WECOME TO NAFZINE Note from Editor: Thank you for picking up the very first edition of NAFZINE. I hope you enjoy all the fantastic work done by all the awesome creatives who’ve contributed to making this publication so very vibrant. For the past month I’ve been attending NAF events and have met with local artists from all different walks of life. My mission has been to collate as much of their work as possible, and now I can say, I’m honoured to be publishing it all! Every contribution has inspired me greatly. It has also been a huge privilege to observe and be a part of North Field Arts Forum this past month - the passionate work they do in the local community in regard to nurturing culture, to me and to many others, is so crucial in making life so much more colourful. Without organisations like this and the passionate people who drive it forwards, the world would be a little dimmer... Keep creating, always. Guy Hirst - Editor Be sure to come to our next NAFCAFE event! April 28th, Northfield Baptist Church, Bristol Road, B312NQ. Music, Art and Pay as you feel food! All ages welcome. For more information visit Facebook.com/northfieldartsforum
Nafzine talks with Jess Davies, poet and organiser of spoken word event Stirchley Speaks (P Cafe, Pershore Road) about her own personal creative origins, opening difficult dialogues, the art form as a mechanism for emotional self-discovery, and in turn, poetic expression as an invaluable mental health aid. “The most absolutely ironic thing about me,” says Jess, “is that even though I’m a performer I’m an incredibly anxious and nervous person, and people scare me. I find odering a sandwich at Subway too confrontational.” So it is, then, endearing to know that Jess recites her work live, especially when you consider the totally intimate, personal and intense atmosphere that poetry sessions can seem to demand - with
only a microphone (if that) between you and an audience meticulously listening in on your every word. But it is this artistic confrontation that is also essential, for a reason that just like Jess is ironic. “If you read you poetry out loud, you can hear how it sounds and improve it, but because of my anxiety I can’t read a poem out to myself alone in my bedroom. I just can’t make sense of it, so I use open mics to read...
my poetry to hear where I need to edit it [laughs]. If the poetry community wasn’t so supportive I’d never believe that I’d be able to do the things that I do now.”
[poetry] anthology stuff because we were reading about all these poets who had to write things in really secretive ways because of religious and political reasons.”
Jess, 23, York St John University graduate, now hosts Stirchley Speaks, facilitates writing workshops, writes on commission and performs across the city and beyond. And all of this stems from, like many creatives, both frustration and a need for emotional articulation.
But it’s this idea of not just pouring emotion into your poetry from the outset, but rather, letting poetry pour emotion into you that distinguishes Jess, possibly, from many other poets. “Which isn’t necessarily fascinating to an audience, but it means I can follow the narrative of something and figure out how I felt at different parts of the story,” she continues, “I lost a lecturer who was very important to me. So in my third year [of university] I explored different ways of dealing with grief. I set off paper lanterns repeatedly near York railway station while filming the process, and edited the footage so that the lantern is seen to disappear into the distance but then comes back, pepretually. The idea behind this was to watch something physical as it leaves you so that you can understand how you feel at
“I was sixteen and I wasn’t very good at communicating how I felt, so I used to write it down, I’m not sure anyone would call it poetry, but once I’d written it down I could gauge how I was feeling,” she continues, “I’d get paranoid that someone would read it, so I felt like I had a license to write in, I don’t want to say an abstract way, but I’d take all the spaces from between the words and write it backwards. So I got very experimental and played with form. I really dug the AQA GCSE
at each stage of its’ leaving and coming back.” This is a beautiful concept, comprehending your emotions after creating the art itself, and you could say, it’s an incredibly important reason to become an artist, as is the case with Jess. “Why do I do it?” she smiles, “I ask myself that everyday, why do I continue to get up infront of microphones? Why do I continue to host events? Why?!” Jess ponders in speculation for a moment, “I host Stirchley Speaks because I wanted to give something back. There are things I love about the community, it’s incredibly giving, but mostly I love that so many people are willing to attend eachother’s events. At Stirchley Speaks I love the fact that I’ve gotten to know a new community from a different area, as well as a range of age groups. I sometimes feel that there could be a divide [in the Birmingham poetry scene] between audiences based on such things as postcodes and age. I really want Stirchley Speaks to be a middle ground for this, and
