John Simmons

Regular followers of 26 will know all about the 2005 Circle Line project that culminated in a brilliant exhibition and the book From Here To Here: Stories Inspired By London’s Circle Line. The project was nominated for a prestigious Arts Council award and, in its wake, London Underground’s Platform for Art appointed John Simmons to become writer-in-residence at King’s Cross. A year on, John tells us what was involved...

The tube has always been part of my life. Born in London (King’s Cross), growing up here, living and working here; you can’t really be part of London if you don’t use the tube. It’s been a bit like my library at times because I’ve read so many books while travelling on the tube. I’ve even written a chapter of a book (The Invisible Grail) while travelling on the tube. So in my mind there has always been a strong connection between the tube and writing.

This project was unusual, though. Writer-in-residence. This had to be taken seriously and I felt I owed something to London Underground and its staff. The staff, taken for granted for much of the time, do a great job, particularly when it comes to emergencies. Unfortunately King’s Cross has had more than its fair share of emergencies down the years: fires, accidents, bombings.

I worked with the staff for a year, making myself available to help them with their writing – whatever kind of writing interested them. Sometimes it was a case of helping them to write a better application form. But, increasingly, with twenty or more joining in, they began producing poems, stories, fragments of novels. A lot of it very good, produced by station supervisors, platform assistants and ticket office staff.

London Underground decided to collect some of these pieces, put them with some writing I produced about King’s Cross and publish them in a book. That book (for internal audiences) was launched in mid-April but won’t be generally available. But I’ve got two copies available for 26 members who might like one – just email me at johnsimmons@blueyonder.co.uk, first come, first served.

It’s Spring and a writer’s fancy turns to getting out of that darkened garret where you’ve been locked away through the winter. We’ve had some lovely Spring weather to encourage thoughts of days, weekends or even weeks away, so here’s a suggestion. Take some time away with your Common Ground book in hand, and see the places written about by our 26 writers.

For example…

Starting off gently, Milton’s Cottage in Chalfont St Giles is now open again after its winter break. It’s an atmospheric place in a beautiful village on the edge of London. Perfect for a day trip, having read John Simmons’ Lost and Found chapter before you go.

The Metropolitan line will get you most of the way there. Rishi Dastidar’s chapter will keep you amused on the way.

Or, becoming more adventurous, take a trip to Dorset not just to see Hardy’s country with Sarah Burnett but find out about Mary Butts with Molly Mackey. Or into the wilds of Sussex with Tim Rich and Hilaire Belloc, dropping in for tea at Virginia Woolf’s house with Elise Valmorbida. Perhaps a leisurely trip around Alan Garner’s Cheshire with John Mitchinson?

By now you’re getting much more confident as a traveller and reader. So try Dylan Thomas with Niall Griffiths in Laugharne or Hugh Miller with Ali Smith on the Black Isle.

Then if you’re really feeling brave and in need of a drink, you can drop in on Van Morrison’s Belfast with Stephen Brown or raise a glass to Paul Abbott in Burnley with Rob Williams.

Go explore. There’s a lot of Common Ground to share.

John Simmons

Are you sitting comfortably? John Simmons reports on the progress of the 26 children’s book project.

We had a big gathering at the London College of Communications at the beginning of December. A large gaggle of 26ers descended on the college at the Elephant & Castle to mix metaphors and kick off the children’s book project.

It’s too early yet to say anything sensible about the project but that rarely holds us back. What can we say? It was a lively meeting where the main objective was to pair each of more than 40 writers from 26 with more than 40 student illustrators from the LCC. Special awards for commitment should go to long-distance travellers from all around the country – well, at least Bristol, Harrogate and Edinburgh. Having made that commitment, and having been paired with an illustrator, the wonders of electronic communication can kick in. The pairs were last seen swapping ideas and email addresses. And from each partnership a developed idea for a children’s book will emerge.

The first stopping point along the way will be a meeting at the Elephant on 24 January. Top people from Faber & Faber will then give advice on the ideas that are presented. Is there a brilliant illustrated children’s book just waiting to burst out of this collaboration? Could there be 40? Who knows? We’ll find out next year.

For the last six months, 26 members of 26 have been brushing up their Shakespeare with some help from our project partners, Shakespeare’s Globe. Each writer has been paired with a Shakespeare play and with one of the 26 members of Shakespeare’s original acting company. With these materials, that amount to hardly anything as well as the riches of the world, our intrepid writers have been doing what we all do. Worrying about a blank page and how to fill it with thoughts – the thoughts in this case about Shakespeare’s continuing relevance to modern life.

Now it’s all coming together. 26 chapters have been written. We have Alastair Creamer on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bryan Millar on Troilus & Cressida, Emma Lawson on Much Ado about Nothing. And lots more. John Simmons, Jim Davies and Rob Williams are editing the book, The Bard & Co, which will be published by Cyan next summer. We’ll let you know how it progresses, but we’re sure it’s going to be a book you must read.

And if any of you out there have any ideas or contacts that could help us in the marketing of the book – famous actors, directors, business people with a passion for Shakespeare – we’d love to hear. We think this book deserves to make a big splash.

John Simmons

I went to Gallery 27 in Cork Street, London, on the evening of 14th November. Over a hundred people were crammed in to celebrate Gary McKeone's time at the Arts Council as Director of Literature. The Arts Council, in its latest round of managerialism and restructuring, has decided that Gary and other colleagues are no longer essential to the promotion of literature in England & Wales. All those there in Gallery 27 disagreed, but the decision is made.

