Sheree Mack

My Way!

2007-12-12T04:40:00.000-08:00

And now, the end is near;
and so I face the final curtain...

The time has flown. From Sept 2006 to Dec 2007, I have been the writer in residency at the Lit and Phil. I have enjoyed my time.
I have enjoyed the opportunity and I will missed the limelight.
But I must move on.
The issues are still important, slavery is still happening now around the world.
I will be still researching it, writing about it and talking about it. I'll just not be doing it from the privileged position of the Lit and Phil's writer in residence.
Have I mentioned that I'm going to miss it?

I've managed to achieve a lot during this time in position. Working with local schools and organisations, opening up the Society to those hard to reach groups of people, to using the Society's archives for performances at the Sage, Newcastle University, Cumbria etc.
But the best bit was meeting all the people. All the people I have been able to meet because of this job. Being writer in residence has been my ticket into other worlds. Those worlds that were closed to me as a mere poet.
I thank the Lit and Phil, the committee, the president, the members, the staff and especially Kay Easson for this opportunity and support along the way.

I've had many emails during my time in position from friends, members, audience and participants from events leanding their support ansd congratulations.
Here is just one I'd like to share with you,

"I salute you! It is great that you have opened up this beautiful, dusty old institution and brought it new light. You looked bright and shiny moving amongst those fascinating bookshelves. And, I love the thought of a strong black woman walking the corridors where mainly the white middle and upper classes have walked before. I'm sure there is a book or even a Hollywood film in there! "

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew,
when I bit off more than I could chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt,
I ate it up and spit it out.
I faced it all and I stood tall;
And did it my way.

Until next time
Sheree

It's All Happening

2007-10-08T02:49:00.000-07:00

October is here already. And I love this time of year. The colours, the smells, the fresh, crisp air. Time to put on one of my many hats, gloves , scarf and embrace the coming chill. Love it. Maybe it's because I was born this time of year, or maybe it's because I get a warm glowing feeling when I see all that I've created this year come to fruition. I don't know but I do know I've got a bounce in my step and I'm ready for whatever happens.
The Lit and Phil has a new Artist in Residence, Michelle Milburn. She'll be around for a year, creating within these ancient walls, peeling back the layers to get to the true beauty. It's all happening, it's exciting.
I've got a couple of months left before I depart, and one of those months I'll be working hard, no matter what you might think, on my full collection on a retreat in Barcelona. It has to be done. But so much to do before I go.
I've got my chapbook launch 18 Oct. id on tyne has another book launch at the end of Oct 31st for Asit Maitra. There's more lectures happening with slavery, 17 October, Contemporary Slavery in Historical Perspective and then 24 Oct, Sean Creighton and his findings.It's all happening. Make sure you get involved some how.

2007-09-03T03:06:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

Back from a lovely break and it's a year to this day that I first started at the Lit and Phil as writer in residence. It doesn't feel like a year, no way. It's been a blast, really good for the reputation if not the back balance. But it's not over yet. I'm in post till the end of the year and there's still a lot to do before that date appears.

I really working hard on the chapbook, The White of the Moon, launch event Thursday 18 October, 7pm. I say chapbook but with nearly 50 poems included, all inspired by my research here, it's going to be a chunky one at that.

This is the time when the events and activities in commemoration of the bicentenary shifts into another gear. And things start to roll out for Black History Month, so we have another few months to get the issues surrounding past and present slavery into the mainstream and onto people's agenda's. But how has this year gone? Have all these initiatives made a difference? I would love to hear what you think? Comment below, or drop me a line.

After this this writer in residence post, what next, a star spot in South Park?

Lazy Summer Days

2007-07-09T08:11:00.000-07:00

I am so glad that the summer is here. Summer I mean as in calender wise, not weather wise. But I won't spend time talking about the rain as it will only get me depressed. But, yes, during these summer days of longer day light hours and carefree abandonment, things do shift into a slower more relaxed pace. And I'm happy about that, as the last few months have been hectic to say the least. But a lot of good things have come from this high activity.
Masquerade is one such event that came about from much industry from Maggie Tate and Ernest Young. I was just a long for the ride. One person who fed back on the night at the Sage said that the flyers that went out were not a true reflection of what happened on the night. They were blown away by the performance, the last one in three, which started at The Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle and Temple Park, leisure centre, South Shields. People in the audience were moved to tears as they were taken back in time, with the help of archival evidence found in the Lit and Phil and the local collections as the City library, to the slave ship, auction, plantation life and abolition movement.
There were national reference points, but the majority of the piece was based on the North East connections. My creative pieces were put to drum and percussion soundscapes and choral singing, as three South Tyneside schools were involved. These were nights to be proud of, as these were collaborations across the whole spectrum of the North East community, young, old, black and white. It was amazing, so much so that there had to be a higher being involved in the process, in order to create such a wonderful piece of creativity shared.
Now people are asking, what next?
I say lazy summer days as the schools break up and I, still in teacher mode, follow the call of the final bell and rest for the next 6 or 8 weeks.
Don't expect any updates during August. See you back here in September.
Enjoy the summer.

