Volume 07, Chapter 09 | July 2020

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Image by Khadija Saye
courtesy of the artist’s estate

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Dear writers, readers and friends,

In solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and to mark the third anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire which in 2017 claimed the lives of 72 people in London, most of them from Black, Asian and ethnic minority families, Visual Verse brings you an image and lead words by five extraordinary creators.

Our issue this month resonates with the idea of inspiration (from the Latin, spirare, “to breathe”). Inspiration – as breath, as life, as hope – and as a human right. Our world resounds with the phrase ‘I can’t breathe’, uttered by Black people who have suffered institutional brutality, including, in the UK, Jimmy Mubenga in 2014 (his head held down by G4S security guards whilst on a plane) and by Sheku Bayoh in 2015 (who suffered positional asphyxiation by the police: they sprayed CS gas in his face and held him down). ‘I can’t breathe’ were the words of Eric Garner in New York in 2014 as he died from a police chokehold, and George Floyd in Minnesota on May 25, 2020 who died with a police knee in his neck. The phrase also resonates terribly with the reality of the Grenfell Tower fire. ‘We can’t breathe’ were among the last words of nursery teacher Nadia Choucair as she called emergency services from her 22nd floor flat that night. The survivors of Grenfell are still awaiting justic
e, while the official inquiry refuses to recognise the systemic racism of social inequality and institutional response as contributing to the disaster. The death of George Floyd and the anniversary of the fire fell during the lockdown for a pandemic that affects our breathing, our lungs, and is most disproportionately taking the lives of the poorest from Black and Bangladeshi minority communities (in the UK).

What is the role of art and curation here? As memorial, as reckoning. As inspiration.

Our image is from the self-portrait series, Dwelling: in this space we breathe by Khadija Mohammadou Saye with the kind permission of her estate (https://www.estateofkhadijasaye.com/) . Also known as Ya-Haddy Sisi Saye, she was a Gambian-British photographer whose work was exhibited in the Diaspora Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2017. She died aged 24, in Grenfell Tower.

The British Library’s exhibition, Khadija Saye: in this space we breathe was due to take place in Spring 2020. It was postponed, and new dates will be announced in due course.

And so to our lead writers, with respect and gratitude for their responses to this most important work…

Kadija Sesay (https://twitter.com/kadijattug) , FRSA, is a literary activist. She is the founder/publisher of SABLE litmag, SABLE litfest, and co-founder of The Mboka Festival of Arts, Culture and Sport in The Gambia. She is the editor of several anthologies of work by writers of African and Asian descent and the Publications Manager for the Inscribe Programme for Peepal Tree Press. She has also mentored several writers and judged several writing competitions. Her poetry collection, Irki (https://www.peepaltreepress.com/books/irki) (which means ‘Homeland’ in the Nubian language) (Peepal Tree Press, 2013) was shortlisted for the Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry in 2014. She received an Arts Council grant for Research and Development for her second collection, The Modern Pan Africanist’s Journey which includes a poetry and Pan-Africanism app. Kadija has received several awards for her work in the Creative Arts. She is a Fellow of the Kennedy Arts Centre of Performance Arts Management
and a Kluge Fellow. She currently has an AHRC scholarship to research Black British Publishing and Pan-Africanism at University of Brighton. She is a cousin of Sheku Bayoh.

Maame Blue (https://maamebluewrites.com) is a Ghanaian-Londoner splitting her time between Melbourne and London. She is part of Jacaranda’s #Twentyin2020 initiative. (https://www.jacarandabooksartmusic.co.uk/blogs/news/twentyin2020-is-announced-and-its-quite-the-moment) Her debut novel Bad Love (https://www.jacarandabooksartmusic.co.uk/products/bad-love) is available to buy online (https://www.jacarandabooksartmusic.co.uk/products/bad-love) , at Foyles (https://www.foyles.co.uk/witem/fiction-poetry/bad-love,maame-blue-9781913090180) and all good Indie bookshops, and as an Audible audiobook (https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Bad-Love-Audiobook/B084HLGCZY) . Her short stories and creative non-fiction pieces have appeared in Black Ballad, AFREADA, Litro Magazine and The Good Journal. She also has pieces forthcoming in the Royal Literary Fund Magazine and New Australian Fiction 2020, and co-hosts Headscarves and Carry-ons – a podcast about black girls living abroad.

Karthika Naïr (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/150393/remaindering-habits) is the author of several books, including the award-winning Until the Lions: Echoes from the Mahabharata (https://www.brooklinebooksmith-shop.com/book/9781939810366) , and principal scriptwriter of Akram Khan’s DESH, Chotto Desh and Until the Lions, a partial adaptation of her own book. Also a dance enabler, Naïr’s closest association has been with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet as executive producer of their works like Babel (Words), Puz/zle and Les Médusés, and as co-founder of Cherkaoui’s company, Eastman. She lives in Paris.

Ruby Cowling (https://rubyorruth.wordpress.com/) grew up in Bradford and lives in London. Her short fiction has won awards including The White Review Short Story Prize and the London Short Story Prize, and her publication credits include Lighthouse, The Lonely Crowd, Wasafiri online, the Galley Beggar Press Singles Club, and numerous print anthologies. Her collection This Paradise (Boiler House Press) was longlisted for the 2020 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction.