an inclusive space. Which isn’t to say that other events don’t do this - they have set an incredible example for me about the kind of spoken word night that I’d like to run. I have such high ambitions for the safety of the space that I manage because of the support given to me at other excellent poetry nights.” However, because poetry can be such a license for unadulterated expression, and people are so innumerably varied, contention often follows. “People come from all different levels of understanding about the world, cultures and religions. So when people get up and express their own personal understanding [on an open mic] they may have never been challenged about their outlook before. We don’t censor [at Stirchley Speaks.] If you censor, then you are only sharing your space with other people who agree with your own views. Not only are you not challenging viewpoints that perhaps would benefit from further discussion, but your own
views are not being challenged. Then we can’t open up a dialogue about an issue. Hosting is knowing how to safely facilitate that dialogue to take place, while ensuring that you aren’t risking your audience’s saftey. My decision not to censor may not provide the safety that some audience members so rightly need, but I am pleased to say that there are some nights who can now offer that. My main reason not to censor, is to encourage those who perhaps feel too intimidated to share their work. Possibly, it is more likely that the people who need a little more encouragement due to a lack of confidence, that can be dissauded from a censored open mic.” Stirchley Speaks has been going since June 2015, roughly a year after Jess’s first live reading in May 2014 - which was the result of becoming involved in various Birmingham art scenes. “I spent every free hour I had volunteering in various art galleries,” she recollects, “Ikon Gallery, Grand Union, East Side
Projects, then I also volunteered to write for a blog called Created In Birmingham - and started going to loads of events. Events is how you get loads of experience in working with like-minded creatives.” This is true and now Jess hosts her own spoken word event and networking has opened up new and exciting work in poetry. “We had someone in the mental health profession attend [Stirchley Speaks]. Considering their profession, it was quite amazing for them to see people talk about really difficult subjects and articulate it to a public audience. So they were really intigued about how poetry allows this,” she continues, “we had poets talk about living with bipolar, their sexuality and also suicide. [The mental health professional] was amazed by that. Myself and some other poets who had performed at Stirchley Speaks were asked if we’d like to facilitate some poetry therapy excercises with councillors and psychotherapists as part of Professional Career Development Day.
We led them through a series of creative writing workshops and discussed how that might work in a counselling session. A factor that kept coming up was that their clients aren’t able to receive as many sessions as they used to due to cuts to various mental health services - so poetry could be suggested as a tool they could potentially lean
on when they are unable to reach services. It’s not for everybody and also not an alternative to professional help, but it could be useful to somebody that could possibly need an outlet before their next session. In a way, I can see all that writing I was doing as a kid - all that secretive stuff, as a weird form of self-therapy.” And it could be for you to.
The Next Stirchley Speaks takes place on May 3rd, P Cafe, Pershore Road, Stirchley. Jess also runs free writing workshops at the P Cafe every two weeks on a Wednesday from 12:00 - 14:00 www.facebook.com/pcafebirmingham
Nafzine talks with Birmingham Ska-punk drummer and poet Joe Cook about personal empowerment through poetry, running workshops in schools, hip hop as a poetic form, his stand up comedy influences and how to get started as a young poet in your local scene. “Just get out there and do it,” says Joe profusely, “even if you’re the only poet on an open mic, just get used to being in front of people. For me, it was a huge change from being behind a drum kit to being front of stage. Get as much experience as you can - network, talk to people, get your work up on YouTube and social media. You never know if that person you talk to in a coffee shop can pass your details on to someone important. Also, this is weird, but it’s key to be a person with people.
I get annoyed when someone adds me on Facebook who I don’t know and then sends me invites to their page. I don’t know you, we’ve never spoken. Don’t come up to me with your card after a show either, I guarantee I’ll lose it, just come up and be like ‘I enjoyed your set, I do similar stuff, maybe we can collaborate.’” Joe is commendably DIY in his work ethic in both music and poetry, which in many ways, is extremely advantageous. His ethos falls under being independent,
teaching yourself - don’t wait for someone to hire you. Nobody offering you gigs? Organise your own. This, coupled with avid networking, is an awesome way for anybody to start a career. But it’s far from easy. “There seems to be this worry about just going out there and thinking that you’re not good enough and only wanting to share you work when it’s a certain quality. Just go out there and be crap, that’s supposed to happen [laughs], that’s the only way you can hone your craft and improve.