From, The White of the Moon

2007-06-21T04:49:00.000-07:00

Lover

You touch me in so many places,
I’m left trembling and tingling.

Yet, these feelings are marred by fear.
Without you, I prefer the nights;

the darkness all around, no moon,
is like the darkness inside of me.

All day there are others around me,
but I am alone with my emptiness.

I know you are near by your scent-
polished mahogany, molasses, and by the heat

that creeps up my black skin
and reminds me to feel again,

the weight of your body on mine.
You have no idea how glorious

it is to be chosen by you,
to be held by you.

I have no voice to call you,
I have no right to love you.

Yet, I want to keep you.

Diary Dates

2007-06-21T04:32:00.000-07:00

The Lit and Phill is a happening place, it's official. Well, just take it from me. The Lit and Phil's diary is jam packed with writers, artists, directors, playwrights, all wanting to do their thing within the Lit and Phil's walls. It's amazing how this place has taken off, now I'll take some credit for it, but I joined the team when the wheels were already turning. You've got to check out the vision and commitment of one, Kay Easson, to thank for changing the image of the Lit and Phil.
The Lit and Phil hasn't been so busy. It's the place now for all sorts of events and projects; residencies, exhibitions, readings, presentations, drama. Everybody who's anybody wants a piece of the place. I'm proud to be part of it.
What we've got lined up at the end of June, 28th from 7pm, is a chapbook launch from id on tyne press, with Katy Massey, Erin Bidlake, Gerard Rudolf and Henry Ilombu. All from different parts of the world, these writers have chosen to make the North East their home. They will be reading from their work which will create a sense of place.
And a sense of place is the theme this year and next for the Lit and Phil's literary festival. So I've gone and booked in a number of budding writers groups for the autumn season, the Buddle Arts Centre Writer's group, Tues 18th Sept and the Grainger Women's Writer's group, Wed 25th Sept, from 7pm . Each group have an anthology of their work coming out so these should be really exciting nights.
As for my own creations, I'm off to Trinidad and Tobago at the end of July in order to fine tune and complete my chapbook, The White of the Moon, which aims to mark the accumulation of my poems written during my residency and the end of my residency. The White of the Moon, is due for launch on 18 October at the Lit and Phil and it would be good to see as many old and new faces there to share in the evening. The residency continues up until the end of 2007, and then I hope to leave a legacy of the residencies continuing at the Lit and Phil for years to come.
best
Sheree

Blooming May

2007-05-06T08:34:00.000-07:00

May is here and time is flying. First of all please find below an extract from the winner of the Myths and Legends competition, for the poetry category, Erin Bidlake. Hopefully you'll be able to hear more from her when she does a reading at the Lit and Phil during June.

MOMOTARO

Momotaro is a Japanese folk tale. This tale tells the story of an elderly, childless couple who discover a giant peach. From this peach a small boy is born. The couple adopts the boy and names him Momotaro—“momo” for “peach” and “Taro”, a popular Japanese name given to first-born sons. Momotaro eventually leaves his parents to go fight the ogres living on an island called Onigashima.