Visual Verse is a free, shared space for writers across the world collaborating in art and words. We believe that curating art and writing is an ongoing statement of who we are. We are committed to the work that making genuine, lasting equality for Black lives asks of all of us, not only as allies but as active accomplices (with thanks to The White Pube for this term).

And now dear writers, we hope you are inspired. Give yourself an hour, and 50-500 words. Make work, share it with us by 15 July.

Now, more than ever, the image is the starting point, the rest is up to you.

Kristen, Preti, Lucie and Luke

Connect with us
@visual_verse (https://twitter.com/visual_verse?lang=en)
@kadijattug (https://twitter.com/kadijattug) / @sablelitmag (https://twitter.com/sablelitmag)
@maamebluewrites (https://twitter.com/maamebluewrites) / @JacarandaBooks (https://twitter.com/JacarandaBooks)
@rubycowling (https://twitter.com/rubycowling) / @bhousepress (https://twitter.com/bhousepress)

Resources
Justice for Grenfell (https://justice4grenfell.org/)

The Grenfell Inquiry and racism Khadija Saye IntoArts Programme (https://intouniversity.org/content/khadija-saye-intoarts-programme)

The White Pube: art statements on Black Lives Matter (https://www.thewhitepube.co.uk/blm)

Black Lives Matter USA (https://blacklivesmatter.com/ )

Black Lives Matter in arts, academia, culture, research, education (UK) (https://beinghumanfestival.org/blm-resources-for-the-humanities/)

Donations and fundraisers

Justice for Sheku Bayoh (https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/justiceforsheku/?utm_source=backer_social&utm_campaign=justiceforsheku&utm_reference=339c027a16d4d9fa1d367a92c36f3228&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_content=post_pledge_page_flat_v1&fbclid=IwAR2hfGzu5RcTD1dnOlTFfBa_EbGAL-9VY5-PHQd65PlMwFJ_BEnBtfGb5oA) : Five years after Sheku Bayoh’s death at the hands of Scottish police, not one officer has been disciplined let alone charged with his murder. This campaign is raising funds to support legal costs for Sheku’s family as they continue to fight for justice.

United Families and Friends Campaign (UFFC) (https://uffcampaign.org) : All funds donated here go towards all family campaigns for those families who are members of UFFC, which is open to all family and friends whose loved ones have been violated and died at the hands of the state.

Injustice – UV (https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/injustice—uv-1) : Injustice was named “The most important British documentary of my professional lifetime” by Peter Bradshaw, Guardian Film Critic. Director, Ken Fero was one of the founders of UFFC. This is a crowdfunder for the second Injustice film, it follows the struggles for justice of families in the UK whose loved ones have been killed by the police.
Start Timer (https://vclock.com/timer/#countdown=01:00:00&enabled=0&seconds=3600&title=Visual+Verse%3A+One+image.+One+Hour.+50-500+Words.+)
Submit (https://visualverse.org/submit/)

** #DailyVisual
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Don’t forget you can join us every day on Instagram for a 15-minute, 5-50 word writing challenge.
Visit Visual Verse Anthology on Instagram now… (https://www.instagram.com/visualverseanthology/)

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Volume 05, Chapter 04 | February 2018

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Image by Daniel Frost

Dear writers, readers and friends,

Here ye: we are shakin’ things up and making some changes to how we accept and publish submissions. These changes are intended to improve the process for you, our beloved writers, and help us to manage the growth of Visual Verse (something that continues to amaze us).
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New Submission Guidelines:

Henceforth we will release a new image on the 1st of each calendar month (as we do now) and accept submissions up until the 15th of the month. We will publish up to 100 submissions over the course of the month, no more. The other rules remain the same: 50-500 words, written within an hour, in response to the image. The writing must be new and original. Read more about our publishing policy (https://visualverse.org/about-visual-verse/) on the website.

We are excited to see how these changes pan out over the coming months. Both the deadline and the cap on submissions mean that we can focus on publishing the best of what comes in and ensure that these pieces are showcased on the site while the issue is still live. Please let us know if you have any feedback, either now or in the future when the new rules are underway. Email us at visualverse@thecurvedhouse.com (mailto:mailto: visualverse@thecurvedhouse.com) anytime.
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And now, without further ado, we present this wonderful, whimsical painting by Daniel Frost, an artist and illustrator whose work we have admired for so many years. Do your eyes a favour and follow his Instagram: @danielfrostillustration (https://www.instagram.com/danielfrostillustration) .

Our lead response comes from Megan Hunter, a hugely talented writer who is fast building an impressive body of work. Megan was born in Manchester in 1984, and studied English Literature at Sussex and Cambridge. Her poetry has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and she was a finalist for the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award. Her first book, The End We Start From, was published in 2017 in the UK, US, and Canada, and has been translated into seven languages. It was shortlisted for Novel of the Year at the 2017 Books Are My Bag Readers Awards and is longlisted for the Aspen Words Prize.

