Anyone, Anyone...

So, as part of my MA, there is a substantial amount of work covering the Teaching of Creative Writing, as well as the Writing element.

And tomorrow marks my first major development on that front, as I'm going into a local school to be the 'visiting writer' for their Creative Writing club.

I've had some excellent and inspirational visiting writers recently: Tessa Hadley, Clare Potter, James Smythe and Gwyneth Lewis (the first Welsh Poet Laureate, no less).
Each writer generally sets tasks appropriate to their field of interest, or experience, and  helps us to write more efficiently, more effectively, by sharing tips and techniques.

So I've got a lot to live up to tomorrow. I'll be doing my best to give the kids at the school the sum total of my knowledge, and, once it's done, there's the small matter of teaching a 3rd year undergraduate class in a fortnights time. And a 6000 word portfolio. And an essay on Teaching Creative Writing...

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Oh yeah, I had a VERY short story pop-up on LIT BOMB - a new online lit journally thing with a very good name. The story has an equally good name, suggested by my ace tutor at the OU: it is called Alexander and Burgurs and Xavier and it is safe to say I will not be reading this out tomorrow.

Dear Ralph.

@jamiewoods77 well I hope you're going to join me in Britpop Friday. Starting with Elastica and we'll see where it goes from there!
— djnrrd (@djnrrd) January 25, 2013

Dear Ralph...

ALRIGHT?

I hoped I'd WAKE UP to a BEAUTIFUL DAY but alas, WHY DOES IT ALWAYS RAIN ON ME? My wife is the opposite: 'I'M ONLY HAPPY WHEN IT RAINS', SHE SAID, but then, she's a STUPID GIRL.

Anyway, I'm not a DAYDREAMER and if I want to do GREAT THINGS I can't SIT DOWN with an OK COMPUTER and be TIED TO THE 90s. Like most GIRLS AND BOYS I'd like to be a FILMSTAR or a ROCK'n'ROLL STAR, but that idea is just TRASH, and there is no need for a SLIGHT RETURN to those BLUE SKIES ideas.

Since having BABIES I'm out of touch with the COMMON PEOPLE, there's no CONNECTION anymore and I don't even bother searching out SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND: I'm no longer SORTED FOR Es AND WHIZZ, or CIGARETTES AND ALCOHOL. I certainly can't COME OUT 2NITE, so don't stay ON STANDBY.

Instead I SLEEP, IN A ROOM, in a KINGSIZE bed or if needs be, in a WIDE OPEN SPACE or THE BENCH AT BELVIDERE. It's a FINETIME, a BITTER SWEET SYMPHONY. Is that GOOD ENOUGH? It's certainly not GETTING BETTER. SHE LEFT ME ON A FRIDAY...

 Anyway, WHAT DO I DO NOW?

 Jamie x

The Only Living Boy in New Cross

I miss London, a lot. But then I see what I have here and I'm happier than I think would be possible there.

But in a heap of Yuletide nostalgia I wrote a short story, creative non-fiction, life writing, based on actual events. It's about a night club in New Cross called The Venue, which is where myself and my friends used to go every weekend when we were at school.

It's been published by the (now) online Smoke magazine - a self-styled London Peculiar, words and images inspired by the city. It'll be in a book, they say, one day. That'll be cool.

Here's their rather lovely introduction...

"Belated New Year greetings to all. 

And first up in 2013 is another piece from our Night Bus To Camden project, as Jamie Woods recalls being sixteen at the New Cross Venue back in the days when it used to put on real bands rather than Coldplace, the Antarctic Monkeys and Maybe Gaga (“the UK’s No. 1 Lady Gaga tribute band”), when no one used to check IDs, and when ladies had to pay more than £1 admission on Fridays before midnight. 

This might also be your only chance to read a piece of literature that takes its title from a Carter USM song – or at least until Hilary Mantel publishes the third part of her Wolf Hall trilogy and reveals that Thomas Cromwell’s nickname for Henry VIII was Sheriff Fatman."

click here to read 'The Comfort and the Joy of Feeling Lost' by Jamie Woods

Janathon Fail

I couldn't do it.
I had a bad back on Monday and couldn't do anything. Today I had about 3 hours sleep and 10 hours out of the house at work. I'm now wrestling a little girl who WON'T GO TO SLEEP.
I've still been running a couple of times this week and walking everyday.
But the essay writing has got in the way of the blogging, and LIFE and BABY and JOB have got in the way of the running.
And when I was running / am running, all I can think about is my essay.
A great start to the year though. I did 5km yesterday in a time I haven't got near to since September. I'm running when I can, but I just can't commit to everyday run and blog.
So I quit. Sorry guys. Sorry Cathy.

I'm still eating fruit everyday though. So hurrah.