I’ll even ask what rap stands for, and they won’t know, it stands for rhythm & poetry.”
And honing this poetic craft has enabled Joe to work on commission, perform and run poetry clubs and workshops in various schools and youth clubs across Birmingham, introducing a new generation to the art form. The irony, however, is that young people listen to poetry without knowing it. “I’ll be like ‘Hands up who like poetry,’ and maybe half the class will put their hands up, and then I’ll say ‘who’s into hip hop without music?’ and the whole class puts their hands up. It’s the same thing.
It’s about giving someone a sense of freedom of speech, you know, say what you want, I don’t really care. I struggled in school [because of dyslexia], I always had a lot of help. Intelligence is this huge thing, just because you can’t tell how many apples Sarah has less than Peter in a maths test doesn’t mean you’re not clever. Academia isn’t the be all and end all. Everyone is going to express, learn and develop in different ways. Poetry, to me, is a great way of enchancing that in people...
Joe continues, “When I work in schools I teach loads of kids who have dyslexia and social dyspraxia, but sometimes I don’t know this until I get an email from a teacher saying that they’ve been struggling to get some of these kids to talk in lessons and communicate, but in my sessions they’ll stand up and read a poem - which astounds ‘em. These little workshops can be catalysts for that to happen.
School’s that time where you feel like your life is being dealt out infront of you, so if you’re not finding something stimulating or something that gives you a sense of empowerment then it can be a scary place. I remember when I was in school I had teachers telling me I was gonna spend my life behind Tesco tills, which isn’t a bad thing I guess but it’s definitely not what I wanted to hear. I wasn’t told I was smart until I started to rhyme. My poetry was the only reason I got sent to my head of year for something good [laughs].
Bill Hick’s hilarious social commentary and then Immortal Technique’s hard hitting verses and mixing them together,” he continues, “I really take influence from stand up - I think it’s a good way to make people think. Instead of going ‘Here are all the books I’ve read’ and then just shouting at everybody. I write from a personal perspective. I’ll see some news that gets my attention or something that I disagree with and I’ll focus on it. I’ll do a lot of research, read a lot of articles , and books if I can.
It’s the rhythmic lyricism in rhyme, socially conscious verses and the addition of cleverly devised humour that distinguishes Joe’s work, which you could say, is the amalgam of artistic rather than academic or bookish influences. “Immortal Technique (rapper) and Bill Hicks were the two guys that made me want to write,” says Joe, “I really enjoyed how outspoken they were and how it looked like one man against the world. For me poetry is like taking
I rely on freedom of speech to write because if I didn’t have people to disagree with then I wouldn’t have anything to say. I’m all for free speech, even if your some hate preaching idiot, because then you’re not free from my criticism. I’d love it if someone disagreed with everything that I say, I don’t care [laughs]. I don’t say it because I want people to agree with me, I’m doing it for my own sense of empowerment and strength. So let’s assume you’ve taken...
a leaf from Joe’s book, you’ve written some passionate poetry, have chalked up the confidence and are ready to perform, gulp, in front of an audience - what now? “Beatfreeks are amazing collective to get involved with, they put on poetry events regularly throughout the city, this wicked girl called Jasmine Gardosi runs workshops with them. Another great one is Apples & Snakes, who’re a national organisation present in Birmingham - they do Poets Place at Birmingham Library. And then you’ve got poets running their own spoken word nights - Jess Davies does Stirchley Speaks, Leon Priestnall runs an open mic called Howl at the Dark Horse in Moseley, there’s also Writer’s Block at the Bristol Pear, that’s a student poetry society thing, and they have headliners and stuff too. There’s loads of stuff happening all the time all across the city. These are all great starting points for any aspiring writer to get stuck in, and it’s likely
you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how welcoming the community is, and how appreciated your work will become, because as a general rule, as soon as you step in front of that open mic - there’s already an underlying respect gained from having the conidence and the willpower and the audacity to give it a go. As Joe succinctly articulates “Even if it [the poem] doesn’t resonate with me, I’ll always respect anyone, no matter what, for getting up there and giving it a go.” So if you’re a young writer, there’s one thing to take away from all of this - you’ve read about atleast three open mic nights, so check them out and take that irst plunge into spoken word regardless of what you think of your material, because the reality is, you’ll never know how good it is and how you can improve until you’ve opened up, been encouraged and shared it with other members of the poetic community. In other words, just give it a go!