Carp are a traditional symbol for boys in Japan, and carp flags are displayed during the Boy’s Day festival. The Japanese believe carp to be the most virile and spirited of fish, because they are able to swim against strong currents and overcome great obstacles to reach their destinations.

~~~

You know him as simply “the peach boy”, but he was my son, my only. I’ve heard all your stories: how he was sent from the heavens in a ripe peach, his birth nothing more than sweet-smelling fruit split open to a dark center, the furred skin peeled back. Painless. Bloodless.

May has just begun and already I've given two talks in connections with my residency. The first was within the Mining Institute in Wednesday 2nd May, where to a packed house I presented some of my findings around the black presence in the North East after 1807. I concentrated in four people in particular; Olaudah Equiano, Bill Richmond, Mary Ann Macham and Frederick Douglass. At time or another these individuals either settled in the North East or past on through. But in the process the North east touched them and they touched the North East. I hope to continue this line of enquiry through the rest of my residency as people present providing some new information too. I'd like to thank all the people who turned up for this event. And I hope we meet again very soon.
The second paper was yesterday in Wreay nr. Carlisle. I was invited by the Losh Circle to present on James Losh and the abolition of slavery as part of a study day in aid of restoring St Mary's Church in Wreay, designed by Losh's niece, Sarah Losh. Again this event was well attended but I think it was more out of interest in Losh than the abolition of slavery. yet at the same time, it was yet another opportunity to discuss the issues surrounding the bicentenary of the abolition of transatlantic slave trade and the years that followed this landmark decision. It was a most enjoyable day.

LEGACY: A Bucket of Afro-Caribbean Culture

2007-04-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Growing up in Britain,

the culture is on tap;

freely flowing

everywhere.

It takes a conscious decision

to turn away from

this easiness

and to go to the well.

It takes strength to pull

and pull, drawing the water

from deep deep down

and from way back in the past.

One bucket surfaces,

water dripping down the sides.

I drink the whole bucket

and start drawing water again.

Back

2007-04-15T14:20:00.000-07:00

Hi All

It's good to be back but it might take some time to get back into the driving seat.
There have been rocky times and probably more to come but it's all a learning experience.

Apologies to anyone who entered the Myths and Legends Competition and did not receive a reply to emails or acknowledgements to entries etc. Although this was suggested when the rules and conditions were released, if I could respond to the individual I did so. But the majority of time that the competition was open, I was in the Caribbean and the emails/hard copies were in the Lit and Phil. WE had over 150 entries, so it was impossible really to give that individual feedback.

Anyway, those who won or were commended were informed and those that could attended the reading. Those present expressed their pleasure in the evening and offered their thanks for gaining pointers and tips about future competition entries, as I introduced each winner and the reasons why their entries won.

The overall winner for the prose category was Saira Dunnakey.
The overall winner for the poetry category was Erin Bidlake.

Commended writers included:

Catherine Graham
Carolyn Jess-Cooke.
Pippa Little
Stephanie Rickaby
Fiona Richie Walker
Elizabeth Whyman

I hope to showcase some of their work here very soon.

Going Monthly

2007-02-11T12:24:00.000-08:00

It has to be done now. I'm running out of time. I still go into the Lit and Phil every week but haven't had the chance to get my head down and do the research. Last week was the case of being interviewed for City Life and the Journal's Culture Mag, both out in March. Now people may think that's great, that's a great experience, you're going to be famous. But yes and no. Interviews are good in the sense that it gets what you're doing out there, reaching a wider audience. But the other side is that you can use interviews as a bench mark to illustrate what you know and the big gaping gaps that you don't know. Flagging up once more the lack of time to cover everything. But really I should not try to cover everything and I should continue what I am doing and concentrate on those things that I'm interested in. But then I feel as if I have a responsibility to present a full a picture as possible.

There are still some opportunities for you to get involved in the research as we move on to a Heritage Lottery Funded project which involves the mapping of places that have a contact with the slave trade and abolition. The aim is to eventually plot these sites into a trail. So if you're interested in helping out , get in touch with me via this site or through the Lit and Phil. As you know I need the help and would really appreciate it.
Until next month,
best
Sheree

The 2007 Bicentenary of the Abolition of Transatlantic Slave Trade

2007-01-25T13:35:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to you. I've been back to work now at the Lit and Phil for two weeks and it's been difficult to get a book open and do some research. Its been meetings galore, with all those people who are interested in the research, planning to do their own research, event or project surrounding the region's involvement with the slave trade and abolition.
I should be pleased.
Just like I should be pleased by the number who turned out for the first real event in the North East to mark the anniversary; the talk given by Hazel Edwards and Elizabeth O'Donnell at Cafe Scientifique, the other week. But I left that gathering worse for wear I must say. And it was because of the number if people who seemed to have their own agenda's, who seemed to be selfishly using and abusing this year to further their own needs and wants, ideals and opinions.
I fear that the real focus of 2007 is going to be lost.

People may say that being the Writer in Residence at the Lit and Phil is furthering my own writing career. Or that the funding identity on tyne has got for the Roots Initiative is being used as a smokescreen to develop the first black centre for literature in the North East.
