Words about Words - April 2021
Hello all,
Welcome to April’s edition of ‘Words about Words’, featuring - as always - things I’ve found interesting, entertaining or useful over the past month, and a bit of my own work.
+++
Interesting, entertaining, or useful
+
Freshwater
In 2010 (on my wedding day, coincidentally), the first of the ‘Freshwater Five’ were arrested. They were subsequently found guilty of smuggling a shitload of cocaine and sentenced to a combined 104 years in prison. However, some people believe the wrong men have been convicted.
This podcast from The Guardian’s ‘Today in Focus’ team explores whether there is a possibility that the Freshwater Five are innocent. It’s well worth a listen (and I’m not just saying that because it takes place on the Isle of Wight, where I grew up)… LINK
+
The art of Fiction 119: Maya Angelou
From The Paris Review’s archives comes George Plimpton’s 1990 interview with Maya Angelou. It’s a fascinating insight for the Angelou fan, and offers detail on her writing practice that will be of interest to writers… LINK
+
Why you should (probably) delete your first paragraph
This article by Ross McCammon talks about something I learned a while back when writing fundraising applications. The first paragraph is often unnecessary, introductory waffle, but the second is where you introduce the exciting concept or project you want to promote. Scrap the first paragraph (or move down), and bump up the second one to get the reader’s attention from the start… LINK
+
'This was our music and our conscience’
I went through a big French hip-hop phase when I was younger: MC Solaar and Saian Supa Crew, in particular. This was reinforced by watching the film, La Haine.
But, it was always foreign to me. I can barely claim it offered an insight into a different culture (as with English-language hip-hop from other countries) as I don’t understand enough French to know what they were rapping about. Instead, it was about the melody and rhythm of the lyrics, rather than the content.
Now, 20 years later, I’ve got a bit more understanding of the content thanks to Jesse McCarthy’s article… LINK
+
We don’t live in the shadows
I love running. And I like poetry. I can’t yet say I love poetry, because I struggle to write it.
There’s a few running poets (Charlie Dark and Knox Robinson are probably the most prominent, but Southampton’s Matt West (of Artful Scribe) is an example local to me), which doesn’t surprise me: Running offers time to see, experience and think about the world. This seems useful for a poet.
Running brand, Tracksmith, have a pretty good newsletter, and recently shone a light on Mexican poet and runner, Alejandro Jimenez. Even if you’re neither a poet or a runner, it’s still a great profile of an interesting guy… LINK
+
What happens to our writing when we lose our sense of place?
Sometimes, you’ve got to leave somewhere to see it properly. This is explored by Isobel Wohl for Lithub… LINK
+
Fullstopnewparagraph
This might be the best website advertising copywriting services that I’ve ever seen. Definitely one of those ‘I wish I’d thought of that’ websites… LINK
+++
My work
+
Mile 1, Mile 2…
I’ve been doing a lot of charity fundraising work recently, so don’t have much work out in the public domain that I can share with you - except for a cartoon I drew for Lonely Goat. Head to their Instagram account to see it… LINK
+
Managing and prioritising your workload
Next Thursday, 6 May, I’ll be talking about managing my workload for the Institute of Fundraising Central South Regional Group’s ‘First Thursday’ virtual networking series. I’m cohosting the event with Suzie Simmons from Naomi House & jacksplace, but it is very much intended as a conversation where we can all learn from each other’s experiences… LINK
+++
Thanks for reading
+
That’s it for this month’s edition of ‘Words about Words’. Keep an eye out for May’s edition, arriving in subscribers’ inboxes on the last Thursday of the month, and published on my website the following day.
Until next time,
Jonathan
x