Tag: Lytisha

That was the year that was 2024

I can’t believe I haven’t blogged for the whole year – not very good at this regular malarkey am I! Well here is a quick round up of the poetic and creative highlights..

Statistically speaking, during 2024 I read to 780 people in the room, 27 on zoom, and 193,000 via Radio Nottingham and Riverside Radio. I read live stories at three events and poetry at fifteen events.

I organised or co-organised 5 events and MC’d at 4.

Image above by Hazel Warren from Women Say Stuff

A Journey Inside traveled to two festival for interactive performances at Wandworth Arts Festival and Nottingham Poetry Festival. Fablous feedback can be seen here: Plus it was selected for the Fivars Festival of International Virtual Augmented and Reality Stories 2024, winning a selection laurel.

There was so much more to tell you about, so here are a few snippets snaffled from other places:

During the Hockley Hustle in October Speech Therapy let me perform some sad poems to unexpected live Mariarchi band accompaniment, then tango with Kate Hendry recorded planned fiddle playing. Great supportive audience and fabulously hosted by Keith Ford all for the Hockley Hustle. Thanks for the photo too.

Poetry, Song, Cake & Freinds – 3 took place in October. Pete Yen of We Shall Overcome wrote: Wonderful lovely evening at Sherwood Methodists last night for the WSO event organised by Lytisha Tunbridge, in aid of St Ann’s and Sneinton Food Store. Best part of £350 in cash donations, and lots of food donations too. But also raised spirits. The featured artists were all excellent and so too were the Poetry open mic’ers.

DIY Poets had our annual outing to The Gate to Southwell festival and had a marvellous time sharing poems, hosting the Bard to Southwell Competition and generally being jolly. They even caught some of us dancing poets on their official video

DIY Poets at The Gate to Southwell Festival 2024

Happy 2025 to all and I will try to be more regular this year!

Poems, Places, and Virtual Words.

Well, what a summer! Lots of music, poetry, friends, festivals, viruses and multi-lingualism.

Here’s a poem for you from the launch of A Journey Inside, Impressions of Essaouira.

Places: I’ve been poeting in Parliament, at Womad with The Big Girls Village, as Poet-in-Residence at Wollaton Arts Festival, in Fountaine Daniel, France, at The National Holocaust Centre, at City Arts and at hybrid events with DIY Poets, and at various World Jam performances, as well as super events around the country.

Virtual Words: This year my poems are available in the Poetry Place exhibition both on-line and touring Inspire Libraries, in the virtual house as part of the A (socially distanced) Room of Ones Own, on DIY Poets YouTube channel, on VisualVerse.org as well as A Journey Inside VR Poem, the prototype of which is being tested currently.

I hope you’ve had a super year thus far, and we all have a poetic autumn / winter.

Lytisha

Virtual and real Spring!

The blossoms are out and the birds are, um, dancing and tickets are on sale for A Journey Inside VR Poem Experience. It’s all go!

I am very excited, and a little nervous to be honest, that the my Arts Council funded project is about to have it’s first public airing as the epigram to the Nottingham Poetry Festival 2023.

I even went on Notts TV to talk about it. If you’d like to watch the clip, Alma from City Arts, and I are on nottstv.com Notts Now for Tuesday 18th April.

On 18th March Joy and I welcomed over 70 of you, plus the zoom attendees, to Poetry, Song, Cake, and Friends at the Bulwell URC. Was amazing to see so many turned out, so thank you audience.

Big thank yous to The Rise Singers, to Cookie, and to Crazy Able for providing the songs. To all the open mic’ers for sharing poems including the first time sharers. It’s always an honour to hear poets perform for the first time.

And, not least to the amazing makers of the sea of delicious cakes! Mmnnn Tastiest gig I’ve ever held …

Lytisha’s other recent poeting adventures include a feature slot at the ever delightful wonder that is Speech Therapy.

Future poetic activities to look forward to include World Jam at The Playwright on Saturday 29th April, Sherwood Shesshions on Sunday 7th May and a sharing at The Houses of Parliament in June.

