WRITERS ABROAD MAGAZINE: THE THIRD SPACE
upcoming departure in the summer of 2012, we decided to dare ourselves to perform at a
well-known Spoken Word night. We turned up to this night all raring to go but there were
not any slots. We were crestfallen. Someone, after a few beers, said “Well there’s six of us,
why don’t we do our own night?”. A month later we’d hired a (very hot) room above a
pub in King’s Cross, invited all our friends and workmates, got up on stage and read our
stuff. It was a great night, and our friends all told us we needed to do it again. I was
dreadful. It was excruciating. But if I hadn’t taken that first step I’d never have carried on.
It was the peer element for me - daring each other to do it, daring each other to continue.
We did it again the following month, a week before I left for HK. I tried harder, I wanted
to up my game, inspired by the other Rhymers. I was happy with the performance and
left for Hong Kong on a high. It was the thought of Rhymes and ‘keeping my hand in’ to
perform (the rest of them were goin g from strength to strength while I was away) that led
me to Peel Street, which I am very glad about.
Congratulations on performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival two years running!
How was it?
It was marvellous. One of the Edinburgh promoters, Underbelly, came to see us perform
at Rhymes in February 2015 and on the basis of that offered us two shows at the 2015
fringe. We were very lucky to have been invited by a promoter, as we didn’t have to worry
about sourcing a venue. We sold out and got 4* reviews and were invited to return for a
longer run of one week this year, when we were joined by lots of guest performers who
we were thrilled to share the stage with. It was great fun. The Edinburgh Fringe is
wonderful. There’s such a huge range of things to see and do, everything seems to me to
have an extra element of wonder to it. Nothing is ordinary. Beer gardens are fairy
wonderlands; streets are performance trails. It’s like a huge creative playground.
What does the future hold for you as a writer?
I have begun two novels that I am going to finish and then I intend to seek representation
and publication for them. I’m going to be published in a poetry anthology of London
Spoken Word poets this autumn, and I’ll continue to do Rhymes with Orange and
perform at our shows every other months at our residency in Shoreditch, London. I would
at some point like to try playwriting but I’m aware of putting too much on my to-do list,
so I’ll finish these novels first!
And, lastly, do you have any tips for budding poets or novelists?
Make time for your writing, even if it’s very early in the morning before you start work.
If you can, find a writing group to join and share work with – peer support and inspiration
is invaluable. Believe in yourself and be brave. It’s natural to feel nervous putting your
work out in the world, but if you don’t, you’ll never know what might happen if you did.
There could be such marvellous things out there awaiting you, just needing you to take
those first steps towards them.
10 | November 2016