FILM, ANTHOLOGY AND EVENT COLLABORATIONS
MARCH 2020
Beautiful people, hello and welcome. Thank you for checking in. I am not going to say, ‘Wow, what a busy month it has been!’ (but just between you and me – it has).
I hinted in last months blog that a film event I was asked to be a part of several months ago would be coming to fruition this month and so it has.
Created by good friend, poet and event organiser, Fin Hall, (https://www.facebook.com/fin.hall.14) @ Like a Blot From The Blue (https://www.facebook.com/Finhall2) Poets In Therapy, a film featuring over twenty poets sharing their personal angst in the pursuit of their art, was screened in a Zoom event on the 13th March.
View trailer here: https://www.facebook.com/fin.hall.14/videos/10224021779430382/
The first I knew of the project, was a direct message beginning, ‘I don’t know if you noticed, but I’ve started yet another wee thing…’ and that sums Fin up perfectly. The man is not only a poet, but a creator. Always on the go with some ‘wee’ project or another – yes he is also a Scotsman, so, doubly delightful in my view. Having been a part of several of his other ‘wee’ projects I happily agreed, and instructions were sent through: ‘Write a not overthinking, imaginary or real piece as if we are all in poetry therapy.’
Sure, Fin. Easy peasy. This is what I wrote:
FINS COLLABORATION – Poets Anon
Hi, I’m Skylar J Wynter and I’m a raging poet.
Addicted to Rhyme and Rhythm
it's out of my control.
I’m grateful for this space,
where I can purge and cleans my soul.
A space where words that rhyme, or don’t
are celebrated and condoned.
I don't know where I'd be,
or what state my brain'd be in
if it wasn’t for 2020 forcing,
the creation of online zooming.
General brain fuck-uppery
is always on the cards for me,
but it’s so much easier to deal with
alongside my global poetry family.
So, thank you for your friendship,
your support and all the spaces
you've created to air our successes,
and more importantly, our disgraces.
Thank you for being vulnerable, for reinforcing I'm not alone
for all the laughs and all the tears, for giving my words a home.
No matter what the new year brings it's a relief & joy to know,
my crazy and my fucked-up, now have a place to go.
Skylar J Wynter 2020
Awwe. Aint that sweet? I thought so. I also thought that would be the end of it and then at some point I would see a post from Fin saying he’d created a chap book with a link to purchase. But NOOOOO! Fin’s creative mind was not happy with a mere publishable book. It was demanding something bigger and better. A film!
His next instructions were, ‘Please film yourself saying your verse as if you were in a group therapy session and I plan collate all poets’ poems and comments together in a film.’
So, with very little attention to detail or my usual self-absorbed ‘I have to get this perfect’ shenanigans I made a recording and sent it off.
Click on the link and see for yourself the result of Fin’s Filmmaking. It has now been entered into a film festival!
View on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/gyvnQpkC0Ic4
Needless to say, Fin’s foray into film has triggered some ideas of my own and I am now working on several collaborations that I am very excited about. They are all very hush hush, so I am trusting you to keep schtum and if I have piqued your interest be sure to check back in next month to find out more.
You all know by now, that creatives of all genres around the world have turned to various online platforms to share, create and collaborate and it has been a wonderful thing. I have met like minded people from all around the globe and formed some lasting friendships. I have also had some of my work included in poetry anthology’s that have been created solely from the work of poets that have gathered at the various Zoom open-mic events since Covid-19 sent us all into lockdown.
My poem, How To Avoid A Train Wreck, has been included in the anthology, Geography Is Irrelevant, collated and edited by Rose Drew, Amina Alyal and Raef Boylan. These three wonderful humans are the hosts of the open-mic events, York Spoken Word, Fire & Dust and Wordspace. Prior to lockdown they were held at live venues, but with the creation of the Zoom space they were able to open them up to poets around the world and this anthology is a collection of works by poets who would never have normally been able to attend the live events due to geography.
PURCHASE LINK:
Another of my poem’s, The Phone Call, has been included in the poetry anthology, The Sphere Keeps Spinning – Globalisation, compiled by bestselling author and poet, Kelly Van Nelson, who is based in Australia and co-hosts MMH Press Virtual Open Mic event held on the third Thursday of each month.
PURCHASE LINK:
Covid-19 has had undeniably terrible and incomprehensible effects around the globe, but as with all life changing and world changing events it has not been all bad. I have had so many opportunities open up to me as an artist, to contribute, create, learn and expand my views on many topics.
Fin’s film and the creation of these two beautiful anthologies are just three of many collaborations I have had the privilege to be a part of.
Humans are thriving amidst adversity and wherever I look I am seeing connection and awareness growing where it would otherwise have not without current global conditions.
I would love to hear your stories of positive things that have come into your life as a side effect of lockdown. Drop them in the comments section or head over to my FB page https://www.facebook.com/skylarjwynterauthor and share there.
In the meantime, stay safe, practise treating yourself and others with decency and let’s change the world.
