William Sutton's Blog, page 9
October 9, 2019
DarkFest19 is here!
“#DarkFest19 Its here! The full line up for #Portsmouth‘s premier festival of the spooky and sinister is out now. Plan your lives carefully for the coming month – you may never be the same again!” Well done, Melanie Bassett, for fantastic presentation of this Portsmouth Darkfest programme.
Find the full programme here: http://supernaturalcities.co.uk/darkfest
and updates on events here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/portsmouthdarkfest/events/
I’ll be hosting writing workshop Typewriter, Treason and Plot (Typewriter Tales #5) at Southsea Coffee on Nov 6.
Dark Songs/Moon Songs @DarkFest will be an auditory delight for alternative songsters on Nov 10 at Square Tower, Old Portsmouth.
I’ll be tootling my accordion at the launch of DARK SIDE PORT SIDE on 21 Oct leaving from St George’s Church, Old Portsmouth.
I’ll play bass for extraordinary songwriter Philip Jeays at Bronte Beat by Project Adorno, Tongues and Grooves 27 Oct.
& I’ll tell an infernal tale at Entry to the Underworld, T’Articulation Events’ Square Tower, Old Portsmouth spectacular.
I’m also looking forward to
– Haunted Hunter Gatherer: A Darkfest Event. 24 Oct
– Dark Tourism: Travel Writing and Filmmaking on the Edge 5 Nov Eldon building (University Of Portsmouth)
– How to Write Gothic Fiction 8 Nov
– Raka / Cursed Tide 9 Nov at Groundlings Drama School
Portsmouth Darkfest #DarkFest19
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September 18, 2019
#Darkfest19
The festival brings together artists, writers, performers, academics, storytellers and musicians to explore ghost stories, urban legends, crime, horror and hidden histories, inspired by the research of Dr Karl Bell and his Supernatural Cities project at the University of Portsmouth.
Writing-related events include:
20 Oct 7pm Entry to the Underworld, The Square Tower, PO1 2JE
T’Articulation and Portsmouth Writers’ Hub bring you this year’s variant of Day of the Dead storytelling.
21 Oct 7pm DARK SIDE PORT SIDE app launch
St George’s Church, Portsea, PO1 3AT Free
Inspired by the darker sordid side of Portsmouth’s maritime history, Dark Side Port Side is a self guided poetry film trail through an imagined 19th century Portsmouth Portsea. 14 trail points have been created by some of the regions finest poets and film-makers who have teamed up to create short film clips inspired by the ‘sailortown ‘histories of sites uncovered by University of Portsmouth. The trail is available using your own mobile cellular device which can be activated on the following app only available on October 21st and throughout the Festival: https://darkside.nautoguide.com/
(funding support from The Arts Council & University of Portsmouth.)
24 Oct 8pm Haunted Hunter Gatherer, 249 Albert Road, PO4 0JR £3
Celebrate the spooky season with us at Haunted Hunter Gatherer with an evening of tall tales told by some of Pompey’s finest storytellers. Expect a Halloween campfire vibe, as we dim the lights and invite you to sit round and hear chilling stories of the macabre at this new event for Darkfest 2019. Guests 16 or older…
27 Oct 7pm Brontë Beat, by Project Adorno
Square Tower, Old Portsmouth, PO1 2JE £7
Performance collage Brontë Beat weaves the facts of the Brontes’ lives with the myths of their fiction. Comprising original songs, ambient sounds, spoken word and film, it explores the multi-faceted world of the Brontës through an electro-pop lens. The piece includes extracts from interviews connected to the family’s literature and landscape.
supported by Acclaimed British singer-songwriter Philip Jeays, influenced by Jacques Brel, compared to Scott Walker, The Divine Comedy and Jake Thackray.
31 Oct 7.30pm SAMHAIN spoken word, 249 Albert Road, PO4 0JR
(Open Mic spots available: arrive from 7pm to book) £4
The Front Room presents ‘Samhain’. Expect performance poetry, spine tingling storytelling and chilling musical arrangements at Portsmouth premier spoken word gathering.
