IT STARTS WITH THE SOUL OF A POET
Norah Platt

National Poetry Day
2003



Validation:

recognizing
the passion for poetry

and creating a space for poetry to happen

When a Social Worker  first investigated Norah's case, it was thought she might be mad. She was found in a very distressed state in her flat, with scraps of paper scattered all around her apartment and pinned to walls. Norah wasn't mad; she was a poet. The scraps were bits of poems she was writing. During her remaining years, in spite of being in poor health and often house-bound, Norah produced an impressive body of work in a very short time.

Her desire to write poetry was encouraged by Tony Bloor (Third Age Project) and Tina DuBois (Third Age Out-Reach Worker) and her enthusiasm encouraged other poets (including Eppie, Kathy and Islam) to meet to write and perform poetry for Third Age events at West Euston. The Time Bank celebrated National Poetry Day with a reading in 2002, and launched Norah's book on National Poetry Day 2003.

MEDIA:The Third Age Project sponsored a book launch of Norah Platt's Thoughts of an Optimist (edited by Tony Bloor and Tina DuBois)  on National Poetry Day October 2002.

ARTS FEATURE:  
"It's Breaking Out in Verse For Norah" by Andrew Walker, Camden New Journal, 3 October 2002, page 25 (book launch for Thoughts of an Optimist; includes biography and photograph of Norah).

.........................
YEAR TWO:

from

National Poetry Day
2003

to

National
Poetry Day
2004


creating poetry

The time bank poets met in small, informal workshops and, where possible, the workshops were led by experienced poets.

Although West Euston did not have an experienced poet to lead the workshops at this stage, Tony Bloor helped facilitate the West Euston group. The co-ordinators for the project  were Alison Paule, Maria Duha and Urmi Nurjahan.

Throughout the year, the poetry group (Norah, Eppie, Kathy and Islam) gave a number of readings  to audiences of 10 - 25 within the West Euston Third Age Project (and at other civic events).

In 2003 and 2004, the West Euston Time Bank and Third Age Project hosted their own celebration of National Poetry Day, which they combined with a celebration of Black History Month.

The Day included  poems, traditional stories and art work of refugees from Somalia who make up a significant membership of the local community (and the West Euston time bank).

Children were encouraged to attend and take part in the celebration and the workshops.

MEDIA LINKS: Poems from Time Banks members (including Islam Molla and Eppie Caredda) were published in London Time: Poetry from London's Time Banks (nef: London) 2004, 36 pp. ISBN 1899407979  editor: Karen Lyon. This publication was sponsored by the London Time Bank Network, nef and the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust.

www.timebanking.org/documents/Old-Newsletters/newsletter_Dec_03.pdf

to 
National Poetry Day
2005

creating
poetry for performance

The poetry group continued at West Euston, although the serious illness of Norah Platt meant that the group had lost its focus and direction.

In May 2005, with the appointment of poet and playwright Kim Morrissey as the workshop tutor, the poetry workshops became more regular.

Kim decided three things:
Poetry takes time.
Poetry is a craft as well as a passion.
Poetry is an end in itself, not a means to an end.

At this stage of building a poetry workshop, Kim's role was that of a teacher. In the early stages of a workshop, having an experienced poet in the group is the easiest and quickest way to teach the entire group poetic technique and the tools they need for group editing.

The first communal project for the group was to translate Heeron Begh's Bengali love poem , In the Cage of Love, into English.

Although the sessions were originally set up for the workshop to meet monthly, the poets found the workshops were more useful for them if they met on a semi-weekly basis (other events such as tea-dances, meetings and long weekends still meant the group weren't meeting every week).

The second communal project was to write The Stream, a poem celebrating the strengths of belonging to a Time Bank Community.

OCTOBER 2005. Karen Lyon of nef co-ordinated a London Time Bank  Network reading  with all the Time Bank Poetry Groups at the Poetry Cafe on National Poetry Day with Poet Laureate Andrew Motion.

