This is not what I was going to write. However, now I think it is time for real honesty.
I had a moment on Saturday afternoon, standing in a packed church hall surrounded by countless publishers and fellow poets. I knew many people in the room: not personally, of course, but professionally. A number were too intimidating to approach in person, which prompted me to ask myself why I felt that way. What stopped me from talking to these individuals I had interacted with online or via email previously?
The first person I met going into the hall on Saturday was someone I’m currently working with. We caught up and arranged to have a chat when we’d both had a look around the event. The second person I spoke to I’d come to apologise to after the drama we talked about last week online, and they were beyond lovely. I knew both these people would respect and take me seriously.
I was not confident that would be the case with anyone else.
Instead of interacting with whom I’d intended to approach on Saturday, the plan was thrown away. None of these people’s demeanours or indeed spaces felt welcoming. Instead, we went and found those who exuded friendly and approachable. We looked not at the seriousness of the books or the histories of the publishers but sought instead originality and openness, a different way of fulfilling the brief I set for myself.
I returned with the right books and spoke to the right people. There’s a plan now that encompasses not simply their idealism, but also how to make this less about what gets shown off as ‘content’. For my work to be as authentic as possible, nothing needs to be proved, simple is the answer. Tell the stories, and illustrate them with care and depth. Build each unique piece as just that. Everything else does not need to be worried about for now.
What history remembers as relevant is nearly always framed from a man’s viewpoint. The way to effect change should be to prioritise everybody else’s ideas ahead of that. That begins with compelling, individual storytelling.
These are nobody’s stories but mine to create and distribute.
I am ready and willing to do the job.
PS: This was prompted by having someone send me a blog post over the Twitter debacle of last week which reduces a week of commentary down to the simple statement of ‘no one covered themselves in glory on either side’. I am tired of the narrative that won’t place blame and refuses to call out actual injustice.
The starting tweet is here:
https://twitter.com/InternetofWords/status/1782309498343842182