Posts
Sunday 25 February 2007
E-mail to Lennie
Trip to London
I come from Gloucestershire and I took the trip to London to see Lennie and Mike. It was a day full of inspiration and renewed confidence. To work with people who think like me is a breath of fresh air. I could have stayed there all day putting the world to rights. The poetry I put forward was received with great enthusiasm. However one my pieces wasn't quite working, I knew that, but they picked up on it. It was done in such a way that instead of feeling knocked, I felt inspired. I found myself sitting opposite an underground musician playing blues. And wrote my final piece.
Look forward to sharing my work and experiencing the enlightened work of fellow dyslexic artists
by for now,
Emma
Friday 23 February 2007
For now though, I'm really looking forward to being part of DYS(the) LEXI. I think lennie and Sarah and everyone involved are brilliant for getting this going. It's a priviledge to be part of it.I'd like to think it has also kick started me into producing not just some of my better poems but also potentially a whole new show about dyslexia which will fuse comedy, poetry and storytelling, with lots of visuals and audience participation.
All of that is later, but for now - or at least on the 22nd March at 7.30pm when i'm doing my bit - I've got a good twenty minutes of cheeky banter and rhymes, and maybe one or two silly pictures and some embarrassing dancing. The emphasis is going to be on celebrating the more upbeat and ridiculous sides to being dyslexic.
I have also been writing some more traditionally downbeat poems too, like this one below which is written about "Jumble", who is the main character in the aforementioned not yet written show. This poem might make the final show, but I won't do it on the 22nd, as I'd rather do some funnier stuff, which is more my thing. Anyway, good luck and all the best to everybody taking part.......
He reads the same simple sentence again
The sense of it, simply, will not sink in
He’s the Jumble Boy who can’t spell his name
The panic runs manic about his brain
Letters give him jitters: jest and jinx him
He reads the same simple sentence again
But it’s too hard for him. He can’t explain
The problem is he can’t stop from thinking
He’s the Jumble Boy who can’t spell his name
Teachers can’t reach him but to shout his shame
He’s not got a clue, they’ve not an inkling
He reads the same simple sentence again
One dreamday he’ll teach them. He’ll find his aim
And hurl the world such a tale worth printing
Of the Jumble Boy who can’t spell his name
But now Jane likes Peter. Peter likes Jane
And he hates the school and all who sink him
He reads the same simple sentence again
Just the Jumble Boy who can’t spell his name
Sunday 18 February 2007
Looking forward to not spell checking
thank you R for making this blog. It is so important. As for me i am so happy to be able to write with not spell checking my work. This is the only place where i feel i can write myself. Anyway, another way of describing the liberation of not dressing up my words in the correct grammer and feietics, is comparing this site to my very own nudiest beach.
So with only a few weeks to go a bit over a month i am excited. Very one i know is excited and i really hope that this project opens up a lot of doors for people.
Thank you all for your involvment and your support
much love
Wednesday 14 February 2007
Hello, it's both exciting and nice to be taking part.
I look forward to seeing you all soon.
Pat
Interview with Patrick Mackeown, January 2007
About Patrick Mackeown
Patrick Mackeown was born in London in 1966. Adopted by Anglo-Irish parents, he grew up in Turkey, Wales and in several parts of England. He studied analytical philosophy. Having been variously a chef, salesman and computer operator, he was caught up soon after graduation in the Dot-Com bubble. Already having learned to program computers, he soon became useful and worked as a senior technician for what was, at the time, one of England’s foremost Internet Service Providers, Demon Internet, where he was responsible for the operation of several commercial services. He left the ISP in early 2000 to join an internationally renowned news corporation, but soon became disillusioned by the petty nature of that organisation. While waiting for the heady days of the technical revolution to return, he implemented many computing projects there.
When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?
I’ve decided to be a writer several times. The first time was when I must have been seven or eight years old. My parents gave me a book, and on its rear-cover the publisher encouraged its readers to send anecdotes and what-have-you to their London head office. I submitted to them The Trials Of A Young, Welsh, Hill Sheep-Farmer. Since then I moved house several times and lost the publisher’s response. But, I remember that it was a charming one.
Who would you say has influenced you the most?
Very recently, Ismail Kadare’s Broken April, without question. It’s a story which haunts the reader long after its final page. It has a sadness which hangs outside the novel. It touches the subject of mankind’s beastliness in a tender and almost loving fashion. And, of writers generally, I’d say that Gerald Durrell’s humour is rarely far from my mind. To constantly poke fun at life, I think, is a writer’s solemn duty. Any refugee from Dickens’ Hard Times, who has been made to sit through a dose of Josiah Bounderby’s insufferable rhetoric, will know that well enough. In contemplating what cannot be contemplated, William Golding’s The Inheritors showed me that an author can write magnificently about sensory perceptions which Neanderthal Man possessed, and modern humans do not.