Megan has a long-standing relationship with Visual Verse. She says:

I started writing pieces for Visual Verse a few years ago, before I’d had anything published. I was working in an office and the visual prompts were an ideal creative stimulus during my lunch hour! I found the process of responding to an image, particularly within a one hour time frame, gave a freedom to my work that was so important when figuring out what I wanted to write, and is still so useful now. I think Visual Verse was probably the first time I’d ever seen my name ‘in print’ online, and it’s a real honour to now be writing the lead piece.

We’re pretty chuffed about that.

On page 2 we feature Maisie Chan, a published writer from Birmingham who now lives in Glasgow. She was recently commissioned to write stories for the Human Values Foundation and has also been published in the Penguin decibel Anthology The Map of Me. Maisie won the BBC Writersroom Competition BBC Bites and was a finalist in the 2015 Creative Futures Literary Awards. During 2016-2017, she was chosen for the Megaphone – an Arts Council/Publisher’s Association project to mentor and develop BAME writers writing their first novel for children or teens. Maisie has taught creative writing to children and adults and was an Arvon tutor in 2009. She is working on her first novel for teens about a fifteen-year-old British Chinese girl whose grandfather has early-onset Alzheimers.

Our next writer, Melissa Fu, grew up in Northern New Mexico and currently lives in Cambridgeshire, UK. Her work appears in many journals including The Lonely Crowd, International Literature Showcase, Skin Deep, and The Nottingham Review. In 2017, she was the regional winner of Words and Women’s Prose Competition and one of four Apprentices with the London-based Word Factory.

And on page 4 we have Yen Ooi, one of our favourite publishing people and a regular Visual Verse contributor. Dirty diapers, science fiction, and CreateThinkDo (http://createthinkdo.com/) is about all Yen has time for nowadays, but she did manage to pen this little piece and connect our February issue to another dimension…
There it is, writers. Submit before 15th February and as always, enjoy the challenge. The image is the starting point, the text is up to you.

Kristen, Preti and Lucie

Find us on Twitter

@visual_verse (https://twitter.com/@visual_verse)
@meganfnhunter (https://twitter.com/meganfnhunter)
@MaisieWrites (https://twitter.com/@MaisieWrites)
@WritingCircles (https://twitter.com/WritingCircles)
@yenooi (https://twitter.com/@yenooi)

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Volume 03, Chapter 05 | March 2016

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Image by Zata Banks
Guest Editor: Eley Williams

Dear writers, readers and friends,_x005F
After an exceptional month in February, with over 160 submissions published, we have pushed the Visual Verse format to new limits and present to you our first piece of concrete poetry (https://visualverse.org/submissions/anosmia/) , by Zata Banks. What a thing of beauty it is, sitting alongside this strange, furry image by Alejandro Carol.

Banks’ piece seems to mirror the contradiction within this image – that it is both starkly obvious and full of mystery all at once. What exactly is this creature? Why are we so close to it? Is it real or fake? Is it wild or tame? Help us to understand what we are seeing, dear writers. _x005F
And, as we have pushed our own limits, we challenge you to push yours too. We challenge you to write something outside of your comfort zone or choose a style you haven’t tried before. Our lead writers this month have set the bar high with innovative writing and we are thrilled to feature them.

Zata Banks (https://twitter.com/zoltarmaga) ‘ writing has been published in numerous anthologies, magazines and featured on BBC Radio 4, while her creative work has been used for courses at institutions including The Royal College of Art, the Poetry School, and the National Film and Television School. In addition, she is the founder of PoetryFilm (http://poetryfilm.org/) , a practice-based project that aims to celebrate experimental text/image/sound-screening, and explores semiotics and meaning-making within the art form.

Kate Potts (http://www.katepotts.net/) ‘ debut pamphlet Whichever Music (tall-lighthouse, 2008) was a Poetry Book Society Choice and was shortlisted for a Michael Marks Award. She received an Arts Council award towards her first collection Pure Hustle (Bloodaxe, 2011). Kate currently teaches for Oxford University and Royal Holloway, and is completing a PhD on the poetic radio play.

Annabel Banks (http://www.annabelbanks.com/) ’ work is published in numerous journals, magazines and anthologies including The Manchester Review, Litro, 3:AM and International Times, is forthcoming in Under the Radar, and is included in Eyewear’s Best New British and Irish Poets 2016. Recently she received three nominations for the 2016 Pushcart Prize (two for fiction and one for poetry), plus nominations for the Queen’s Ferry Press Best Short Fictions 2016, Blazvox’s 2016 Bettering American Poetry and the 2016 Derringer Awards. She is also on Twitter, @annabelwrites.

Nick Murray is a live literature producer, writer, musician and founder of Annexe Press, based in London. As a writer, Nick’s work has appeared in publications such as Lives Beyond Us (Sidekick Books), The Bohemyth and Belleville Park Pages. He is on Twitter, @terratrouve.

This is perhaps the most challenging image to date, in our opinion, so let’s see what you make of it.

Awaiting your words at www.visualverse.org/submit.

Preti, Kristen and Eley

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