I say let them say it, as I know that I am not losing sight of what is important about 2007 and it is about revealing a hidden history, revealing a much clearer picture of the slave trade and the abolition movement within the North East. And using this to gain some understanding of our humanity and how we treat one another.
All this information, stories, facts and sources have been here all a long, available to any one who chose to take a look. The only difference now is that we have the time, energy and impetus to look today, or tomorrow, or next week. And then share it. And that's all I want to do, if only I could get some time away from all these meetings.

Residency in Focus

2006-12-29T12:16:00.000-08:00

As it is nearing the end of 2006, I thought it would be as good a time as any to take stock of what I have achieved in my time as Writer in Residence at the Lit and Phil and what I have planned to do during 2007.
I started way back in September 2006, when the weather was just turning cold and I was full of hope. This month would be spent trying to get to grips with the library's tract collection as the computer catalogue was down. So I had to do everything the slow way, going through each and every single tract booklet to find anything related to slavery and the region. What I established was a general knowledge, for myself, about the issues surrounding slavery and why it should or should not be abolished. The long Wilberforce speech to the House of Commons comes to mind here.
October was the month that the Lit and Phil went public with its new image of bringing in the new;in terms of audience, readers, writers and events. National Poetry Day showed nearly 30 poets, from around the region, reading a poem and then a group poem at the end. It was a successful evening, if I say it myself, and there are souvenir copies of the poetry anthology that was produced for the night still circulating. It was October when I also started working with a special group of children at Moorside Community Primary School. What a talented bunch of writers they turned out to be. The work culminated is a visit to the Lit and Phil and there will be an exhibition of their work going up in the library in the New Year as a way of sharing their creations with the library's members.
November, with the nights drawing in, was a time to consolidate the information I had collected, from my own readings and those of my volunteers,to ascertain the extent of the region's industries, societies, groups and people's involvement in the trade and abolition of slavery. And it turns out to be a long list!
All these months were a creative time for me, where I was being inspired by what I was reading to then go away and write a number of poems.The public display of this work and research was evident in my first solo reading in December. And as you might have read in the other postings , it was a tremendous evening, in so many different ways.
So I would argue quite strongly that we have established a good relationship with the Lit and Phil, a relationship which is proving beneficial to all the parties involved. I would even go as far to say that there has been more people, and different people, through the library's doors, and some even joining as a result of the increased profile of the Society.
What does 2007 have in store for the library and me?
More workshops happening within its walls, if not facilitated by myself then by fellow writers from around the country. More hosting of reading events, lectures, storytelling and discussions. Hopefully with ACE funding the Lit and Phil will be able to host their first writing competition. There will be a postcard campaign coming out of my research, including images and key facts that link the region with the slave trade and abolition. Also the creative pieces inspired by this research will see the light of day again as we plan to put the pieces to music with an orchestra and choir, and showcase it with other pieces of written, visual and art work.
I'll stop there as this could be a case of information overload but I'd just like to say that these past few months at the Lit and Phil have only been the beginning. Watch this space!

The Treadmill

2006-12-24T13:59:00.000-08:00

Your hands are chained above your head.

The iron cuffs chafe your wrists.

Your feet are hanging down on the moving steps.

Your feet are free to dance.

The machine is wound up at one end

and made wider or thinner at the other.

Each measurement depends on the handlers’ moods.

Your aim is to keep your feet moving.

Keep moving your feet but getting no where.

Miss a step, trip up and you lose the rhythm.

Not able to catch the step, you hang by your wrists

and each mill step batters your legs and knees.

The driver’s cat is on your back. On your back until

you find that rhythm again and dance, dance good.

A change of place for a short time.

2006-12-24T13:56:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd tell you about my solo reading performance on Monday 11 December 2006, as it was such a tremendous evening that I'm just coming down from the experience now and it's nearly three weeks ago.

The reading was excellent, about 40-50 people turned out for different reasons; family, as Al and Nath were their for that added support. Friends, fellow poets, and those interested in the residency and the links within the region to slavery. I really enjoyed myself. It was an amazing night.

I started off with a reading of my personal work what I am writing with my PhD in Creative Writing at Newcastle University, under the title 'Family Album'. I included a slide show of family snaps as well and music from the 60s. This brought some soul to the Lit and Phil. I have been told, afterwards, that I had to be admired because I put myself out there, laid my family history out for all to see. Someone else said that I made my parents proud and that the reading brought them back to life.

There was a break where spiritual music was played to get us in the mood for the slavery pieces I'd created in relation to my research at the library and then a Q and A to complete the evening. Questions asked were first a bout my writing process and if I write for the poems to be performed and personally I had to say no, as the poem has to work on the page first. there were also questions regarding if I had found out anything surprising about the region and its involvement with slavery. Well apart from the discovery of Earl Grey being involved in the passing of the bill, as documented in the last post, more information has come to life that would involve the Duke of Northumberland and Lord Eldon. But I'll save all that for another post.