How have your personal experiences influenced the direction of your writing?
I can’t honestly say that many of them have, at least not that I’m aware of. Thankfully I’ve never been pursued by armed men, or tortured. That said, however, I suspect that the cynicisms, which I acquire during my researches, find an outlet in my poems. Cruel World is a good example. It was published only days ago, in Lionheart Press’ poetry anthology: Ancient Heart Magazine (ISSN 1751-4835).
What are your main concerns and challenges as a writer?
That’s a difficult question, almost too difficult; I have several. The accuracy of my research troubles me to distraction. I’ve been known to telephone foreign embassies to ask them about the colour of their carpets. I must stop doing that. But, on a more sombre note, I’d have to mention corruption and genocide. It’s a task of thriller writers to point out how political elites abuse their charges. And, it’s certainly a task I relish. However, it’s difficult to study inhumanity on a daily basis and still believe in goodness. I’d have to say that I find that aspect of my work challenging.
How do you deal with these challenges?
Put simply, the question is: How can I continuously write about abuses of authority without becoming jaded and cynical? There might be a temptation to assume that I succeed! I hope it’s possible to be cynical without becoming too jaded. Cynicism visits all of us, occasionally, I’m sure. But, my wife reminds me, simply by being there, that life itself has a beauty which can’t be measured. I think, when pressed, I remind myself that mankind possesses the unfortunate ability to promote his own interests above everything else. And, this is a mistake. I suspect that it’s my realisation that individual men are in error which releases me from a constant cycle of worry.
In all, how many books have you written? When and where were they published? How were they received?
So far, I’ve only written one book, a thriller called The Expendability Doctrine, published by BookScape (ISBN-13: 978-0-9554328-0-4). It’s been highly recommended by the Midwest Book Review, who had this to say about it:
"The Expendability Doctrine is an oil conspiracy thriller, about utterly ruthless criminal behavior motivated by sheer lust for money and power. When a British industrialist is professionally murdered amid an international oil crisis, his wife absconds, and a malicious pattern begins to unfold. A suspenseful saga stretching from Britain’s east coast to the nightmare slayings in Libyan gaols, The Expendability Doctrine revolves around a creed that lives up to the ruthlessness of its title. Highly recommended."
It’s only been out since November of 2006. But, already it’s been featured on the front page of Independentpublisher.com, Christmas edition. Since this is my debut novel, I’m very pleased.
I also write satires as an outlet for my cynicism. President Bush has done badly by my hand, I must admit, much to the delight of several well-known, American webmasters and radio talk show hosts. Lisa Casey’s website Allhatnocattle.com, and Terry Coppage’s Bartcop.com have posted copies of my parodies on their hugely popular pages. I’d have to say that in addition to contributing a little towards the entertainment of Lisa and Terry’s website viewers, I’ve also had great fun myself.
Links:
http://www.bookscape.co.uk/short_stories/no_clue.php
http://www.bookscape.co.uk/short_stories/scam_story.php
What is your latest book about?
My next thriller, The Cardinal’s Blood, combines details from the mysterious death of an Italian banker in London in 1982 with a series of Mafia crimes.
How long did it take you to write it?
It’s not finished. I’m still writing it. I have been working on it for more than a year.
Which aspects of the work that you put into the book did you find most difficult?
I’d say that I find researching my books most time consuming. I wouldn’t say that it’s difficult. Perhaps it’s difficult to know when to stop. I think when the author begins to wonder exactly how much darker a carpet would have been, given a certain amount of exposure to sunlight, a decade ago, and so on, it’s time to take a break!
Which did you enjoy most?
When my characters say funny things I find it entertaining.
What sets the book apart from the other things you have written?
The main difference between The Cardinal’s Blood and The Expendability Doctrine is that the former novel is written in the recent historical past. It’s not an extraordinary challenge, because of course, I’m quite familiar with the Eighties, but still, it’s more challenging, I’d say, setting a narrative in a different time frame from the one in which the author sits.
In what way is it similar?
The fact that it’s a thriller, and that it’s international in its scope characterises it as one of my novels.
Do you write every day? How much time would you say you spend on your writing?
I write for at least eight hours a day. But, I do include research in that calculation.
What will your next book be about?
I’m not sure yet what my third novel will be about. There are so many interesting subjects.
What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?
I expect that writing good books and obtaining good reviews is a challenge for many writers, myself included.
How did you get there?
Attention to detail, persistence and determination.
Tuesday 13 February 2007
Airborn
Through the run up to the festival we will all be posting on this blog - check back regularly to read about our progress and also our thoughts on the creative potential of people with dyslexia - which is what this festival is all about!
Hope to see you soon.
Saturday 3 February 2007
DYS(the)LEXI
Celebrating Dyslexics