The tone of regret, defiance and celebration was led by Andrew Motion, the poet laureate, who spoke of Gary's role in supporting literary projects, authors and small publishers over the last 13 years. Gary McKeone then gave a speech that was considered, impassioned and very funny. It began: "This morning I heard Gordon Brown say on the radio that we now have a full-employment economy. I've written to him.”

Literature in this country will be weaker without Gary and a strong Arts Council literature department to champion it. 26 is grateful to Gary for his support of ‘Common Ground’ in particular, as well as other 26 projects in spirit. But we hope that the connection will continue, in whatever new role Gary takes on, and that 26 will benefit from his wit and wisdom. We are delighted that Gary McKeone has accepted honorary membership of 26.

Forget giving up smoking, eating more fibre or doing 20-minutes of pilates every day. We asked 26 board members to reveal their words-based resolutions for the year ahead.

Ben Afia
To go running once the mid afternoon lull sets in. The idea is to come back to the text with renewed vigour. It’s not happened yet though.

Simon Caulkin
To learn Spanish — George Steiner once said that language was like vision: one gives you sight but two gives perspective.

Jim Davies
To get back into reading Shakespeare. Living in Warwickshire, I’m lucky enough to catch some of the old boy’s best at the RSC. Though I haven’t really studied his texts since I left college, I’m still amazed how he continues to influence the language, and how relevant his work is today.

Stuart Delves
To eat more caviar. Drink more champagne.

Jamie Jauncey
To stop saying ‘yes’ to everything, and to write at least one poem a month.

Martin Lee
I very rashly resolved to write at least 20,000 words of a novel, and astonishingly, I’ve already managed 5,000. I’ve also decided to banish the word ‘suddenly’ from my personal lexicon. I overuse it to a ridiculous degree, and I reckon my writing would improve if I went one further and killed off all adverbs. Instantly.

Tom Lynham
Encourage clients to be braver. The jobs where they take a big risk retain their edge years later. Seven years ago I worked on a verbal identity for a City of London law firm that was radical departure for the sector. Even through the firm has trebled in size, their corporate brochure is reprinted every year without a single word being changed.

Margaret Oscar
To write more myself. That may sound ridiculous, but I spend an awful lot of my time talking to people about their writing, or showing them how they can do it better, or even editing people’s work. But I haven’t actually done much of it myself.

Tim Rich
1. To do more research into what readers remember once they’ve stopped reading.
2. To use the word ‘sesquipedalian’ at least once a month.
3. To write fewer lists.

John Simmons
To write more poetry. I’ve been getting back into poetry in recent years because I’m convinced it makes you a better writer of prose – makes you think about every word, meaning and sound.

By Chris Solb

Imagination. Inspiration. Telling human stories. Having conversations. Getting started. Getting stuck. Writing when you’re drunk. Sounding natural. Finding your own voice.

As writers, we worry about this stuff from time to time. And if we’re selling our words for cash, does this make a highly personal process even tougher? Or can commerce – and the deadlines that go with it – help catalyse creativity in the face of writer’s block?

An avalanche of glowing feedback confirmed the success of our enormously stimulating regional event in Nottingham, city of the famously re-branded wonky “N” and home to one of the UK’s largest creative communities. Sponsored by 26 and the Digital Arts Forum under the Creative Collaborations umbrella, “Your Writing Sucks” encouraged an audience of more than 50 writers, designers, marketers and students to find their own voice and turn it into something tangible.

Starting from the premise that “words are underestimated in business life”, co-chair Ben Afia introduced a panel of eight top-notch writers and consultants, from playwrights and games geeks to brand consultants and bloggers.

The afternoon’s workshop session was led by writer/performer Tim Crouch, a consultant to Unilever’s pioneering Catalyst project. With a ‘do anything you want’ brief from senior management, Catalyst invites a wide range of artists such as creative writers and circus performers, to bring fresh thinking and new modes of expression to communications in the corporate world.

“The more we restrict our creative muscles the more we feel them work,” urged Tim as the audience was whipped through a dizzying series of quick-fire writing exercises. Shaping words with one hand tied behind your back can be a strangely energising experience… and a liberating one too.

One corporate comms person was so inspired by the day that she’s already resolved to slip the corporate handcuffs and start writing for herself. Things wrapped with shouts of “more”. How often do you hear that at a conference?

"The Grinning Years" by Lindsay Camp and Roger Williams

This is a little book of poems by two writers (one of them a 26 member) who have been friends since they met as Eng Lit students in the 1970s.

What are the poems about? In a word, you.

That’s to say, if you have any of the following – kids, a mortgage, not enough hours in the day, a partner who sometimes seems not to understand you at all, and the occasional nagging sense that there must surely-to-god be more to life than this – then you're certain to find something in ‘The Grinning Years’ that will strike a chord.

And even if you don’t, the £5 it costs you will go to a very good cause indeed, Amnesty International.

You can read a few sample poems before buying a copy online at www.thegrinningyears.co.uk

Last month John Simmons was invited to Stockholm to give two lectures to the Berghs School of Communication, Sweden’s leading college for the creative industries. The School’s head, William Easton, had seen ‘26 Letters’ at the British Library last autumn – and he thought it would translate perfectly into Swedish. And so it does, with the addition of letters specific to the Swedish alphabet to make ‘28 Letters’.

John’s lecture explained how it had all come about – the works and the thinking behind them. For those of you who weren’t in 26 at the time, it’s worth getting the book ‘26 Letters’ (Cyan Books, £14.99 – p&p free from sales@cyanbooks.com).

So 28 creative pairs of writers and designers from the Berghs School were briefed. When the posters are produced they’ll start appearing (thanks to sponsorship by JC Decaux) in sites such as bus shelters around Stockholm. If you happen to be there early next year, look out for them. And send us a picture.