October here we come…

October is always a really busy month because of young writers groups starting back up and because I’m usually involved with a few events and projects at the Off the Shelf Festival of Words. This year is no different and I don’t think I’ll be coming up for air until early November. I’ve managed to squeeze a poetry submission in but I think that might be it for a while. My writing is no stranger to the back burner. It’s where it’s lived most of my life!

Hive, the young writers consortium I’ve set up, has got off to a cracking start over the last few months and one of our new groups started tonight with a buzz around Hive’s festival events and our Arts Award and writing submission opportunities. I’ve just been reading through interest forms and it’s exciting to see young writers setting goals and circling opportunities they’ve often never considered before.

A few months back, just because I felt it was long overdue and needed to be done, I started interviewing young writers, (past and present members of the groups I’ve run in Sheffield and Rotherham for 8 years – this is actually my 9th!), to edit into a little film highlighting why they joined, what they’ve gained, and why others should consider checking one out. As a young person wondering about going to a young writers’ group, better to hear from peers that anyone else! Over the last few weeks, here and there, I’ve been editing together 20 interviews into a 5 segment film. I’ve yet to do a punchy version for people just wanting a snapshot. There’s a link below to the full version and a playlist of separate videos of each on Hive’s YouTube channel.

The best part was daring to delve into some of my external hard drives to find old footage of some of the older young writers. And that’s been so nice. Watching a first performance or just remembering the brilliant things they’ve done and how they’ve grown. Hearing them reflect through the interviews has been a joy too. And new members. Our youngest is not yet 14 and she’s already so thirsty for pushing her writing further. The andragogical term that comes to mind from my teacher training is self-actualising. Those self-actualising moments are gold. I have some great memories of seeing a lot of them take effect.

I’ve loved meeting lots of new young writers these last few months and more are joining all the time. I’m excited about what might happen for them too, for those moments when they realise – ‘I can.’

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