6 Nov 3-5.30pm Typewriter, Treason & Plot (Typewriter Tales #5), Southsea Coffee, 63 Osborne Road, PO5 3LS FREE
FREE creative typewriter session at Southsea Coffee, best coffee in town, delicious snacks. Quills, inks, rubber stamps for messy-fingered artists. All welcome. Readings at 5.
7 Nov 7pm Stoker on Stoker, King Henry Building, PO1 2DY £5
Dacre Stoker’s (author, and great grand-nephew of Bram Stoker) compelling and informative keynote presentation weaves together the details of Dracula’s history with Stoker family lore, and Bram Stoker’s life in Dublin and London. It then separates fact from popular fiction, revealing the truth about all things Stoker and Dracula.
8 Nov 7pm How to Write Gothic Fiction, Eldon Building, PO1 2DJ
Writers Panel, with authors – Anna Mazzola, Victoria Leslie, Catriona Ward and Tracy Fahey.
10 Nov 6.30pm Dark Songs Moon Songs
Alternative routes into the musical unknown with Pompey’s space-aged songsmiths.
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August 27, 2019
Victorian Diagnoses at Sheffield Gothic
Thanks to Sheffield Gothic conference, which adjudged my Victorian Diagnoses song runner-up in its associated creative competition. Their post below or on the link.
Victorian Diagnoses – a song by William George Sutton
‘Victorian Diagnoses’ won second prize at Sheffield Gothic’s creative competition in conjunction with our fifth Reimagining Conference and Creative Showcase: ‘Reimagining the Gothic with a Vengeance, vol. 5: Returns, Revenge, Reckonings’.
An original song by William Sutton, ‘Victorian Diagnoses’ draws on lists of symptoms of those committed to asylums in the later Victorian era. It spans off of William’s research for his third novel Lawless and the House of Electricity (Titan Books, 2017) which explores mental health and proto-neurology, and was also influenced by Asti Hustvedt’s superb Medical Muses.
We hope you like this piece as much as we did!
@SheffieldGothic @TheReimagining
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Thanks, Sheffield Gothic. The song has had a jolly career, marching from the Writing Edward King project, through my House of Electricity launches, and on to events touching on Mental Health.
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July 17, 2019
Portsmouth Writers’ Hub meetings 2018-2020
Our local writers’ group is in the process of seeking funding, with help from Portsmouth Council, University of Portsmouth CCI, Portsmouth Libraries and more. Ideally, we’ll have the means to employ a part-time co-ordinator to continue Tessa Ditner‘s amazing work. We’re still considering venues, and for now our programme continues on a voluntary basis.
I’m hugely grateful to everyone who has contributed to the events over the last year, and those signed up or pencilled in for next year. Especial plaudits to Charlotte Comley, for getting this programme going, to Stella Bahin (Elaine Hamilton) for facilitating our venue at Unite Students’ Chaucer House, to Wendy Metcalfe for furthering our bid, and to Alison Habens for shepherding us forward. This is what we managed over the last year. Let us know what you enjoyed and what you’d like to see next.
Recent events: 2018
Sep 27 Networking event
Oct 25 JS Law, Getting Published. James’ Dani Lewis series is to be made for television
Nov 29 Flash fiction; social
Recent events: 2019
Jan 31 Wendy Metcalfe, Character Deepening. Wendy is a sci-fi writer, and runs Havant & District Writers’ Circle
Feb 28 What is the Hub’s future?
Mar 28 VH Leslie, Coastal Conversations. Victoria, novelist and short story writer, ran the Fabled Coast conference with The Chichester Centre for Fairy Tales, Fantasy and Speculative Fiction
April 25 Tom Sykes, Non-fiction. Tom’s The Realm of the Punisher: Travels in Duterte’s Philippines is an up-to-the-minute account of the disturbing political scene in the Philippines.
May 30 Alison Habens, Hero’s Journey. Alison is a novelist, poet and lecturer in University of Chichester CCI.
Jun 27 Lucy Flannery, Writing a Monologue. Lucy is a playwright and RLF Fellow at Chichester.