Kim had been invited  back to Canada to read in her native Saskatchewan as part of the province's Centennial celebrations Before she left England, she rejected  the very bad 'standard contract' nef  had supplied for all Time Bank Poets to sign (in the nef contract, the copyright belonged to the organization).   She offered all the Purple Poets a contract where, though the time bank was free to use the material for educational use and on the website,  the copyright remained with the poet.  This is an important lesson for poets to learn: you can share your work freely, if you choose, but the copyright should always reside with you.

Kim arranged the order of poems for the group and had them rehearse their reading several times. Tony, Urmi and Heeron arranged transportation on the day, but the poets were responsible for presenting their reading.

MEDIA LINKS: The first rehearsal of the West Euston Poets reading was filmed in September 2005  by a German television company, as part of a documentary on European Time Banks.

The group re-scheduled the session to a more favourable day, when there would be less interference from meetings, tea-dances and long weekend breaks.

As the new slot  followed on from the drama club, it was also more convenient for Kathy, Eppie and Islam, who attend both classes.

This new schedule made it easy to organize actors from the Drama class if they were needed in poetic drama workshops.

Kim brought all the poetry binders to and from readings,  brought food and drink to events for all the poets and arranged everyone's transportation, so that the purple poets didn't have to worry about anything except being poets.

The appointment of Natalie Irvine to the time bank as development officer in 2005 was invaluable. As well as being an excellent organizer, she respected the craft of the poet, and ensured that the poets were invited well in advance of an event, and given proper time and attention when they read at events.

Her training as a lawyer also was very useful for establishing privacy and copyright issues concerning children and vulnerable people on the West Euston website and the London Time Bank IT steering committee. Sadly, her last day of work as a West Euston Time Broker was Friday, September 1st, 2006, but she left  a full  set of notes  and contacts for our new time broker, Shahanara Begum,  to carry on her good work.

During 2006, the poets became more familiar with poetic techniques and critical models. As they have gained in confidence and experience, Kim tried to encourage them to change her role in the group from Teacher to Mentor and Resource Person.

She held several workshops appointing someone else as the leader of the workshop, to show the poets it is possible for them to hold some workshops without her.

Kim arranged a round-robin exchange of telephone numbers, so that everyone had everyone's number (including her own). This helped to build a sense of community amongst the poets, who could contact each other about poetry matters.

LINKS WITH OTHER TIME BANK ACTIVITIES:
The third communal project (still ongoing) was to create a  poetic drama, The Wind and the Sun (After Aesop)  showing the poets how to create and workshop their own play. As Kim is a professional playwright, this gives the group access to the workshop techniques of theatre professionals.

A third of the NEF grant was contingent on the West Euston Time Bank organizing a London Time Bank Reading for National Poetry Day. Unlike the reading last year, West Euston organized a space which is wheel-chair accessible and also easily accessible (a five minute walk from Warren Street Station and local bus stops).

They committed half the budget to providing two workshops for children on the day (with Dave Neita) and a lunchtime poetry workshop session with office workers in the Warren Street area.

They scheduled a Poetry Panel  with participating time banks to evaluate the Poetry Project Experiment (with a view to supporting other poetry workshops in the coming years).

MEDIA LINKS: Although the reading at the 2006 Camden Green Fair did not generate any media attention, the Cumberland Festival appearance resulted in the group's photograph being featured in the Camden New Journal (Thursday, August 3d, 2006 . photograph by Polly Hansen or the Ham & High).

Their companion Time Bank project, The Oriental Dancing Group  (which includes Eppie and Kathy) photograph  appeared in the Ham & High (August 4, 2006) from the same event, at the Cumberland Community Festival.

The group has set up the Norah Platt Poetry Prize in memory of Norah, who died in 2005. This prize will encourage children and other poets to attend the West Euston National Poetry Day Celebration.

The National Poetry  Day reading was recorded by Time Bank member Faith and donated to the Holborn Local Archives and the  National Poetry Library (South Bank).

The National Poetry Day facilitated an e-mail workshop with sudeep sen in India and Kim Korrissey in Bloomsbury as workshop leaders.