NAF MUSIC
FESTIVAL 12/03/16
I watched new friendships form And old ones bloom While the music played All in one room The poets waxed lyrical And the piano sang in melody The idea of communal Artistic therapy Was as clear as the coffee was black And the chit chatter resounded Because music is love And events like this Keep the community grounded ART - TOM JONES WORDS - GUY HIRST
Joe Cook - No Ledge Growing up my idol was Crash Bandicoot My life’s goal was to collect all the wumpa fruit Next thing I know I’m at a fold out desk And they’re telling me the importance of this test But I really don’t care about the value of X Because the only X I value is Malcolm And questioning a teacher in the classroom ain’t welcome Look, I’m a drummer, I count to four, occasionally nine So this algebra’s just a waste of my time So you’re gonna judge me on a single letter printed on a page And if I open up that envelope and it’s less than a C I’m finding Ah don’t worry Cook, Big Issue’s always hiring But there’s more to brains that grades An uneducated man once said “I grow, I prosper, now God stand up for bastards” The genius of King Lear The mind behind the theory of relativity was called dumb And told he’d never have a career Look, my brain struggles to process I got the papers to prove it But when I speak in rhyme everything runs fluid At school I felt disconnected, disrespected, a dyslexic imprisoned in a Comprehensive Because when there’s no care in the community or respect from authority Your pastime because anarchy I learnt more about discipline with my gum shield in trying to make the Heavy bag boom Than I did sitting in any chewing gum covered classroom Took it all on the chin, trying to succeed in a system I don’t even believe in Broke free of those academic chains Forget about the left, I’m about the right side of my brain So keep your isosceles and let me spin my twelve-inch please Because creativity’s my element strictly DIY And I do all this without knowing the square root or pie But I tell you now, I’m bloody proud of my degree I don’t do it for their approval, forever family, to make the ones that I love Proud Keep fighting ‘till the last round and don’t ever let the system dumb you down. I know between the school desks, spelling tests and college That strength, lies in knowledge
Jess Davies Eyes Open The majority of my sexual experiences Have been spent with my eyes closed The telling of which struggles to fit Under sugar spun cages And so, I decide not to Because upon closer inspection they Will Explicably break Explicitly explain Exit through Extra information I might not even be here By the end of this poem Because My ex My ex My ex From under his fingernails, let loose Packs of wolves Across the resistant shivers Of my skin Whose barks were equal to their bites Left splinters in my thighs Rubbed salt into the wounds Preserve those you know? For other lovers, who ignore the ‘un’ Taste of it all Underdone, unknowing, unsure Under pressure, but sometimes Understand With space barely Between us to taste the salt When permission is given And eyes can open
Leah Atherton - Peatbog Promises Today I ran to the water’s edge, followed my feet and the trail of a memory too old to be my own. Stranded here where marsh mist curls round my ankles, a welcome to my steps. I am sat on the bank of a river without a name, little more than a black water trickle, where the air hums retreating summer and bent-backed trees lean in to watch the clouds reflected. People came here once to talk to their Gods, but I come here to talk to you. You have never been here, the water whispers peat bog promises of secrets kept in the still. Give me your troubles, it says to me. I will remember. The procession of trees gathers where once there were priests, wearing the mist as a shroud that speak of long ago incense, the echo of language that sounds like river music to remind me I am on hallowed ground. What they left here was never meant to survive, black water and rowan the only remaining gatekeepers to stand guard on what lies beneath the surface. Deep in this water there are treasures, gold and silver wrought and then ruined, sacrificed to Gods who knew that some things have to be broken to be beautiful - we were broken enough to be beautiful. The Gods have no use for things which