19 Tuesday Feb 2019
Posted in Art, creativity, Drawing, Short Story, writing
My latest short book, submerged, is due to be released in early March and I’ve just had a look at some of artist and illustrator Jessamy Hawke’s initial ideas.
These, as you can see, are rough sketches, but Jessamy’s finished work is rather wonderful. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished cover.
You can check out her work including book covers, illustrations, and comissions at her website here.
07 Thursday Feb 2019
Posted in writing
Last night, I read at SOLOFest in Coventry and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I read Twenty Miles South from my Night Swimming collection, and it went down very well. It was great to finally meet Andrew Fletcher, and Chris O’Connell. Andrew organised SOLOFest, and Chris put the open mic slots together. It was also a real pleasure to meet Sinead Brady and Jackie Armstrong two talented Coventry writer/performers.
However, the best part of the night for me was Toby Thompson’s I Wish I Was A Mountain.
Toby’s story was based upon Faldum, a Hermann Hesse fairy tale. Toby used turntables to play mellow jazz, cassette tapes for birdsong, an array of wooden houses that opened out to reveal candles and elephants, as well as a piano that he played refrains upon often along with the jazz records. These inventive props were great, but the real magic came from Toby’s delivery which was full of energy and wonder. The performance posed the question – What would you do if you were happy? How would you be if you had everything you wanted? I’m not sure how long the performance lasted, but I could’ve watched him all night.
I’ll certainly be looking out for future performances from Toby and you should too.
03 Sunday Feb 2019
Posted in writing
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My first reading of this year will be at SOLO Fest in Coventry at the Warwick Arts Centre at 18:00. I was picked for one of the open mic slots before the main performances and will be reading a short story from my Night Swimming collection. Many of us are feeling a bit, Mick Hucknall, these days, so you’ll be pleased to hear that the open mic slots are free to attend if money is indeed too tight to mention. But what is SOLO Fest? The Warwick Arts Centre says:
“SOLO Fest is a four day festival that showcases three captivating theatre shows by solo performers. Audiences have the opportunity to see two shows each evening, along with FREE pop-up performances by local artists, and post-show gossip events.
One person shows depend on the combination of imaginative writing with skilled and versatile performance and stagecraft. Despite there only being one person on stage, the best solo shows can transport you far from the theatre into another world.
We have handpicked three of the best solo shows in the UK today, by top young artists Keisha Thompson, Tatty Hennessy and Toby Thompson.”
That all sounds pretty awesome to me.
I’ll be going to both performances that evening, I Wish I Was A Mountain, and A Hundred Words For Snow, and hanging around for the post show gossip. I’ll even have some books on me if you fancy buying a copy. Please come up and say hello – I won’t bite.
Click on this link to check out the full line-up on the Warwick Arts Centre website.
Garrie Fletcher 