Although the emphasis for Kim in any workshop is on writing poetry, not publishing poetry,  she gave advice about markets, appropriate cover letters and copyright issues to poets who wanted to start submitting to poetry contests and magazines or submit manuscripts to a publisher.

As a professional writer, Kim was able to suggest  guest poets for readings and arrange workshop opportunities with other professionals.

Kim helped other time bank poetry groups establish their own webpages and workshops.

Kim gradually let all the Purple Poets be responsible for bringing their own poems to readings, although she continued to be responsible for transportation for the group.


Kim was committed to providing free food for all poets for National Poetry Day (home-made, and helped enormously by Bithi Das and Patsy Futatsugi). The Purple Poets made plum jam for the desserts and their guests on National Poetry Day and then donated the bulk of the jam to the Poetry Cafe for use throughout rest of the year.

The maintenance of a mature workshop is largely based on the good-will of the participants. The one major financial commitment for the group will continue to be  the raising at least £150 each year to provide funds for the Norah Platt Poetry Prize.


MEDIA LINKS: Although the reading at the 2007 Camden Green Fair was not reported in the local papers, the Purple Poets were sought out by photographer Polly Hansen (Ham & High) who photographed them with great pleasure and took several pictures of the group. The Purple Poets read on the stage at this event in 2007 and also arranged their own impromptu reading later in the afternoon, beside their PURPLE POET Banner on The Village Green at the West Euston Time Bank space (generating more audience). They also handed out 200 pamphlets of their poems from the 2006 reading.


Kim attended the preliminary planning sessions for the 2007 Capital Age Festival Summer Festival (co-ordinated by Karen Lyon of nef and David Slater of CAF) and arranged for three short poems by Purple Poets be printed as postcards (print run: 2,000 x 3) to be handed out at the Festival,  with the surplus to be used by all Time Banks to promote the Capital Age Festival, Time Banks and Time Bank Poets.

Kim invited all the Purple Poets  to the two planning meetings at nef in Vauxhall. (Carol Moon attended the first meeting, but due to ill health could not attend the second.)

The Purple Poets opened the Capital Age Festival Summer Fair with a short poem, written and performed by Jean Watt, read at the Jazz Stage and played The Poetry Game in the Tea-Tent with members of the Public during the afternoon, posting the poems in the tent. this was widely publisised by CAF and is still available as a press release posted on the Internet.

The Purple Poets continue to maintain and build on the government and media contacts they have made in the years before, so that they can use media coverage and goodwill in the community, rather than advertising, to publicize events.

They continue to strengthen their links to schools and to libraries.

With their website, they also have a permanent showcase of their work and build an archival record of their members, past and present.

Kim published her poems in the acclaimed literary magazine ATLAS, and mentioned the West Euston Time Bank in her biographical notes. She also read her poem, (written to the Time Bank's 2006 National Poetry Day special guest, Rose Hacker) at the ATLAS launch at the Nehru Centre.


The Guardian Diary 11 August 2007
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2146078,00.html

Pomp and sex therapy  review of ATLAS 2
[excerpt]· An alarming rumour began to circulate that, at the launch of vol 1, 32 poets read from their work. But this time a shorter cast list was given just two minutes each. Khalvati still found time to praise a journal that gives space to longer poems, while Daljit Nagra provided a neat Anglo-Indian link. George Szirtes and Daniel Weissbort - neither of whom are in the new book - were good value, but perhaps the most heartfelt applause was for the British-based Canadian writer Kim Morrissey. She had drawn attention to 101-year-old Rose Hacker in the audience, a pioneering sex therapist in the 1930s (and still a feisty columnist for the Camden New Journal) who inspired Morrissey earlier this year to write the poem "Imagine Rose Dancing".... NW [Nicholas Wroe]

Islam Molla's live was celebrated as part of the 'Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary People' exhibition which toured Enfield libraries in 2006 - 2007.

Bithi Das had her poem 'ReBirth' exhibited and was awarded a prize in a community exhition.

Nahar joined the group in time to read at National Poetry Day 2007, and Ferdous joined in 2008.


Over time, Carol stopped coming to the group regularly, because she was in poor health (fortunately she was able to attend the Camden Green Fair reading, with guest poet Sudeep Sen, in 2008).