Phew, so much going on! Catch you at an event soon.

Here comes 2023!

Happy New Year!

Well, here we are again – one of Lytisha’s sporadic ‘regular’ blogs! Today the view from the house on the hill is of many hues of gray, at slanted angles over the gray rooftops. The wind is blustering, bursts of raindrops are attacking the window but all is warm and dry indoors – despite being abandoned by the cat. Apparently in the jumper section of the wardrobe is even cosier than this desk – and may account for future furry clothing.

Who am I kidding? All my clothes have been furry since…. furever!

This year I will be focussing on a couple of exciting projects.

I was fortunate enough to win an Arts Council England Award in October to fund A Journey Inside – the Virtual Reality version. Some of you might recall the poem I performed a few times in 2017 following a 2016 MRI scan? In 2018 it evolved with the help of COMA into an augmented experiential piece which was performed with live music as part of both the COMA National Festival and Nottingham Poetry Festival. During these performances the audience wore blindfolds and the sounds surrounded them.

This year I am working on a new incarnation recreating the experience in virtual reality. I am working with the support of the Mixed Reality Lab at the University of Nottingham ( I Know – how amazing does that sound!), City Arts and others.

You will be able to come test out the prototype at the 2023 Nottingham Poetry Festival in May – dates to be confirmed.

Women Say Stuff will be back again in March, organised as ever by a group of women volunteers from the DIY Poets co-hort. Always a fabulous event so keep your eyes peeled for the details on social media.

Meantime Multiple Shenanigans blog with Jeanette Bird-Bradley on youtube continues monthly and I look forward to seeing you at the DIY Poets showcase at City Arts on 9th February.

Here’s a look at a poem that you can find via the QR code on the Nottingham Arboretum noticeboard as part of the Haptive Quest from 2022. See if you find the tree in the arboretum featured:

So, lots to look forward to in 2023. I hope to catch you out and about at an event or at a gig soon.

Lytisha

Phew – scorchio!!

I hope you aren’t a melted dollop of ice-cream but more a spritely icy-pole cocktail.

It’s been a busy time here in poeting world. And much more exciting happenings on the horizon. For example DIY Poets have their Quarterly Showcase at City Arts, Hockley, Nottingham on Thursday 11th August. There are a plethora of quality poets on the line-up and a few open mic spots too.

You’ll next find me at Camper Calling over the August bank holiday. Fabulous festival and sold out. If you are lucky enough to have tickets come check out the spoken word & workshops at the Woodland Stage.

Here’s a pic of Chloé Jacquet performing her hilarious and thought provoking poetry. If you’ve not come across Chloé check her out here.

September begins with a Two Seda set at the New Art Exchange as part of the Nottingham Mela. This will be our first gig since the pandemic, and we are raring to bring you more multi-lingual, multi-cultural treats. I am really looking forward to this – been an age!

Photo Credit Keith Turner

Recent gigs include the WSO Garden Party organised by Pixie Styx to raise funds and collect donations for the Bulwell & Bestwood foodbank. It was a lovely afternoon and a good sum, as well as wheelbarrow of donations were collected.

The DIY Poets had a fabulous time with our events at The Gate to Southwell Folk Festival in July. A title of Bard of Southwell was fought in the open Slam competition and this year won by 8 year old Tibbie Star with her fabulous poem Fireworks. You can often catch Tibbie, accompanied by Paul Carbuncle, at various folk events in the region.

Tibbie Star

July also saw DIY Poets performing at the Ludlow Literature Festival. It was a hybrid event and the audience were treated to an array of talents, include moi via zoom.

I wish you all a fabulous summer and I couldn’t sign off on International Cat Day without a little of my favourite #DixieCatNottm.

Sultry September?

Well, it’s a warm and sticky day today. (It was when I wrote this in September – forgive the delay – technical hic-cups!)

