Kurlys Poetry

A chat with Jonathan Davidson from Writing West Midlands at the airport on our way back from Kiev, Ukraine as part of their huge International Arsenal Book Festival. Jonathan gives some very down to Earth grounded advice for up all writers especially up and coming/emerging writers!

Inspired by my son on the microphone on Monday (plus schools are closed for 6 weeks!) I’ve jumped into my recording cycle which I’ve really missed! Quick podcast, latest track from this Birmingham (UK) poet and Hip Hop artist

Project work in schools, bit of personal stuff and overall reflections that may be help to emerging career artists. To learn more about the projects I’ve been helping to develop please visit: http://www.memorhyme.com or learn more about Alison’s work visit: http://www.alisoncope.com and if you’ve got time have a nose at my short performance at the Royal Albert Hall of the knife intervention project ‘Key Change’ - https://youtu.be/NbhMs0GeYlM

11/4/19 - latest on the school Safeguarding words project/dress rehearsal and a couple of other projects

Building on relationships - planting seeds and nurturing growth for greater action.

Quick reflection of meetings with video content creators, school staff and training delivery coming up this Monday (11th Mar)

This episode touches on my journey of being a single father (with shared custody) and a freelance poet working in schools, the importance of collaboration and supporting others who inspire me such as anti knife campaigner Alison Cope.

Quick podcast on route to swimming with my kids where my son briefly speaks about choosing his school options - last week we (me, his mother and sister) went along to his Year 8 parents evening about choosing subject options for Year 9 which was useful, we got to meet and greet the subject teachers and ask questions. He has some clear ideas about what he likes, which in my view is the most important thing especially at this early stage, he can adjust as he moves forward. My job is to help him feel confident enough to know that any mistakes made are an important part of the learning journey (not a reason to give up, which is often linked to concerns around other people’s judgement!) learning from his own and others’ ‘mistakes’ is an important part of being successful and happy as you simply get better at avoiding them as you continue along the pathway of competence towards expertise. Find out what you enjoy, work hard/spend time being thorough at it (which you don’t mind doing cos you enjoy it), be patient, of

15/2/19 - low sound quality on this one - a quick ‘Youth Loneliness’ project update along with a quick preview of some of my ‘Summer Hustle’ lyrics (getting ready to drop some summer tunes!)

Been a busy weekend super proud of my son for doing his homework at school and staying back late to hep his friend and also really honoured to be part of the anti knife crime launch on Saturday with Alison Cope prolific anti-knife campaigner (Alisoncope.com) and The British Police Symphony Orchestra . Link to find out more about Alison Cope and her son Josh (aka Depzman): Kurly Meets Alison Cope: https://youtu.be/W-p40C_8XgU

Check out the writing task, short easy and very effective!

To learn more about Alison Cope please visit: http://alisoncope.com to view the video content of yesterday’s panel discussion on The Guardian Live with Gary Younge and the police crime commisioner David Jamieson please visit: https://youtu.be/Lnb6uxYUIzk

A quick summary of my day in 11 minutes or so, including today’s session in a PRU, updates on a regional school project I’m helping with and present day opportunities...

Print out from the Mad Libs website (http://www.madlibs.com/printables/) or use the Loony Libs app to fill in the gaps of prewritten stories to create fun, whacky original tales... great little session starter that my children found out and showed me earlier today...

Some reflections of time, ideas around building awareness and developing your interests/career mixed with some reflections of tonight’s live performance at the Wolverhampton Literature Festival with the Poets Against Racism and why I encourage my children to come along and film it ❤️❤️❤️

Quick summary of today’s workshop in Stoke on Trent Along with a quick starter activity for the classroom using the book Aesop’s tales (which has 200 short stories) to build literacy/performance confidence with youngsters. Here’s a quick link to see what book I’m referring to (but of course this activity can run with any age appropriate story https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/books/edited-by-belinda-gallagher/200-aesop-s-fables-512-page-fiction/GOR004917106?keyword=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0Ma26Pmb4AIVwrztCh3XqAXyEAQYASABEgI06fD_BwE

Doing so isn’t so you can boast about it... it’s so you can keep in mind the ways, no matter how small, you make a positive difference - whether on your own or part of a team. Which is reassuring, and might be part of the equation of figuring out what pathway to take your life if it feels right for you. Maybe your a natural story teller who makes people laugh about tales of your day, or your the person people often ask about a computer problem... I think it’s a good place to start thinking about how you like bringing value to others (for me it’s poetry/Hip Hop/workshops) but it’s all a journey, and every one needs some direction to get somewhere better. If your stuck why not start here.

In this episode I begin to unravel the reasons why I’ve felt such a heavy wave of doubt. Taking your eye off your North Star, your bottom line, your reason for doing what you do, your ‘why’, for any reason can be a huge factor in contributing to down days - especially over time. My wobble during my workshop with children on Saturday helped me notice! Also in this episode I share the literacy activity that got me out a hole and my writing session back on track! The Opposites Poem!

When things appear to be going right and all of a sudden something inside you slips and you fall into an unexpected and unexplainable panic and sadness... this happened to me a day or two ago. Today I’ve put everything aside - basically stayed in bed in a bid to quietly process and figure out what’s up and where I am today...

Sharing a moment - my son’s mistake being a positive life lesson