The Purple Poets were invited to any planning meetings, with Kim, and take part in decisions, and encouraged to bring other purple poets to significant meetings with other organizations (so Islam invited both Kim and Ferdous to the the LOPSG meetings at London City Hall).


The Purple Poets visited other groups,  when invited, to inspire them, and help them start their own poetry workshop situations.

They used the Brighton coach trip available to set up readings in other communities (and use the fruit-picking trip to make jam for everyone, and for National Poetry Day).

LINKS WITH OTHER TIME BANK ACTIVITIES:
Kim strongly encouraged new poetry group members to join Alicia's Drama Class, to help them gain confidence as performers, and help them understand actor's considerations, as writers.

New member Nahar joined Eppie and Islam in the drama group (Kathy was too ill to attend, and Bithi's knee injury meant she felt uncomfortable taking part; Ferdous, Patsy and Carol feel they are too busy to take drama as well as poetry).

They kept the poetry  workshop atmosphere friendly, open and accessible for all poets at all levels, and passed on their advice about techniques freely and generously.

They welcomed visiting poets from other time bank poets, and shared reading time with them.

The children taking part ranged from age 5 to age 11, and met February 24,26, March 3 and March 5th 2009 between 4:30 and 5:30 and were invited, with their parents' permission, to read at the International Womens' Day Dance, March 7th 2009 at Dick Collins Hall (4 to 7 p.m.)

The children were joined by Centre staff and volunteers Lorraine and Ice, and Purple Poets Bithi, Islam and Patsy and Time Bank staff Josie and Shanara.

SESSION ONE: SHROVE TUESDAY.
Poems about Chocolate (Milk Chocolate or Dark Chocolate) and Shrove Tuesday pancakes and toppings.

SESSION TWO: If I were Queen (Good Queen/Bad Queen) If I were a coin.

SESSION THREE: Building the Poetry Tree together.

SESSION FOUR: WORLD BOOK DAY.How to make your own book (led by Bithi Das). The children created their own books for World Book Day, including the poems they had written during the sessions.



2008 Project: The Purple Poets devised the Book Exchange Box Scheme and continue, throughout the year,  to give boxes to suitable venues in both residential and business spaces, with poetry readings.

MEDIA LINKS: Eppie, Bithi and Patsy were filmed  reading their poems at the Finsbury Arts Festival, February 28, 2009 (to be shown at the Barbican in summer 2009).

MEDIA LINKS: The Births, Deaths, Marriages Registration Room  and Councillors' Surgeries Waiting Area Book Exchange Launches at the Camden Town Hall was covered by reporter Simon Wroe of the Camden New Journal (World Book Day, March 5th 2009).

As the more experienced Purple Poets published their work (Ferdous) won awards (Bithi), were included in Exhibitions (Islam and Bithi), interviewed or filmed for events (Bithi, Eppie, Patsy),  and performed for fund-raisers (Eppie, Islam, Patsy)  they  became ambassadors for poetry and for Time Bank.

Kim help them in all stages of preparing  poems or a manuscript for submission to professional publishers.


2009 project: The Purple Poets will be volunteering in the 'MAPPING DEMOCRACY' project, examining the suitablility of public and private meeting spaces, using guidelines suggested by the Disability Discrimination Act 95.

The Purple Poets are participating in an Internet Workshop, to enable poets in other countries to work with them, and edit their work.

The Purple Poets hosting a reading in the Camden Town Hall, with the Mayor, and Special Guest Poet Alan Brownjohn.

media: interview (written by Rosemary Howes in the Camden Golden Gazette. Circulation 6,000) On-going project.

other readings

The Purple Poets continue to write poetry and to keep their workshop open and accessible to poets of all levels.  