Coming Up: 2019
July 25 Helen Salsbury: Pens of the Earth invites writers to celebrate efforts to combat climate change.
Aug — (no meeting)
Sept 26 Social get-together?
Oct 31 Abigail Comley, Poison Chalice, Portsmouth DarkFest
Nov 28 Matt Wingett, collab with WWI Remembrance Centre
Dec Social?
2020 pencilled in:
Amanda Garrie. Amanda is Writer in Residence for Portsmouth Libraries.
Ben Aitken, travel writing. A Chip Shop in Poznań tells the tale of Ben’s latest adventures.
Editing Your Work
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July 16, 2019
Pompey Writes
Star and Crescent’s Pompey Writes: Best of Star & Crescent book launch. A panoply of writing, from the fine to the fantastical.
Did you know we have a theme tune? Well you do now. Here is the wonderful William Sutton at our Pompey Writes book launch singing it for you all.Can't make it tonight but desperately want a copy? Message us to reserve yours but be quick… They are selling fast!#WednesdayMotivation #Portsmouth #BookLaunch #Books #WhatsOn
Posted by Star and Crescent on Wednesday, 3 October 2018
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June 24, 2019
Songs, stories, competitions
I’ve always found it worth entering competitions, even if hopeless, in order to sharpen up my editing and, simply, to finish things. Novels take so long; stories and songs get quick reactions.
I’ve been awarded 3rd prize in the Federation of Writers in Scotland’s 2019 Vernal Equinox Competition Short Story category by judge Olga Wojtas for my entry ‘Guilt Written’. The judge commented: “The protagonist is a writer, not an attractive character, and this keeps up the interest from beginning to end with a judicious use of quotes and Dougie’s own writing.” Friends who read and advised on the story will be glad to hear they also commented “His wife turns out to be cast in the Lady Macbeth mould” – which was your idea, and an easy edit which improved the tale.
My story Affirmations was shortlisted for Scottish Mental Heath Arts Festival’s glamorous writing event, hosted by Ian Rankin. I recorded a version of it to be played on the night, in Glasgow. And it’s now been published in their 70 Stories project:
https://www.mhfestival.com/70stories/554-11-affirmations
I won runner-up in Sheffield Reimagining the Gothic’s Creative Competition for my song Victorian Diagnoses, inspired by the list below (and Asti Hustvedt’s Medical Muses). I’ve performed this song a few times, most notably for the Writing Edward King project. Now I had a jazzy chance to reprise it in Portsmouth Festivities‘ event at Southsea Castle, T’Articulation’s Speakeasy (backed by the wonderful Dave Baker Project).
By the bye, my paper “underground cells: functioning biomes within the innards of the Metropolis” was well received at the Magical Cities conference held by University of Portsmouth’s Supernatural Cities project in the Park Building on 15 June. More about the conference on my website.
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June 19, 2019
A good month for Lawless
It’s been a good six weeks for Lawless. Inclusion alongside Sherlock, Jekyll/Hyde, The Woman in White, Paddington and Harry Potter on a Literary Tube Map was an unsuspected excitement.
In The Book‘s spokesman Tom Matthews told the Evening Standard: “The map aims to give a comprehensive geographical guide to London’s diverse literary history. We’re all familiar with that help colour areas of the city in their own unique way.
“It was created to showcase London’s rich literary history for both locals and tourists. As bookworms ourselves we feel that literature has a unique was of painting places like few other things can.”
I appeared at Bristol’s Crimefest on the panel 1900s: A Century Of Change at the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel, alongside some excellent novelists: Carolyn Kirby, H.B. Lyle, and Cavan Scott, with our participating Moderator Linda Stratmann, the new chair of the CWA (Crime Writers’ Assocation).
Having feared I’d be the fuddy-duddy defending the Victorians, I was pleased to find common ground, especially with the socially incisive commentary of HB Lyle, whose Irregular Spy books sound terrific.
This was a good warm-up for presenting a paper at Supernatural Cities’ Magical Cities conference here at University of Portsmouth: more on that here.