I'm just reliving it all while writing this as it was such a good night. I made some chapbooks as well for the three different sections of the readings, mummy, daddy and slavery. I had none left at the end of the night.

But I think I've set the bar high for my solo performances now, it would be difficult to pull another evening off like that one.

So Many Books

2006-11-11T04:22:00.000-08:00

The last few weeks have been so busy in the Lit and Phil, as there are so many books I want to get through in my one day. At the end of each day, I feel as if I haven’t done enough and I feel frustrated. But then the flip side is even if I was camping out at the Lit and Phil 24/7, I’m sure I still wouldn’t get through the whole heap of books I want to. So give myself a break.

But I’ve got to share what I found out just Monday gone. And I’ve been asking people about it and some knew and some didn’t. And maybe you’ll read this and think, well I knew that. So what, I say, as I think there’s a lot of people out there who don’t know, especially the young who just chose to meet there and not know the significance of it.

Earl Grey, born 13 March 1764 in Falloden, Northumberland, known for the blend of tea known as Earl Grey. Earl Grey's most remarkable achievement was the Reform Act of 1832, which set in train a gradual process of electoral change. Indeed, it sowed the seeds of the system we recognise today.

But what he might not be known for is this: in 1806, Earl Grey first took up office in government, under Lord Grenville, as First Lord of the Admiralty. Before the year was out, due to a death, Grey became Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Leader of the House of Commons. And within this capacity he issued the successful Bill for the abolition of the slave trade. On 25 March 1807, the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act entered the statute books and Earl Grey had a hand in it. Did you know?

Anyway, I chose to share this new found knowledge straightaway as Thursday was the last day in the series of workshops with Moorside Community Primary School. So we decided to bring the children down to the Lit and Phil to see what is was like. On the way down the hill we walked via the monument, Grey’s Monument, so the children could gain an understanding of what this man had done for the abolition of slavery. This is a monument that we have all passed, or met friends at and maybe not realised the significance of this man achievements to national and world history.

The kids had tour of the library and then went underground to the basement rooms to create some atmosphere while we talked about slavery and looked at the diagrams of slave ships, taken from the library’s tract collection. The kids had a good time at the library and created some good pieces of work that included Earl Grey, Slavery and The Lit and Phil. Here’s an example to read:

Grey’s Monument
Taller than the sky
Stone, as hard as stone.
Looking down towards
the Lit and Phil.
Remembering slaves

Aanisah, aged 9

Poetry Reading

2006-10-31T11:51:00.000-08:00

I will be reading from new work created in relation to slavery and from my forthcoming collection ‘Family Album’ at the Literary and Philosophical Society.
Monday 11th December, 7.30. There will be an opportunity for questions and answers during the evening.
This is part of The Roots Initiative, a series of events and projects hosted by identity on tyne to mark the Bicentenary of the Abolition of Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Journal Interview

2006-10-31T11:45:00.000-08:00

Read all about it !

Write on Sheree

Oct 5 2006

By Tamzin Lewis, The Journal

The 200-year-old Lit & Phil has never had a writer in residence. Now they've got poet Sheree Mack who tells Tamzin Lewis about floggings, slavery and today's National Poetry Day.

Poring over collections of 18th Century tracts, poet Sheree Mack has just come across eyewitness accounts of whippings and floggings in Jamaica during the slave trade.

"These things happened and they do need to be exposed because they have been glossed over," Sheree says.

"Schoolchildren have bare facts about slavery, the economics is overplayed while punishments are underplayed.

"And although William Wilberforce and Granville Sharp helped bring abolition about, there were also rebellions, runaways and African anti-slavery campaigners which contributed to the end of slavery."

As the first writer in residence at the Lit & Phil on Newcastle's Westgate Road, Sheree is spending four months researching books which relate to the trade and abolition of transatlantic slavery.

She is working with staff, volunteers, visitors and friends of the library to shed light on the region's involvement in the trade.

Her residency will lay the foundation for events and projects to mark the bicentennial of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Bill, which was passed by Parliament in March 1807.

Sheree, 34, says: "I am the first writer in residence and it is an achievement and an honour. I am going through tracts and speeches to see what connections there are in this area to slavery. It is a learning experience. I thought that in 1807 everyone was free but that wasn't the case. It was a long drawn out process.

"The Atlantic had to be patrolled as traders were still trying to bring people across the ocean. The HMS Trincomalee in Hartlepool was one of the ships which was being used to police the Atlantic."

Sheree is concentrating on evidence which relates to people in the region, including the anti-slavery Quaker women who sent money to the United States to support the education of children, and there were links with Whitehaven in Cumbria.

"It is an investigation and, in a sense, there is too much to cover," says Sheree.

"There are also families in this area who made their money from the slave trade. There are hidden stories and voices."

She is going to use her research as a basis for new work and will give a reading in December.

And she hopes to work with a composer on a new multi-media performance piece about the slave trade.

Sheree left a career in teaching in order to write and is project co-ordinator of writing group Identity on Tyne.

Sheree, in a tradition of black British women writers dating back to Mary Prince, who was a slave from Antigua brought to England where she was freed, is studying for a PhD in Black British Women's Poetry at Newcastle University.

