CITYIST

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Meet the new Bristol City Poet, Kat Lyons

Martian House arrives at M Shed

A pioneering public art project that invites the public to help create the interior of a ‘Martian

House’ (reflecting the real environmental challenges faced on Mars and inspiring new ideas about how we can all live more sustainably) is being built on M

Shed Square as part of the ongoing public art project,

Building a Martian House.

Originally conceived by local artists and Watershed Pervasive Media Studio residents Ella Good and Nicki Kent, the project has so far brought together space scientists, architects, engineers, designers and the public to explore how we live today and stimulate visions for new ways of living here on Earth and on Mars.

The house will open from 17

August with a three-month programme of workshops, talks and events for all ages. Ahead of that date the artists invite the people of Bristol to get involved and help co-design the interior. People can register their interest via the project website buildingamartianhouse.com.

The opening will coincide with

‘Think Global: Act Bristol’, an

M Shed exhibition that aims to foster positive action to address the climate and ecological crises.

• Enjoy our full interview with Ella and Nicki from our December 2020 issue on our website now. Read more about the project at: bristolmuseums.org.uk

Image: Visualisation of a house on Mars © PEARCE+ and Hugh Broughton Architects

I first moved to Bristol in March 2013 and I lived

in a pop-up tent in my mate’s concrete yard in Easton until I got myself sorted out. I love how easily you can escape out of the city to green places, and how the city feels like lots of little towns with separate personalities all squashed together. I’ve just moved house to Montpelier/St Pauls and am really enjoying exploring all the little side streets and shops in my new area.

I’ve written poetry since I was little but only

attended my first spoken word night in 2017 –I was hooked immediately! I started going to nights regularly and then I started performing and it just snowballed from there. I’ve been freelance for a few years now doing various sorts of performance and hosting events and workshops. I’m a strong believer that poetry should be accessible for anyone to write or enjoy or use to share their experiences. It always feels like such a gift to have the opportunity to create something that reaches other people and changes the world for them –even if just briefly. It’s quite a magical feeling, and as close to being a wizard as I can imagine.

Being the next Bristol City Poet feels amazing, but

also slightly intimidating –Miles, Vanessa and Caleb left me some big shoes to fill! I’m looking forward to making the role my own though, and asking questions about the city in my own particular way.

I’d really like to explore experiences of mutual aid

and community solidarity. Bristol is a beautiful city in many ways, but the things that make it so attractive can also contribute to gentrification and make it difficult for people to live here. The harbourside might draw someone for a visit, but it’s the conversations in their local cornershop or at the school gates that make up the fabric of their everyday lives, and all the little stories that make up the soul of a city.

I wrote Dry Season after being diagnosed with

premature menopause at 37. This experience was pretty intense and stressful, but the show ended up being quite funny, in the way that tough experiences often make good stories to tell later. It’s been amazing touring it –so many women have come up afterwards and shared their stories with me, and it felt like a real step up for my career. It will be touring again in the autumn.

Having worked in hospitality for years, I think

every bar and café worker should get a gold medal for dealing with drunk short-tempered summer crowds –I’d like to give them a shout-out this month.

What with moving house and this intense

heatwave I’ve been pretty tired and stressed recently, and when that happens I tend to decompress by re-reading fairytales and books I loved as a child. I’m also reading The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, which is an incredible speculative fiction novel set in a post-apocalyptic world that feels far too close to ours for comfort in places. I’m also addicted to the podcast Ologies –I love learning weird facts about science and the natural world, and sometimes little pieces of them resurface in poems later on.

Eat Your Greens do the best (and hugest) vegan

breakfast. The Hillgrove is my new local and is perfect for a quiet afternoon pint in the garden. And I always love going out to the Old Market Assembly to watch a show in the Wardrobe theatre or have cocktails with friends on their roof terrace.

My mum died a few years ago –she always

cookedloads for me so I’d love to be able to return the favour one last time. If I could invite the film star Mae West to the party too that would be great, as she seems like she’d be loads of fun to hang out with and could share lots of scandalous stories of old Hollywood stars.

My philosophy in life is: be kind and remember to

appreciate the small things.

New collection launches at Harvey Nichols Bristol

This summer, Harvey Nichols Bristol is inviting you to join the inclusive beauty movement with makeup created for all skin tones –why not get a summer glow with the limited edition Salute to the Sun collection, exclusively at Harvey Nichols now.

Salute to the Sun is inspired by the absolute joy of summer, giving you glowing skin, a little glam and A LOT of drama. This collection is an ode to the sun; A homage to ancient Egypt, and the beauty rituals of its powerful female pharaohs. Get ready to unleash your inner goddess.

• Available instore and online; harveynichols.com

Thai cave divers receive honorary degrees

Two cave divers who pulled off the remarkable rescue of 12 members of a junior football team and their assistant coach from a flooded cave system in Thailand have been given honorary degrees by the

University of Bristol. The operation led by John Volanthen, from

Bristol, and Rick Stanton, from Coventry, has been described as one of the greatest rescues of all time. The pair had to navigate 2.5km of constricted underwater passageways, in near zero visibility, against a fast flowing, debrisstrewn current. On 2 July 2018, nine days after the search started, the group were found. Over several hours the boys were guided out of the submerged cave by John, Rick and a team of cave divers.

John and Rick both received George Medals (a non-military award for gallantry). John is an IT consultant, who remains a scout leader in his hometown of Long Ashton. Rick was a firefighter for West Midlands Fire Service for 25 years.

Killing Eve writer signed for TV adaptation of Bristol-based thriller

Bestselling crime novelist M. P. Wright is relaunching his highly acclaimed Windrush Noir Detective Series, with brand new editions and striking cover art by London artist Geoffrey Grandfield.

This has come after Wilson Worldwide optioned screen rights for four of the Windrush novels, with the production company signing Killing Eve writer Isis Davis for the adaptation.

The series, set between the 1960s and 1980s, follows Barbadian ex-cop Joseph Tremaine ‘JT’ Ellington as he reluctantly turns to private detective work after arriving in the UK. JT must unravel deadly conspiracies and corruptions within Bristol’s nightlife while trying to keep the ghosts of his own past at bay.

The series explores attitudes towards race and the experiences of the Windrush generation alongside gripping noir crime.

• Purchase the series at blackandwhitepublishing.com

New book packed full of fascinating facts

Know Bristol: A compendium of 365 Bristolian facts introduces 365 fascinating facts that will change your view of the city forever. From Ice Age hyenas to Roman fortresses, Victorian engineering to the Bristol Blitz, Know Bristol packs in a myriad of facts and figures that will change your view of the city forever. Did you know that Pennsylvania is named after a Bristolian? And English pirate Blackbeard lived in Redcliffe? Have you climbed England’s steepest street in Totterdown, walked the remains of a Roman road on the Downs or boarded the world’s oldest tug boat in the Docks? Have you seen the seven species of trees that are unique to Bristol, or noticed invasive wall lizards in the Avon Gorge? Grab a copy of Ashley Coates’ new book and get exploring!