Shadows in the Light
One thing that is unique about Shake the Dust is that up and coming poets get a chance to work with more experienced poetry workshop facilitators. My coach Mike Parker has gradually given me more and more responsibility, and as a result my confidence has grown both as a poet and a person. I hooked...
Magical Moments
The second Shake the Dust development day for Poet Coaches and Shadows took place yesterday at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton. It was great to catch up with each other and share our experiences so far. Jacob Sam-La Rose, the artistic director of the project, is a firm believer of trying all the exercises yourself...
Shake the Dust | Andy’s Video
Check out Andy in the (East), shaking things up a bit with this excellent Trailer …enjoy!
1 Month Until Regional Finals – “I used to sit where they sit”
I have not been writing much this month but talking a lot about the Shake the Dust project. It is getting better and better, my group in Young Identity are becoming very pro-active and seem really driven! Their excitement is infectious and I look forward to more of this during the following months. This process...
“fish and chips” and “nachos with dips”
After only three sessions, the Shake the Dust team from South East already act like professionals. At the assembly, just before breaking up for the Easter holidays, the budding slammers performed a poem in front of the whole school. Going to a sports college means the students are well familiar with the Olympic and Paralympic values...
First Workshop and “the silence at the word “poetry” is kind of deafening”
We hear about Graham Smith’s first workshop session on Shake the Dust South East. Graham is working with poet coach Chris Redmond as a shadow. The librarian is away, and the English teacher is looking harassed and is not sure who can cover her classes so she can be present during the workshops. So our...
Scattered opening reflections of an eyes-always-opened shadow.
“Poetry is rubbish mate. I can’t do it anyway, I just don’t do poetry.” You will be surprised how deeply those words can impact, and how much they inspire you to prove that anyone is capable of writing something meaningful. Almost as much as it makes you start doubting the term “poetry” as a welcoming...
Greetings from the East
Hello! The hippie in the picture above is me: Andy Bennett – poet, comedian, and East Region Digital Champion for Shake The Dust. I’m quite excited to be a Digital Champion, as it makes me sound rather dashing, like a 21st Century Robin Hood, only with YouTube clips instead of arrows. I’m working with the...
The South West Shaker!
Hello, ahoy there, I am Katy Else the South West Digital Champ! I am based in the very sunny Plymouth in Devon. I have a strong relationship with the South West because I lived in London on the weekdays and Somerset on the weekends therefore I am a mixture of cockney South East London...
Excited to start Shaking that Dust!
Hi everybody! Right, my name is Jennifer Perry. I wish I had a stage name, but I really don’t. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to swing them over to me! I’ve grown up in East London and I’m on the brink of finishing a degree in Creative and Professional Writing. (cannot wait!) (I...
Creating Odes in the West Midlands
I -Hayley Frances – am a shadow to a former poet laureate of Birmingham; the coach; the Brummie-est man I have ever come across in the best formidable way; Mr Giovanni Esposito or as I and many call him – Spoz. A treasure to Birmingham’s nature, I’m dazzled to be shadowing his experienced stance in the...
Hello from the South East Digital Champion
Every day is a battle with language. There are endless ways of expressing what you feel and think, but most of the time we just speak, not even aware of what words we use. My name is Louise Halvardsson (“Lou Ice” on stage); I was born in Sweden but have lived in Brighton on and...
