Volume 07, Chapter 10 | August 2020

Posted on by

Image by Andi Sapey and Other.Dance.Art

Home

Dear writers, readers and friends,

Welcome to the high holiday month of August, when we lighten your mood and invite you to transform with us into beings that might, if we wish hard enough, grow out of our human limitations and fly.

Today’s image is one of freedom within confinement. It is a collaboration between British photographer Andi Sapey (https://www.andisapey.co.uk/gallery/) and Other.Dance.Art, in which two dance artists explore the restriction of space and time during lockdown. In response to this wonderful image we have some very special lead writers…

On page one, we bring you Otis Mensah (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKKXT6kV3PhtKhsuqThWsH1nq7lsONrcd&feature=share) , an alternative hip-hop and spoken word artist, and Poet Laureate of Sheffield, UK. He has described his work as a means of challenging dominant models of masculinity, which he believes suppress the discussion of emotions, with negative consequences for mental health. As a hip-hop artist, Mensah has performed at the BBC Music Introducing Stage at Glastonbury Festival and his new book of poems, Safe Metamorphosis (https://prototypepublishing.co.uk/product/safe-metamorphosis/) is out now from Prototype Publishing. Follow Otis on Twitter (https://mobile.twitter.com/otismensah) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/otismensah/) .

On page two, please welcome Maria Fusco (http://mariafusco.net) , a Belfast-born, Glasgow-based writer and Professor of Interdisciplinary Writing at the University of Dundee. She writes fiction, critical and theoretical texts and is published internationally and translated into ten languages. She has won a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship (2019) and a Jerwood Creative Catalyst, and is a Hawthornden Fellow. She has also been an invited Writer-in-Residence at Lisbon Architecture Triennale, Kadist Art Foundation, Paris and Whitechapel Gallery, London. Her most recent work is: ECZEMA! (2018-19).

Our page three is reserved this month for one of independent publishing’s most versatile voices: Heidi James (https://twitter.com/heidipearljames) . She is the author of So the Doves, Wounding and The Mesmerist’s Daughter. Her new novel, The Sound Mirror (https://bluemoosebooks.com/books/sound-mirror-0) , is published by Bluemoose Books this very month of August. Be sure to check it out.

And finally, be inspired with Arji Manuelpillai (http://www.arji.org ) , a poet, performer and creative facilitator based in London. For over 15 years Arji has worked with community arts projects nationally and internationally. He was named the Jerwood/Arvon mentee for 2019/20. Recently, his poetry has been published by magazines including Ink Sweat and Tears, Strix, The Rialto and The Lighthouse Journal. He has also been shortlisted for the BAME Burning Eye pamphlet prize, The Robert Graves Prize, The Oxford Prize and The Live Canon Prize. Arji is a member of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen and London Stanza. Arji’s debut pamphlet Mutton Rolls (http://www.outspokenldn.com/shop/muttonrolls) is published with Out-Spoken Press.

So dear writers, as the summer of 2020 reaches is wide and wild sky, we hope you’ll write and read with us, tweet with us, and stretch your writing arms with us. Remember, the image is the starting point the rest is up to you…

Preti, Kristen, Lucie and Luke

Tweet Us!
@visual_verse (https://twitter.com/visual_verse?lang=en)
@otismensah (https://mobile.twitter.com/otismensah)
@fuscowriting (https://twitter.com/fuscowriting)
@heidipearljames (https://twitter.com/heidipearljames)
@theleano (https://twitter.com/theleano)
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
————————————————————
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/)

Home


mailto:visualverse@thecurvedhouse.com
https://www.facebook.com/visualverseanthology

Volume 07, Chapter 06 | April 2020

Posted on by

Image by Henry & Co.

Home

Dear writers, readers and friends,

What’s on your mind? Isolation doesn’t have to mean loneliness, as every writer knows. But in these world-strange times, writing takes on even more meaning – and maybe also less. Meanwhile, we try to go on. We have been here for nearly seven years, feeding your inspiration, encouraging your wordy risk-taking, bringing you a community of writers around the world all responding to the same image. So, to keep us all together over the next few weeks and months, our curator Kristen has started a #dailyvisual (https://www.instagram.com/visualverseanthology/?hl=en) challenge over on Instagram. Follow us at @visualverseanthology (https://www.instagram.com/visualverseanthology/?hl=en) to get a new image every morning. Your challenge there is to respond in the comments with 5-50 words written in 15 minutes. A little morning yoga for the brain.

Now, to this month’s prompt. Something uplifting from Henry & Co. who are masters of abstract urban photography.

As always we are shining a spotlight on some of the most extraordinary new voices, small presses and just published books we can find. We are very happy this month to focus on three writers recently published by the newly established Prototype Publishing (https://prototypepublishing.co.uk/) .

We start with Jen Calleja (https://twitter.com/niewview) , a writer and literary translator based in London. Her debut collection of short fiction, I’m Afraid That’s All We’ve Got Time For, is fresh off the Prototype press. She has published two poetry collections, Serious Justice (Test Centre, 2016) and Hamburger in the Archive (if a leaf falls, 2019). Her latest translation, The Pine Islands by Marion Poschmann, was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize 2019.

Our page two is Caleb Klaces, a Birmingham-born author of the poetry collection Bottled Air (Eyewear, 2013), the chapbook All Safe All Well (Flarestack Poets, 2011) and, most recently, Fatherhood (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/11/fatherhood-caleb-klaces-review) , a novel (Prototype, 2019).

Astrid Alben (http://www.astridalben.com) is a poet, editor and translator. She is the author of Ai! Ai! Pianissimo (Arc Publications, 2011) and Plainspeak (https://prototypepublishing.co.uk/product/plainspeak/) (Prototype Publishing, 2019). Her poems, essays and reviews are featured in a wide range of publications, including in the Times Literary Supplement (https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/eighteen-seconds-to-impact/) , Poetry Review, Partisan Hotel and BBC Radio 4 Four-Thought (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08fgwyn) . Alben is the editor of three art/science anthologies published by Lars Müller Publications and was awarded a Wellcome Trust Fellowship in 2014 for her work across the arts and sciences with PARS (http://www.parsfoundation.com) .

So, without further ado, it’s over to you. Stay safe, stay home, keep writing.

The image is the starting point, the text is up to you…
Preti, Kristen, Lucie and Luke

Connect with us
@visual_verse (https://twitter.com/visual_verse?lang=en)
@prototypepubs @niewview (https://twitter.com/prototypepubs)
@AstridAlben (https://twitter.com/AstridAlben)

Find out more about Prototype Publishing (https://prototypepublishing.co.uk/) and their amazing list.
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/)

Home


mailto:visualverse@thecurvedhouse.com
https://www.facebook.com/visualverseanthology