The Purple Poets continue to consider these events
in the year, for major readings and guest speakers:

National Poetry Day

Black History Month

World Mental Health Day
Islam Molla attended Enfield festivities

International Language Day
reading at the H-Pod

International Women's Day Dance
Dick Collins Hall
read 'Love: a poem cycle'
invited guest poet and artist
Heather Spears read a poem
to open the dance

World Book Day

Camden Green Fair (if held, cancelled 2009)
invited reading 2010
Think purple! Think poets! Think green!
a poem cycle



Capital Age Festival
(cancelled 2008 only dance invited 2009)
invited reading July 10, 2010
West Euston Time Bank:
invitation to the dance


(with also a commitment to read at local festivals, and TAP and Time Bank Celebrations, if asked, and to work with local museums, galleries, etc. to explore history, art, film,  and poetry).

Saturday afternoon, May 26, 2010
2nd Annual 'Collection'
Cumberland Market Community Picnic
hosted by Wellcome Trust, Third Age Project,
and West Euston Time Bank


Sunday, 6 June 2010
Camden Green Fair and Bikefest,
Regent's Park
Think Purple! Think Poets!
Think Green!
a poem cycle


July 10, 2010
LOPSG Capital Age Summer Festival,
The West Euston Time Bank:
Invitation to the Dance
a poem cycle
southbank




The Purple Poets continute to plan their own readings, make their own decisions about choice of poems and running order and organize themselves.



Project: Think Purple! Think Poets!
(a YouTube video - Cally Time Bank co-production)

Our On-Going Projects (start: 2009):
MAPPING DEMOCRACY
in association with Volunteers from
The Third Age Project
West Eusten Time Bank
Camden Federation of Private Tenants
Camden Liason Group for Physical Disabilities and Visual Impaiments
Time Banking UK
(this project suggests A Model Constitution for your residents' association)
Turning Your Building into a Time Bank

PROJECT: ARTS FOR ALL | ACCESS FOR ALL
-- working with local community galleries, libraries and museums

FIFTH FIELD TRIP (18.03.2010)
National Portrait Gallery, Saint Martins Lane
(The Indian Portrait 1560-1860, invited viewing and NPG workshop)
additional portrait material by Heather Spears

FOURTH FIELD TRIP (18.01.2010)
Quakers Centre Library
Euston Road
(Testimonies of Peace research for April 22nd, 2010 reading)

THIRD FIELD TRIP (24.05.2009)
British Museum, Great Russell Street
(Indian Summer, invited viewing)

SECOND FIELD TRIP (02.04.2009) and on-going projects
Wellcome Trust Library, Euston Road (Acts of Mercy paintings)

FIRST FIELD TRIP AND ON-GOING PROJECT (05.10.2006)
1930's Stained Glass Windows by Margaret Edith Aldrich Rope,  (M.E.A. Rope)
The Crypt, Munster Square
first visit by photographer Tatiana Schenck (09.05.2009)
the Rope windows were commissioned for St. Augustine's (Haggerston)
background essay: Art in the Crypt
SAINT LEONARD
SAINT GEORGE


PROJECT: Webpage Design
text accessible webpages
RESOURCE ARTISTS:
Marshal Seltzer
Cenlyt Designer
www.cenlyt.com
Heather Spears
Colin Shelbourn
Jo WOnder

The Purple Poets continue to maintain their own webpages and be able to help other time bank activity groups set up their own webpages  or workshops, if asked.

They will use the coach trips available to set up readings in other communities (and use the fruit-picking trip to make jam for everyone, and for National Poetry Day).



COMMITMENT TO ACCESSIBLITY.

Every Purple Poet, when invited to any event, will ask if the reading venue is accessible to those with disability.


COMMITMENT TO RESPECT

They will ensure that the programme incudes their full credits, and where-ever possible, promote the work of poets who can not attend the event, by bringing additional poems by the missing poets.

They will use their website to showcase of their work and build an archival record of their members, past and present.

COMMITMENT TO THE GENEROSITY OF THE ARTIST:

The poets will continue the spirit of the workshop set up by Kim:

- that everyone respects the other members in the group

- that everything about a poem is up for discussion while the poem is being workshopped, but after the workshop, the poem returns to the person who wrote it and there is no obligation to take anyone's suggestions.

- that only the words on the page can be discussed

- that everyone is a poet

-that when anyone says 'I can't write poetry' everyone adds the word '... yet!'