Cat looking down on a paddling pool which has dappled light playing on the surface
Dixie contemplates the pool

I’ve taken a moment to reflect and looked back through previous blogs. I don’t know about you, but I very rarely actually look back at what I have achieved. I rush headlong to the next thing without reflecting, and am reminded of the wise words of Megan Taylor & Giselle Leeb who said to celebrate all the little wins.  I thought at the time, yes! Of course. Then proceeded not to. In-fact when complimented on a piece of work or an achievement I tend to put my head down and mutter a thank you. Whereas what I should do is lift my head, thank them, then see how I can expand on that work. Could I share it in different ways? Get it seen by more people?

In the past 2 years I have created 9 short films, a pamphlet, collaborated with at least 2 visual artists, 4 sound engineers, 5 musicians, over 20 students at NTU on 2 courses, and innumerable other poets. I’ve mastered zoom and worked remotely in care homes, run on-line courses, curated 4 festivals (plus 2 cancelled events due to pandemic, after the work was done) I’ve been published in 7 anthologies, at least one was award winning, and I have also been awarded a DYCP grant by the Arts Council of England.  In two years.

If you had suggested to me 4 years ago that I would have achieved all that, I’d have thought you were living in cloud cuckoo land. Although, on reflection, wasn’t 4 years ago when I was involved with the co-creation of Just Cuckoos play?

The point is we need to acknowledge and celebrate our little wins – and the big ones too.

Here is a link to Text Book from the award winning Bloody Amazing anthology by Dragon Waffle.

Have a great rest of summer.

x

Well, I’ve bought a new raincoat..

there are poems and film premieres, and finally, but not least, listening to lots of lovely poetry and music IRL – in real life – at last.

Phew it’s a really hot / wet / cold / muggy old day isn’t it! (Please delete as appropriate depending on the time of day you read this blog)

So what’s happening in your world? I’d love to hear from you.

Coming up in mine are poem and film premieres, a call out for my next project, and finally, but not least, listening to lots of lovely poetry and music IRL – in real life – at last.

As many other people living with poor immune systems, I am remaining a little cautious in terms of mixing with groups of people, particularly indoors. However, there are some great outdoor events.

World Jam are also hosting a monthly Jam in the Park supported by the Lady Bay Arts Trail. August meet is Sunday 8th at The Arboretum between 4 – 8pm. Bring your own picnic and instruments / voices.

World Jam hosted a poetry picnic on 24th July. Lead by Martin Grey, quiz question answerers selected random prompts from the hat and then we wrote for 10 minutes and shared the outcomes. It was great fun. Martin is running more poetry picnics in Nottingham parks – so keep your eyes peeled on all the medias and Martin’s Website.

The 6pm Project I have been working on with artist Emma Wass. We have released two outcomes as Rough Cuts. These are the results of the audio and visual learning we are both engaged in as part of our Arts Council England funded DYCP learning process. The fist is a curated talking heads film.

After the Year we’ve had  https://youtu.be/Fg7DnhNk

The second takes some of the phrases used by the audio received from our participants to create an audio / visual poem. 

It’s 6pm  https://youtu.be/u-K3SsmwE6g

The pieces are all based around recordings made by 12 participants across the world at 6pm local time on Friday 2nd April 2021. Using visuals from participants of where they were and short reflection on the prompt  After the year we have had I’m feeling ….

Do take a look at both and let me know your thoughts. Do you recall what you were doing that day? Friday 2nd April 2021 at 6pm? It was Good Friday, if that helps.

Keep and eye on my events listing both on Lytishapoet.co.uk and on my facebook page for upcoming events.

Stop Press! Lytisha will be performing on the spoken word stage at CamperCalling festival this August bank holiday!

 I hope you have a lovely summer lined up. I did manage to get away for a weekend recently, so I leave you with the beautiful bay at Runswick.

Summer is unveiling

Summer is unveiling.

Ta-da! I have a poem on stone. I guess that makes me a rock poet now – well I do have a geologically based poem or two. The poem was commissioned by Nottingham City Homes to commemorate the Lenton Green estate that has replaced the 5 multi-storey blocks that were demolished behind the Savoy Cinema in Nottingham. It has been transformed into family homes and bungalows, plus a really swish supported living block, where everyone has their own balcony, their own piece of the sky. Thanks to Keith Turner for the photo.

