steps into the ring as part of a 360 degrees expression of live poetry, freestyle hip hop, blues, beatbox and live street art. The Relay is on…

DEAN ATTA | GRACE SAVAGE | ZEE GACHETTE | NATTY SPEAKS | JOANNA LAYLA (live art) | plus special guests

TOUR DATES … FREE OUTDOOR SHOWS TWICE PER DAY!

(11 Aug) LEWISHAM – Big Screen Festival

1.40pm & 4.30pm @All Saints Church, Blackheath (SE3 0TY)

(12 Aug) TOWER HAMLETS – BT London Live Festival 2.00pm & 4.30pm @Victoria Park (E9 7DE) Special Guest: AYAH MARAR

(15 Aug) HAMMERSMITH – London Summer Festival 1.30pm & 3.30pm @Lyric Square (opp Lyric Theatre) Special Guest: TOBY THOMPSON

(18 Aug) HOUNSLOW exact time & location TBC

(19 Aug) WESTFIELD SHOPPING CENTRE, Shepherds Bush  12.00pm & 4.00pm @Southern Terrace (W12 7SL) by Waitrose/Jamie’s Italian // (not part of Showtime Festival)

(23 Aug) CAMDEN exact time & location TBC Special Guest: SONORITY TURNER

(25 Aug) WALTHAM FOREST exact time & location TBC

(26 Aug) HARINGEY exact time & location TBC

As featured on BBC ONE, BBC LONDON 94.9, LONDON 360, RADIO FRANCE, EXEUNT MAGAZINE

For more information about the project click here. ‘Lyrix Organix: Relay’ is part of Showtime, presented by Mayor of London and London 2012 Festival. Find out more atwww.molpresents.com/showtime

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Walthamstow Library Opens Its Doors to Circuit Live

One of the great things about the arts is the way that it opens up young people to new experiences. Prior to Circuit Live, many of the participants had never ventured into Walthamstow Library, despite many studying in the area. On Monday, Aug 6th that all  changed and we have the Walthamstow Library team to thank for their hospitality. Maddy Fogelman (Libraries Development Officer for Young People) and Arts Award practitioner Damien Nembhard welcomed the collaboration with DV8 Projects and have really taken this project to heart. If Circuit Live is a tale of five libraries then Maddy and Damien are getting ready to write the first chapter for Walthamstow. Consider this interview the prologue:

Why did you want to get involved in Circuit Live? Maddy: I am passionate about fostering skills and creativity in young people and this project sounded like a great opportunity to do this in a fun and innovative way. I am really looking forward to seeing/hearing what our group produces!

Damien: Circuit Live is an exciting opportunity for me to work with ambitious young people who are eager to express themselves through the creative arts. I am enthusiastic about engaging with the participants of Circuit Live.

What do you hope the participants will get out of the project? Maddy: I hope that they will gain confidence, skills and experience that they can put to use in a variety of areas of their life. I also believe this is a great opportunity for them to inspire and teach one another and discover and develop new talents and interests, not to mention have fun!

Damien: I hope that the participants develop a significant research and motivational skills as well as a deeper understanding of the arts and its effect on today’s society. Hopefully the young people involved will one day run their own art workshops which will inspire the next generation.

How will the library benefit? Maddy: We are always looking for new ways to engage with customers of all ages and are dedicated to eradicating an outdated view of libraries. I hope not only that the young people involved in the project enjoy using the library themselves but that the work they do will demonstrate to other young people how much we value their voices and their skills and will encourage others to get involved.

Damien: It would be good to get young people using the vast array of services that the library provide, it will also show other young people that the library is essential for carrying out research.

With the first session under their belts, the feedback from the participants has been amazing. Looks like the first leg of the Walthamstow Circuit is off to a flying start!

For more about Walthamstow Library, click here.

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DEAN ATTA TO MENTOR PARTICIPANTS FROM DV8 PROJECTS

It’s always a pleasure to meet creative people and discover new opportunities for collaborations. So, it is with great pleasure I announce Dean Atta as the mentor for the Circuit Live participants from DV8 Projects. The 27-year-old wordsmith is a leading light on London’s poetry scene and recently made waves with 'I Am Nobody's Nigger’, a powerful poem that addressed hip hop’s fixation with the N word. Here the award-winning poet explains why it was so important for him to be part of Circuit Live. 

My career is as a poet. Teaching and mentoring are hugely important aspects of that career because in order to teach you must also be continuously learning and developing oneself as a communicator and motivator and moreover I feel it is crucial for my personal development to be passing on what I have learned in the 10 years I have being writing poetry professionally. No classroom or workshop is ever the same, just as no audience is ever the same, you must learn from those you mentor about what works for them.

I am part of three poetry collectives (Rubix Collective, Keats House Poets Forum and Point Blank Poets) in which peer mentoring is a fundamental element of how we work. Being able to give and take constructive criticism on ones writing and performance is, in my opinion, the only way to get better at your craft. You can learn just as much about the craft of poetry from critiquing others from the point of view of a reader or audience member as you can from receiving critique about your own work.

If you would like to check out some of Dean’s work, why not start by downloading ‘Love or Money’, a 5-track EP of poems featuring his creative comrades Michael Antoniou, Kareem Dayes, Yussef Dayes, Chantelle Nandi, Renell Shaw and Ayanna Witter-Johnson.  

Download it here http://deanatta.bandcamp.com/album/love-or-money

Words: iitsfusion

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Live Review: Partners In Rhyme @ Walthamstow Library | 04.08.12

En route to Partners In Rhyme, I really didn't know what to expect. I had never been invited to a poetry event, let alone an event in a library.

 The various talents, presented by Master of Ceremonies Neal Zetter, definitely caught me by surprise. They all seemed to be experts in their fields and delivered their pieces with the utmost passion. Adult themes were the order of the day here, which was just as well because a lot of the acts seemed to have just come from the pub around the corner. Some of them even had a trusty beer right next to them as they performed. Perhaps this was the Elixir of Life, which provided them with lyrical sustenance. However, to mistake these inspired poets for typical pub patrons would have been a mistake, as they had so much creativity to offer.

Of the highlights that evening was folk singer Emma Scarr, who played acoustic guitar and harmonica at the same time – a combination that would have surely required an astonishing amount of rhythm and concentration. As impressive as this was, what really caught me about her music were her lyrics. Dramatic and heartfelt, this introvert songstress painted vivid, expansive portraits of everyday life like a poetic Picasso. Ms Scarr invited the audience into her world where anguish and confusion could be overcome through song.

I truly look forward to visiting more poetry and creative events to listen to zany wordsmiths like Vis The Spoon and Archie, as well as quirky poets like Other Theresa. Their carefully crafted brand of wordplay has already inspired my own poetic progression. As I get ready to take part in Circuit Live, I only hope that my words will inspire others the way I was on that very night.

Written By Matthew "Eli" Bell

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http://partnersinrhyme.eventbrite.co.uk/

Come along and check out our Poetry event held at our Circuit Live library this Friday- August 3rd. The event is free, so check out the link and sign up! 

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