still live among us and we have inflicted such damage on these memories that they have become holy. Everything that came here before me met a violent end, and we are no different; but there is a comfort in knowing that this is where ruined is a byword for sacred, every blemish perfect. We are safe here, where only the trees will speak memorial. And so, I empty my pockets of the things I have held onto long after I should, every one exquisite and familiar and broken beyond all recognition, this is how I know that they are mind. The people who made this path would have understood. They have stayed with me long past use and wear, rubbing at the inside of every pocket a quiet reminder that I only know something is mine when it has become flawed. Let it go, the water tells me. So I roll the memories between my fingers, multicoloured pieces of us worn smooth with time and the rub of my hips as I walk, count them out like prayer beads. Here, the taste of cheap bourbon and lip-bite that I sipped in December to spit out in July, the way I drank until the alcohol no longer tasted like an apology. Here, the stars in November the scorch of fireworks and toffee-apple kisses under rain-damp trees. Here, how I re-read every poem I have written looking for your fingerprints in the ink. How I set fire to all the photographs but one; put it in a cast-iron box with your voice so the magic couldn’t seep out, hoped the smoke wouldn’t reach you. Here, how I put my fist through the wall until it spelled I miss you in Morse code. Black water promises made in the fog before daybreak and burned off in the sun. The scars we traded and then kissed and re-scarred again until they were broken enough to be ours, God-touched. Hold it all in my cupped hands with the bones of what was. Give it to me, says the water. And I do.
Ben Hartley The people in pain are targeted By themselves or others I see the pain but don’t know how to help So I want to send them a message It gets better Where there is pain, there is suffering Which in a way brings its’ own sort of happiness Of solidarity and oneness with oneself Burrow further into the only safe place left You’re Helm’s Deep, the impenetrable, impregnable fortress Common to all of us The Mind Pain helps you concentrate To focus on the truly important things, to think It is the friend you will always have Though you might not realise it at the time He builds you up stronger than before Gives you the character of the survivor Because. You. Are. You survived, and that is what he makes of all of us He helps us, yet we hate him for it But he builds our walls higher and stronger than before He lights a fire within that will not be extinguished A perpetual flame that carries on long after we are gone The spark of life and the will to linger The drive to carry on Maybe this is why we suffer so much To take it all in our stride and prove that we are So much more than we were made Matt Hawkes A second is long enough for everyting to change Life to become death, a job to become employment Or even love to create a broken hearted soul My second was allowing this I am the destroyer of this life And I am the abomination set free by my fellow man If I could go back and change hat one second decision It would be a grandest opportunity One I would welcome with open arms As I sit there thinking, listening to the radio Reports of my one second action flood radio shows The public show fear and anger For some, even envy
TONY PARKASH
KAYLEIGH DITCHBURN
JOSH WHITEHOUSE
ELEANOR PARKS
CELIA PALMER
KHEMBI MAYNARD
SHAHEEN KASMANI
LOVE IS DEEP LOVE IS PURE HOPE IS HOLDING DOWN BELIEVE IN YOURSELF GROWTH IS LIKE GRASS
YOU NEED SUNSHINE AND WATER OPEN YOUR
HEART TO
LOVE Art: Nathan Philpott Words: Khembi Maynard
BUT NEVER LOVE
WRONGLY TWICE LISTEN TO THE VOICE
THE VOICE THAT YELLS
I LOVE YOU!
AND OTHERS
KAYLEIGH DITCHBURN
PUURL PANKRAS
LAUREN JONES
JAMES BOWERS
Josh whitehouse live drawing at music dance draw 05/03/16
Kayleigh Ditchburn Art workshop with toddlers at Crossways Church Northfield 29/02/16
Leo The Explorer Photography Music Dance Draw 05/03/16
Tony Parkash Live Drawing Music Dance Draw 05/03/16
Khembi Maynard live drawing Music Dance Draw 05/03/16
Cub groups getting stuck in and creative! 05/03/16
NAF pay as you feel food! At every NAF event :) - tasty!