And she has recently discovered her own connection to slavery.

"My dad's side were taken from Sierra Leone to Trinidad," she says.

"Before learning this, I knew about slavery mainly from the literature side.

"Many poets have retraced their past and have explored slavery. The subject has been written about a lot, especially by black writers.

"I am thinking about how you can make it original or approach it from a new angle. I haven't pinned that down yet.

"This work is pushing the boundaries of my writing. It is getting me to step outside myself and outside my comfort zone." As writer in residence Sheree is also doing workshops in schools and today, National Poetry Day, she is taking assembly at Moorside Community Primary School in Newcastle's West End before starting a regular series of workshops.

Let's start at the very beginning ...

2006-10-22T12:24:00.000-07:00

It started with just one man
isn’t that always how it starts?
Let’s call him Gonzales
as I feel like we know him.

And there’s a beautiful woman.
Not weak or passive
just different and abundant.
Let’s call her Mother, Mother Africa.

The man is an explorer
eager to please.
The woman is a continent
unknown, therefore, a tease.

“Oh how fair a thing it would be”,
Gonzales said to his ring of men,
“If we could go on home
with a few captives for our King.”

So this man and others
sneak onto her shore front
as the moon hides its face
and a vulnerable sky blankets their hunt.

Over her warm sand dunes
they track, through the looming trees,
rouching close to the ground,
working hard not to be seen.

They push on for three or more leagues
seeking out their victim
when fatigued and thirsty,
they spy a naked man alone.

They spread out around their prey
out of sight and ear,
at the signal of a roar
they pounce out of the bush like tigers.

They throw javelins and stones,
all tiredness forgotten,
as these men are incensed
with their ill-gotten gains and game

The Moor doesn’t have a chance
wounded, he’s gagged and bound
pulled through his world to their ship,
away from her, Mother Africa, forever.

It has begun …

Liz Lochhead

2006-10-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

The Lit and Phil had the pleasure of Liz Lochhead walking its boards last week. What a pleasure and inspiration she was to have. I wish all poets were like her, down to earth that is, and real.
She started off with a workshop in the afternoon on Wednesday. There was about 12 of us and the first task was to go around and tell our names, but we had to remember everybody else's name before ours and say theirs before we said our own. It was a name train. It was a good way to introduce ourselves and also remember the others' names. I had an advantage, as I knew a lot of faces already around the table.
Liz set the task of working with abstract nouns. The idea was to work with such words as 'love', 'peace', 'fear', 'innocence', which are none specific words, and to make them concrete. The task was to make them specific through the imagery. The best way to do this is through the senses, assigning to these words human qualities. So we all chose an abstract noun from the list we created as a group,and Liz asked us such question as,'What does it look like? What does it smell like? What is it wearing?' etc. Until we had a list of sentences referring to our abstract nouns, but sentences and images that made this word specific and alive. Working with out sentences we had to form some kind of poem. This is what I created for 'charisma':

"You be mine," you whisper,
like a snake's belly rubbing sand.
You take me in.
There's a hint of polished mahogany
and sour molasses.
Rough stubble tears my thighs
as greedy palms, with raised circles,
knead my belly.
Your high brown leather boots
are still on.

Quickly moving on to the next task, we had to think of a person we knew well and try to describe them through an action that they did. This was very effective. It was slowing the action down and showing the action rather than telling it. The last task was totally aimed at taking us out of ourselves and into the life and mind of another character. We became the character on the piece of paper we were dealt. I was a tailor, but there was a Police Detective, a cat burglar, a dentist. Liz asked us questions and we had to answer in character, such as ' You're in a room, what do you see in the room?' ,' You hear a noise outside of the window, what do you do?'.
This exercise threw up some important questions for me regarding getting out of my own character and family history and working on something totally divorced from me. I found it difficult but I will persevere as I continue to write poems in relation to my findings from my research.
This good workshop was topped off with a good reading from Liz in the evening. She read from her new collection,'The Colour of Black and White: Poems 1984-2003' and newer ones. I think my best poem of the night was 'What the Pool said on Midsummer's Day' from the 'Dreaming Frankenstein' collection. In this poem, Liz give the pool of water a voice and its an enticing, seductive voice as the pool tries to get men and women to enter it and lose their lives. This is something I want to pursue, giving voice to the unusual or inanimate things, as I carry on my research into Trinidad, past and present.
Watch this space where I might introduce you to the voice of the island.

Coffee with the Lord Major

2006-10-20T04:19:00.000-07:00

I've had a few manic weeks at the Lit and Phil. Who said this writer in residence thing was easy? Take me back to the earlier days when I could loose myself in the wealth of books. These days, I'm lucky if I get a page turned. I'm not complaining, no not really. As I'm loving it all , I just wish there was more time in the day to do everything. Maybe I'll have to be looking at going into the Lit and Phil for a second day each week, or maybe extend the residency beyond December 2006?
We'll see but in the meantime, I've had the pleasure of presenting and reading with the High Level Bridge Poets in the main library. There was a lovely appreciative crowd that night who enjoyed a varied selection of poetry from those reading. The audience were taken to Prague, South Africa, the Lakes and back to rainy Newcastle. Priceless.
A different bunch of poets will be reading on 22 November, so there's another treat in store.

