I think it is the desire of every writer to find a way to make a mark with their creativity; for me it is by setting up the spoken word website listenupnorth.com Last weekend I was very privileged to attend the launch of Shrugging Off the Wind, Tall Tales from Easington Writers, another wonderful collaborative project around a group of 9 talented local writers whose experience within their community has shaped the poetry and short stories within this book.
Driving down the long and predominantly closed High Street of Easington Colliery on the east coast of County Durham, it is easy to see why this is labelled as one of the most economically deprived areas in England. After almost one hundred years of life centred around a coal mine, it’s closure in 1993 with the loss of 1400 jobs still leaves a long shadow across the community.
I park and walk along the street but despite the boarded up buildings I do not get the impression of a broken people, there is spirit in this place. Inside the Easington Social Welfare Centre, it is welcoming and bright, a lot of hard work and pride has gone into the launch: there are cabaret style tables arranged with nibbles and a wonderful display about the group and about Easington and in true North East tradition the bar is open.
I am greeted by project director Wendy Robertson and Avril Joy, writers who have worked with the group in a series of workshops and edited the publication.
Wendy has recorded the introduction to her novel Sandie Shaw and the Millionth Marvell Cooker (headline) for listenupnorth.com which I am also featuring on this blog.
I meet the indomitable Mary Nightingale Bell, Easington Colliery born and bred and a founder member of Easington Writers.
Publisher Gillian Wales is manning the stall with husband Glynn; I purchase a copy of Shrugging Off the Wind, a substantial work for only £3.
There is an excited buzz and a lot of interest not just from officials and sponsors (The National Lottery and Durham County Council) – many local people have turned out for the event.
The hall is filling up and I find a table and peruse the book: I am immediately in a state of euphoria. Like From Segedunum to The Spanish City, another collaborative project, it has that new book smell of good quality paper, and it also draws on talents from various creative fields to ensure that the whole is more than the sum of parts. There are wonderfully clear graphics and presentation and beautiful evocative images which give context to the writing. The front cover is a painting Coastal Path by Fiona Naughton who has also contributed further artwork and photographs for the book along with photographs supplied by Easington Writers member Mavis Farrell.
And now for the presentation, starting with thanks from all the key players in the project and the opportunity to hear each of the nine Easington Writers read out a selection of their work. Each piece is a jewel: genuine, well crafted and uncomplicated (a compliment). To read these poems and shorts stories is to tap into a rich seam which is never far from the surface in this place. For a time I was on the picket line of The Miners’ Strike in 1984 then walking with the ghost of Horden Hall in the 17th century then recalling the memories of a redundant school.
As I came away from Easington, I felt enriched, not only from the experience of drinking in other writers’ imaginations but because for a short while I had been within the bosom of a community which despite its hard times still draws from what’s deep within and looks forward to the future:
Shrugging off the North Sea Wind
We’re made strong hewn from rock
Like the shafts sunk down below
Proud that we’re from mining stock
Terry Dobson, Easington Writers
Shrugging Off the Wind - Tall Tales from Easington Writers (ISBN 978-0-9564823-0-3) is available through WHSmith, Amazon, Easington Post Office or through Agnes Frain, [email protected]