Music Dance Draw - choir 05/03/16
Poetry review: Paper Chain Connections P Cafe, Stirchley -08/03/16 The paper chain connections event on 8th march was a special one-off event to celebrate International Women’s Day as part of a fund raising initiative by Caged Arts for Womankind, a charity which focuses on ending discrimination and creating equal opportunities for women and girls worldwide. Held at P Cafe, the Stirchley hub for all tings poetry and arts related, the ever energetic Heidi Murphy of Cages Arts paired up with long time colleague Rory Mcghie and put on an evening of spoken word and creative workshops. For a normal donation of £5, guests were treated to “paper chain poetry.” It sounded crazy at first, but with Heidi at the helm we stuck with it and the results were suprisingly delightful. Of course, the focus of the excercise was less on the specifics of the sontent, and more on bringing participants together in open discussion of the link between person and narrative, encouraging all to share stories from their own experience to engage with topics around geneder, equality, race, class and a range of interlinked social issues. This is where the Cages Arts pair really excelled, steering conversation and helping the more shy atendees to open up and air their opinions.
More workshopping followed, including “concertina poems,” making ever more fantastical tales as the group warmed up and really let go of their creative hangups, leaving us in stitched several times as we read through the resulting poems. While the original plan of open mic and featured poets was put to one side in light of the smaller group, the evening was both higly entertaining an thoroughly educational. Heidi and Rory both excelled in their roles and brough the group through just over two hours of thought-provoking excercise and debate with the fun and relaxed atmosphere of an evening of board games with close friends. Cage Arts is a creative training organisation for community and corporate skills, with regular events across the West Midlands aimed at engaging people from all walks of life with valuable and sometimes unexpected creative forms of expression. For more information or to contact them find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cagedarts Words: Leah Atherton
Live music review: Baddies Boogie, State, Rainbow venues - 11/03/16 The Rainbow is a hipsterish venue for moderately sized shows, they also burn incense that will leave a pleasurable aroma on your clothes, which is nice! As I was grabbing my first drink, the first band came on an acoustic duo named The Insiders. They did well to get a very unenthusiastic crowd going to start off the night. The band had a lot of passion for their music, these are ones to watch. Next came Nuclear Weasels, an indie band, who ended on a strong song named Stranger Things. As the third band came on, Don’t Look Down, the room filled up. The bands’ stand out track was a cover of Fall Out Boy’s I don’t Care. A good strong cover of the well-known pop punk band. The main support came from a band called Karl Munroe, who I got a huge Stone Roses vibe off of. Their recordings online don’t do this band justice - they thrive in a live setting, as is the case with a lot of DIY bands. As the headliner for the night, State, entered the stage to set up they were greeted by a huge cheer. This obviously pumped the band up as they gave an incredibly enregetic performance, interacting with the crowd well, something the other bands didn’t do nearly as much. The bands’ stand out track was called Reigning Seaguls, I got an awesome feel of Nirvana off this one. At the end of the show, loads of fans swamped the lower part of the Rainbow - driving enthusiasm through the roof. Both State and their small but dedicated fan base made this show a complete pleasure to witness and be a part of - they’re definitely ones to watch. Words: Joe Todd
NAF NEEDS YOU Northfield Arts Forum is made up of local people committed to organising, connecting and promoting artists and creative activity all over Northfield, Longbridge, Weoley and Kings Norton. We do this by making events and workshops happen throughout the year. And guess what? We are on the look out for people of all ages, abilities and enthusiasms to join us! Being involved with NAF is easy - all you need to do is email us, drop by one of our events or get in touch some other way (see below), and tell us what you’re interested in doing! We have volunteer roles ranging from occasional packer-uppers and bakers, to regular NAF cafe staff and workshop leaders, to members of our steering group shaping the future of NAF as it grows. We also offer mentoring in arts facilitation, and welcome proposals for new arts events from local artists and community organisations! Interested? Get in touch! Upcoming events we’re currently recuiting for include the monthly Arts Cafe, Northfield Carnival, Northfield Beach Arts Village, Summer Music! Dance! Draw! and the return of Northfield Fun Palace (October!). We’re also recruiting for our Steering Group - you can help shape the future of arts activity in your local area! Email: Nafvolunteer@gmail.com Phone: 07872628068 (Lauren) or 07977238184 (Olly) Tweet: @northfieldarts1 or find us on facebook
CHLOE BRAMWELL