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Supernatural Cities’ Magical Cities
While revisiting my trilogy to apply for a PhD in Creative Writing, it’s been instructive to review my influences and sources of your ideas. Are other writers mixing Chuck Palahniuk beside Emily Bronte, and Walter’s My Secret Life beside The Great Gatsby?
So it was a pleasure, and a challenge, to present a paper at Supernatural Cities’ Magical Cities conference here at University of Portsmouth’s Park Building. I spoke on Underground Cells: gangs and cellular networks in the city.
Topics ranged from magic to extruded cities to flaneuse diaries to stigmata under the railways. A great day, buzzing with ideas and possibilities.
Thanks to Karl Bell, Eilis Phillips and Beatrice Ashton-Lelliot. More on the conference from Stella Bahin here.
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May 6, 2019
Tea & Gateways: Portsmouth Comic Con 2019
Great to see Gosport Steampunk Society tea duelling onstage at Portsmouth Comic Con 2019.
Russell Mark Olson Comics and Illustration in the marquee, winning awards for Gateway City.
And Supernatural Cities‘ stand with Eilís and Karl.
Thanks to fellow T’Articulation Events-ists for joining me for our spoken word slot on Friday evening (shouty-shouty word slot?).
I shall aim to be back next year, with a top hat and a #Lawless book stand. Who’s in?
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Review of an Afternoon with Asbo Derek ft. Philip Jeays
Thanks to STEVE CLEMENTS of Brighton Source for this grand review of our Saturday gig. It was a top afternoon, and the memorable, hummable, shoutable, lovable choruses of Asbo Derek will be resounding round my cranium for weeks. Here’s our friends Asbo Derek singing “Can I Have a Latte?”
And here Asbo Derek sing of Stationery Catalogues. Encore, gents, encore!
An Afternoon with Asbo Derek ft. Philip Jeays Review
MAY 6, 2019
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POSTED BY STEVE CLEMENTS
One of the joys of living in Brighton is the unexpected. You can never predict how your day is going to pan out but you can usually bank on a surprise or two along the way. And so it was that we found ourselves at the beloved Prince Albert on a Saturday afternoon for a compendium of cultural delights hosted by Brighton’s leading queer garage cabaret combo. The event was billed as An Afternoon with Derek ft. Philip Jeays and things were kicked off with a beautifully-crafted and exquisitely-performed spoken word piece by the band’s drummer, birthday boy Brian Blaney. His tale of being grilled by a condescending fellow passenger in a first class carriage as to his right to be there was a triumph.
Asbo Derek have built a loyal following over the last few years and there were many local musicians in attendance. With guitarist Darcy Dench otherwise engaged, The Cravats’ Joe Davin and ATV’s Lee McFadden stood in on keyboards and guitar and did a sterling job for this one-off line-up. They ran through many tracks from their debut album ‘Ulysses’ Twin’ including ‘Stationery Catalogue’, ‘Crimp It’ and ‘Bryan Ferry’s Ball Bag’. Brian Blaney returned to the mic for a graphic rendition of ‘Bukkake’, which needs to be seen to be believed.
Worcester poet Ade Couper brought some order to proceedings with a selection of his socially conscious works that recalled Roger McGough then following another Blaney vignette it was time for the headline act. Philip Jeays should be a household name but shuns the limelight in favour of occasional performances of his self-penned chansons and twisted ballads. Some audience members were friends and fans but those not in the know were soon won over by his mesmerising stage presence. With Bowie and Scott Walker gone, he continues the tradition of the vocalists taking their cue from Jacques Brel, by exposing their own emotions, triumphs and tragedies in dramatic songs. Often sad, sometimes filthy but always honest and totally absorbing. There were many highlights but ‘Geoff’ drew the best response. This was the tale of Jeays’ lifetime envy of a more successful, better looking acquaintance and his attempts to wrestle his possessions and “smiling, beguiling blonde of a wife” away from him, delivered with great passion and panache. This rare appearance was over all too soon.
It’s hoped to make these afternoon shows a semi-regular event so keep an eye out on the Asbo Derek Facebook page for future announcements.
The Prince Albert, Saturday 4th May 2019
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