This week I spent a lovely evening as a guest of She Voices – a group of women writers based in Richmond, in London.
We gathered at the Tea Box for an evening of music and words with an added layer of cake, tea (and wine) and fellowship.
I was struck by how important evenings like this really are.
Being a writer – of books or poetry or music – means spending a lot of time alone with your thoughts and your words and your stories.
And it can be a pretty thankless task –when the muse has taken a day off, and the blank page or computer screen haunts you.
That’s where this sort of grass roots group is invaluable. It’s a place to share knowledge. To share a journey. To share the disappointments and the joys of any sort of creative endeavour.
It’s a place to hear those magic words – I really enjoyed your book. Or song. Or Poem. Because those words mean everything.
The storytelling tradition has been with us as long as language has been with us. It changes over time – but is still an important part of our culture. In a world where too rapid change can sometimes make it hard to know just where the creative journey is leading, it’s great to know there are people around to offer a helping hand or a cup of tea – or share the Champagne and cake.
So, thank you She Voices for inviting me along. Thank you to the group members who read from their work – especially the poets. I write really bad poetry – or rather, I don’t write poetry because its really bad, but I love hearing others who are keeping that art alive. And thank you Scarlet Kite for sharing your music.
I’ve also been out and about in the blogosphere this week – I’m over at the Take Five Authors Blog – talking about one of my favourite subjects…
Here’s a clue…