I really enjoyed the commission; the research, chatting to residents and hanging out by the bee hotel to get a sense of the place. If anyone else is would like to commission a bespoke poem, please do get in touch.

So, what else as been happening in the past three months?

Multiple Shenanigans continues to go from strength to strength. We were delighted to be the featured podcast by the Culture, Health and Wellbeing organisation and have a guest blog on their website which they promoted on World MS Awareness day for us, which amazing. We continue to get positive feedback and more importantly we both enjoy making them. Still learning as we go. We’ve another guest with us toward the end of June, so look out for that episode too. If anyone fancies joining us and discussing the humorous side of life living with MS or other conditions, please contact me and we can have a chat.

I haven’t been very active on the poetry stages for a few months as I had a prolonged episode of Trigeminal neuralgia which made speaking extremely difficult for a while, but I am luckily much improved now. I have kept myself busy with some other activities, including Lite Bites, but the project with Sue Allen I mentioned last time had to be poetponed. Oh, I think I inadvertently created a new word there. I quite like it! We will be back, soonish.

The big news for the forthcoming year is that I have been successful in receiving a DYCP grant from the Arts Council to work on some training and with a mentor on a new (to me) style project. So, I shall be doing lots of learning and hopefully will have something to show you all at the end of it.

Still a couple of events coming up – check out the Events listings for details.

Think that’s it for now – even though I didn’t mention swimming in the sea. Did I ever mention I love the sea?

Lytisha

Spring is creeping up on us

I definitely feel that spring tingle, do you? I have embarked on some new activities, new working partnerships and new courses. Where to begin?

The podcast I co-produce with Comedian Jeanette Bird-Bradley, Multiple Shenanigans, is improving each time. We even had our first guest, Jess, for the Creamy-White Improv episode aired in March. The whole process is learning curve for both Jeanette and I, with the filming, editing, sharing, media, all being new to both of us. You imagine how seamlessly the organisation goes with two foggy brains to coordinate! It is fun, we learn from each other and our guests. It also feels very liberating to openly discuss the affects of Multiple Sclerosis on my life, not something I do often in public. We have had quite a lot of good feedback from viewers, both living with MS and without. Check us out fortnightly here: If you like it, and subscribe, we’ll soon have a comprehensible channel name!

The first set of Lytisha’s Lunchtime Lite Bites are just over the halfway point, and the sessions are going really well. I’ve been so impressed with the outcomes during the sessions, especially as we have just an hour which literally whizzes by in a flurry of words and ideas. The experience level of the group are mixed with some completely new to creative writing and others a little more familiar. In fact I have just opened up Lytisha’s Teatime Lite Bites – so grab yourself a spot swiftly. Booking now for: Wednesdays at 7 – 8pm, fortnightly from 14th April 2021 – 16th June 2021. Cost: 6 sessions for £40. Book here:

I am also working on an innovative project with poet Sue Allen, more details to follow.

Just to keep you in suspense a little longer – artist Emma Wass and I have something up our sleeves too. I’d love to tell you now, but my tummy is rumbling so loudly it is drowning out the plaintive mews of the half starved DixiecatNottm who hasn’t eaten for literally hours. Fear not, I will be – er – back!

2021 – New Beginning

…although still all on-line for now. Unfortunately the pandemic is still with us and life continues virtually for now.

However, there are exciting events and courses on the horizon.

Lytisha is hosting a series of Lunchtime Lite Bites – hour long creative writing groups at, you’ve guessed it, lunchtimes. These are held fortnightly, in six week blocks for just £40. If you are interested then follow the link here for the Thursday sessions. Delivery is via zoom, so the advantage of this lockdown scenario is that you can attend from wherever you are.

10th February sees the next DIY Poets quarterly showcase, and 8th March brings us to the 5th annual Women Say Stuff event. More about all these events can be found in the Upcoming section.