I suppose I should address the title of this blog, 'Coffee with the Lord Major' and Kay! We were invited to a meet with Diane Packham, the city's Lord Major to discuss what the council should be doing for 2007. Putting aside the point that it's better late than never, we went along with a list a information about events and projects that we were instigating and others for 2007.

The meeting was very fruitful and the discussions came right up to the present day equivalents of slavery. I read in last week's Independent on Saturday an article regarding forced marriage being on the increase within some of Britain's most isolated and radicalised communities. This piece documented that even girls as young as 13 were involved. These issues are reinforced with the recent Police raid on a Tyneside brothel, this week. Closer to home, this brothel had Oriental women, black women and women who appeared to be of Eastern European origin. This can only raise questions about the trafficking of women for the sex trade.
The main conclusions from this meeting with the Major, was the idea that there needs to be more awareness raising in the region. If I did a survey on the streets of Newcastle today, ( vox pop, is that's what it's called?), asking the people what is important about 2007 in terms of world history, I don't think I would get the answer that it is the bicentenary of the abolition of transatlantic slave trade. Maybe its asking too much of the general public as even at the time, in 1807, when the bill was passed, a lot of people were unaware of it. This issue was not aided by the fact that abolition was in name only. In reality, there was another 30 years, the apprenticeship period and another 30 years, in some places, before slavery was totally abolished.
This is part of British history. This is part of Britain today and definitely part of our British future. Shouldn't everyone be aware of this knowledge?

The Event of the Year!

2006-10-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

Have you ever taken a school assembly before? I mean held a whole school's attention for 20 minutes in the palm of your hand? Thursday 5 October, National Poetry day, started with me visiting Moorside Community Primary School , where I had to do just that. I'm not sure how well I did it but I had that nice warm glowing feeling deep inside, at the end of it.

It was lovely being in a school where I looked out over the sea of crossed legged bodies on a wooden polished floor and the faces where multi-coloured. There was such a refreshing ethnic mix within this school that I was smiling from ear to ear when I saw all these little people filing in neatly and quietly. Maybe that's why I went down so well because they thought I was some crazy women smiling for no reason and acting like I knew them from time?

I was happy and I hope I got that feeling across to the school. We ran through a whole school poem with snapping of the fingers, clapping of the hands and the banging of the feet (God help the teachers once they got the kids back to the class. high high high).
Then it was getting volunteers out at the front who were brave enough to tell the whole school how their identity could be expressed through their favourite colour. A tall order but something children from recption class, aged 4, up to Year 6, aged 10 or 11, did and did with style and confidence. Amazing.

I ended with my own poem 'ethnic origin' and was asked for the copy at the end of it. It was such a wonderful morning. I walked through the school afterwards and all the children knew who I was and talked to me, saying hello and asking me questions, like, am I rich. "Oh yes writers are so rich, thats why more and more of are joining the ranks!" I wish.
I'll be back there next week working with a selcetd group of children. Looking forward to it.

THANK YOU. Poets, audience, Lit and Phil staff, Caroline, Kay. Everybody who was involved in the National Poetry Day publicity and event, I thank you because it was an amazing evening and it couldn't have happened without you. I wouldn't try and repeat the evening as everything went well. It was magical. The audience were engaged and appreciative. The poets were on time and professional and receptive. I was hyper and bossy and scared. We achieved something that I haven't seen done before and that's a group poem at the end of the whole evening involving 26 poets. It worked and worked well. Not saying I'll try it again though, but it's good to try new things, to push the boundaries, to challenge ourselves.

Thanks and praise has been flooding in since that night.
Comments saying, "A great evening. It was such a fantastic mix of poetry."
" I enjoyed last night's event at the Lit & Phil".
"What a wonderful evening of vibrant and real poetry."

That's one event down in my quest to open up the Lit and Phil more and to cast it in a different light. Let's see what I can do next. I'll keep you informed.

What am I really doing????

2006-10-03T04:45:00.000-07:00

Can I stress at this point that I'm Writer in Residence at the Lit and Phil because its an honourable position and will hopefully further my career. Let's get that out the way first.

Now, I'm also in this post because I feel passionate and enthusiastic about literature in the North East and what I can do to add to it. Far too often I've been to events or projects where things take place because of who you know not what you know. Far too often commissions, invitations and commendations have gone to friends and associates not because their work is the best quality but because they are friends and associates.

So now that I'm in a position like this one at the Lit and Phil, I'm not going to spend my time and energy making sure my friends and associates get in on the action ( of course friends, family and associates support me by all means). But I'm going to make sure that this small egotisical literary world is opened up a touch for others, those left out of the crowd, to get a look in and a chance to share their work.

The whole research project for my residency is aimed at exposing those hidden voices, those stories from the past that demonstrate the North East's involvement in the trade and abolition of slavery. This is the main idea surrounding the National Poetry Day event on Thursday 5 October (7.30, wine, books and good poetry). Let's open up the doors and listen to new voices. I see my role at the Lit and Phil as to inspire, enthuse, inform, demonstrate and listen.

