Happy New Year! Sorry it’s been so long...
How is it already mid-January of 2020?! We have been so busy and time has just flown. We know we have been a bit rubbish at updating our blog lately... our new years resolution here at Poison Apple is to get a bit better at it... and failing that you can always find out what we have been up to by following our Twitter... hehe.
Tales from the Dry Open Mic
The biggest piece of news we want to shout about is that our latest poetry booklet - Tales from the Dry Open Mic - is out now! This beautiful purple booklet is packed with original creative writing by participants from our Dry Open Mic project. It contains poems, lyrics, short stories, flash fiction and even some humorous letters to Father Christmas. It was an absolute joy putting it together and it’s even more delightful to read.
All participants have been given several free copies and we’ll be distributing them around various community venues this Spring.
If you work with a group you think would appreciate some free booklets (there is adult content and themes of mental health and substance/alcohol recovery) please email us (our email is at the bottom of this post) and we’ll send you a batch if you’re able to cover postage costs.
Here are a couple of samples from the booklet:
Lost In Cyberspace
By Sheila Farrow
I can’t get the hang of computers
Despite all the courses I’ve tried.
This new-fangled technology scares me,
It’s a jargon-filled white-knuckle ride!
I’m afraid that I’ll do something stupid
Like selling my body online.
Before all this cyber-spaced sexting
My love life was perfectly fine!
I’ve just sent an e-mail to Moscow,
To Vladimir Putin, no less!
Inadvertently processing ‘enter’
Instead of a capital ‘s’.
All in all, I’m in quite a dilemma,
Need advice as to what to do next.
You can phone me or send me a letter,
But, for God’s sake, don’t send me a text!
Honesty - A Flash Fiction Piece
By Jayne Gosnall
Signing on day always meant tired feet.
Resting on the bench in City Square
Jo saw a half played street chess game, and,
moving the black queen to b4,
she spotted a forgotten tenner.
Looking around, who’d she tell?
A bunch of Tesco’s tulips and the bus fare home
would be a rare treat.
Weeks later Jo settled on the sofa with the kids
to watch a meaningful documentary
She was keen that they face life’s Big Questions
They were less so until they spotted amongst the many,
their mum furtively pocketing a ten pound note
in a social experiment.
Homelessness
By Lyndsey Rowe-Gidley
Sleeping on broken glass or narrow streets
Having nothing on their feet
Don't know where they're going
Nowhere to turn with feeling hopeless and out
Having nothing but doubt
Eating barely nowt
Sleeping with one eye open and one eye shut
Picking up cig butts while the public tuts
With cuts and grease on the skin
Looking so dreary and thin
Thinking where do I begin?
How did I end up with no home?
I'm all alone just skin and bone
People speaking at me with that tone
Do you take drugs? Or are you a thug?
I just give them a shrug
It's not a bug you can catch
I don't want to eat from the trash because
I don't want to take your cash
Or have a lash in the street
Hopefully being homelessness is something you never meet
Dry Open Mic - New Venue for 2020
We’ve moved our Dry Open Mic to The Broughton Hub, just down the road from our old venue. It was a shame to move, but we’re delighted that our new venue has wheelchair access and a lift, making it far more accessible for our participants. The Dry Open Mic still takes place on the last Tuesday of every month from 5:30pm to 7:30pm and is open to anyone who wants to join us.
Here are a few pics from our Christmas Do, which was the first event to be held in The Broughton Hub.
Youth Work: Wellbeing Weekenders
We’ve also been doing some more bespoke work with young people in partnership with Starling - find out more about them by clicking here.
Last October, we worked on the Wellbeing Weekender - a fantastic 2-day event giving young people from Oldham the chance to try out music, art and drama and to showcase their skills at the end of the two days.
Quina and Kaylea worked with three super talented young men who created an original short play about three older gentlemen. It was very funny and had the audience in fits of giggles! Meanwhile, Liam worked with a large group (music was clearly the popular choice that weekend!) to perform some songs and original raps. Everyone enjoyed themselves and got involved, with some young people trying out musical instruments for the first time.
Our next Wellbeing Weekender will be in February and we can’t wait to partner with Starling again and work with more talented young people!
Congratulations to Lyndsey
Last of all in this blog post (but by no means least) we wanted to congratulate our Open Mic participant Lyndsey who has been selected to read her poetry at Home MCR as part of their #McrOpen2020 Exhibition. She’ll be performing on Thursday 23rd January alongside other spoken word artists and we could not be prouder of this talented lady!
Here’s a pic of Lyndsey in action at one of our Open Mic nights - she also wrote the poem ‘Homelessness’ above - and a link with info about the free performance.
https://homemcr.org/event/open-house-thursday-performances-by-manchester-open-artists/
That’s all from us for now, but we’ll try and stick with our new year’s resolution and write another update soon! Thanks for reading.
Please get in touch at [email protected] to find out more, ask us about working together, or for a batch of booklets! :)
