The Gift Horse – on volunteering

The Gift Horse – on volunteering The casualisation of the creative workforce is like the pandemic. It is highly contagious, spreading fast and creating a sub-culture of artists, makers and artist-academics who are not only taken for granted but are being utterly exploited and expected to be grateful for that exploitation. Having several years experience working in sometimes unpaid collaborations …

Disrupted Meadow – Strata June 2021

Disrupted Meadow – Strata June 2021 I am in Charmouth again, on Stonebarrow, again, and it is around the time Matt Hancock gets into a bit of bother. Life is like a meadow and it can get disrupted. Careers get disrupted. Journeys get disrupted. A death is disruptive. I begin my presentation with a poem: Sky is Meadow I am …

Image from The Poetic Body Chapter. Carran and Tony as children with Jenny the dog

Hecate and Dog Poo

Hecate and Dog Poo One mighty canine whose master knows how to bag it and bin it In working as a Ward Councillor probably one of the most regular calls to action has been tackling dog poo and occasionally the human variety.  When I first moved to Southport, Richard and I affectionately nicknamed our new home town ‘Southpoo’, and a …

Three Months a Councillor

THREE MONTHS A COUNCILLOR I have been a Local Government Councillor for almost three months now. I use this space to integrate my art thinking, the local government activities I do and the politics. It’s a new way of working for me and a new space. A FEW MUSINGS ON FORM, SPACE AND ACTION This time I said I would …

Five on a journey

Labour Councillors in Southport have been a rare breed since 1974. We have added five for Southport in the last two years. I am learning that theatre/performance making and politics is a more fascinating combination than I had thought. New challenges, new learning in a new space and time with different audience/participants. Watch this space for more musings on working …