I'm using myself as an example of, 'Look here, this is what I am doing. You can do it too.' And I'm not kidding myself that I'm going to change the world, that I'll change this fair city's literary corners forever, but I could, like you too could, get someone new to take notice and listen.

Getting amongst it!

2006-09-19T08:32:00.000-07:00

Another week at the Lit and Phil has gone by and I sense a buzz in the air. I had a working lunch with Kay ( thanks for that Kay) where we discussed the selcetion for the forthcoming National Poetry Day event. It was a difficult decison as we had so many submissions of a high standard. It was time that swayed out hands in the end as we wanted to get home before midnight on NPD. Its exciting as the majority of people who will be reading are unknown to us, new kids on the block. This might even be their first reading event. So I'm pleased that not only am I fulfiling my brief with research into the past to unearth hidden voice, but I am also bringing unknown voices to the forefront in the present. It feels good. So NPD is Thursday 5 October, 7.30 onwards. Come along, you'll be more than welcome.

While talking to my husband about the event, he asked if I had taken the time to step back and really think about what I am doing in the Lit and Phil. I took offence at first, reading this question as if I'm wasting my time at the Lit and Phil or rushing into things without really thinking about what I'm doing. But, (and no arguement took place, I may add. He got his explantion in quickly!), what he was really saying was that here I am a Black female researching slavery in the 21st century within a Victorain institution founded by white men. I sit in the cosy women's powder room in the Lit and Phil four hundred years after the events have taken place as a Black female who has links with both the exporters of human trafiic, Ghana, and links with the receivers of human cargo, Trinidad. And I should not forget this and I should keep these thoughts present as I bear witness to these happenings.

Thinking of the 'Middle Passage'

2006-09-15T00:39:00.000-07:00

It was our wedding anniversary this week. 'Our' includes me, husband and son. We had one of those modern, all inclusive weddings, 3 years ago where our son was our best man. Very risque as he was 5 at the time, but it worked well. Any way, for this year's anniversary we went to Whitley Bay, late Wednesday evening, the light just failing. We have found this lovely, Venetian and Tapas restaurant just next to the ex Spanish city and we were going to stuff our faces. And we did. I was thinking about the sea and every time I'm by the sea I think I want to live nearer to the sea. If I did would I be a different person? Would I change? I love the sea and should make more time to go see the sea and just be in the presence of the sea. I know its been said before but, I feel a sense of calm and soothing when near the sea. I feel replenished.

We ate, too much, even got a doggy bag for home. Walking back to the car, the sky was a petrol blue, electric even and it had merged with the sea. And I was thinking about all the things I had read this week about other waters , the Atlantic Ocean, in fact. This ocean used for trade, taking the human cargo from Africa to the Caribbean,where they were sold or, in some cases, traded for goods such as molasses, which was used in the making of rum. 'The Middle Passage', this journey was called. The Middle Passage was the longest, hardest, most dangerous, and also most horrific part of the journey of the slave ships. With extremely tightly packed loads of human cargo that stank and carried both infectious disease and death, the ships would travel east to west across the Atlantic on a miserable voyage lasting at least five weeks, and sometimes as long as three months. In some sense, these thoughts dampened my mood, but in another they didn't. I felt inspired to keep on delving into the old dusty books in the Lit and Phil. Keep on reading and bringing first hand history to light. Finding the hidden voices from the sea of books because they will get the chance to live again. And we can learn from them.

Wanted: Identity Poems

2006-09-09T03:51:00.000-07:00

WANTED: IDENTITY POEMS

for the National Poetry Day reading at the Literary and Philosophical Society, Thursday 5th October 2006 at 7.00 p.m.

Poems, poetic writings, short anecdotes on the subject of Identity.

This year’s National Poetry Day theme, 'Identity', invites us to explore through poetry one of the crucial issues and talking points in today’s culture. What is identity? How do we develop it? How do we define it? And how are we defined by it?
There will be a small fee for each reader. Closing date for submissions: 15th September.

Please send your poems to keasson@litandphil.org.uk

Writer in Residence

2006-09-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

Monday 4 September, saw me, Sheree Mack, banging on the large oak doors of the Literary and Philosophical Society, to get in. I was raring to go for the first day of my residency at the Society. And those doors couldn't open soon enough for me. This day had been a long time coming. In existence since 1793, the Lit and Phil was about due a Writer in Residence and I believe I fit the bill. The aim of the four month residency is to explore the extensive tracts within the collection in relation to the trade and abolition of transatlantic slavery. This is laying the foundations for a series of events and projects that are planned for 2007 to mark the bicentennial of the abolition of transatlantic slavery. Not only will the research feed into my PhD and fuel personal commitments to this phase in British history but, this is also an opportunity to document the hidden stories and facts about the North East's involvement in this appalling economic system.
The Lit and Phil enjoys an atmosphere all of its own. Ask anyone about the place and their face will crease into an instant smile and then they will go on about how much they love the place. This is the only library I know where you can drink your tea or coffee and nibble biscuits and cakes amongst the books. Even if the majority of people who come through these doors are of a mature clientele( see I have tact!), this only adds to the feelings of awe that you experience for the place. There's friendly chatter and laughter. There's quiet corners and dusty shelves. The Lit and Phil is an aladdin's cave and I've been let loose in it. Watch this space and see what I find.
Best
Sheree