twentysix

The circle is forming

Work continues on the Circle Line project. The book ‘From Here To Here’ is printed and will be in the shops soon. It was on the presses when the bombers struck London on 7 July. Fortunately we were just able to add a paragraph of dedication, explaining that the book had been written before the bombings. Some of the chapters have an added poignancy in the light of the events. The book itself is a great read, a celebration of London’s diversity through the writing of 31 authors and a photographer who are all members of 26, each responding to different places in London. Our thanks to all who took part. (See the book offer.)

As well as the book, watch out for ‘From Here To Here’ posters appearing on the Circle Line from 8 September onwards. The posters, based on each of the Circle Line stations, have been created by teams of 26 writers and design students from the London College of Communications. The posters are part of London Underground’s Platform for Art.

And get along if you can to the ‘From Here To Here’ exhibition at the London College of Communications, Elephant & Castle, from 15 September. A big exhibition, featuring the work of our writers and designers, one of the highlights of this year’s London Design Festival.

Don’t miss the website either – http://www.fromheretohere.com

An offer you could refuse...

…but you’d be missing out. One of the first benefits of our partnership with Cyan Books is that we can offer you some great deals on books. Two books just about to be published, ‘From Here To Here: Stories Inspired By London’s Circle Line’ and ‘26 Malts’, are now being offered as a pair to 26 members at a heavily discounted price. So have a wee dram to celebrate the money you save.

The books, featuring the work of (astonishingly) more than 80 members of 26, will be launched in August. Come along to the Edinburgh Book Festival on 15 August if you can. If you buy the books from a bookshop, you’ll get a couple of coppers change from £28. If you buy them direct from Cyan, stating 26 members’ offer, you will get them for only £20 (inc p&p in the UK). They’re beautiful books too. Please contact Sales@cyanbooks.com to place your order. Or send your cheque to Cyan Books, 119 Wardour Street, London W1F 0UW.

Forthcoming events

Just to whet your appetite. Summer and autumn events will be focused around the London Design Festival, with an exhibition of posters and the book launch of From Here To Here (see above). But we thought we’d give you a taster of the kinds of things we had up our sleeves for the coming months...

The events team have been busy. We’ve already secured the services of Martin Firell, an artist who produces words-based pieces in public spaces. Like till receipts and public toilets. Robbed of their usual context, Firell’s often provocative words take on totally different emphasis and meaning. We’ll let you more as soon as we can.

We’re also in the throes of arranging talks on inspiration (as in where do you get it from?); how to get your manuscript published; ‘Wordsworth’ or what to pay for writing; the triumphant return of Paul Burke on writing for radio (after his previous technical glitches); scriptwriting; and more poetry readings…

A more social 26 gathering has been mooted too, though we’re still mulling over where, when and the most engaging format to lure you all away from the shackles of Microsoft Word.

As usual, we’re open to all your ideas, suggestions and opinions. And if you’d like to take the initiative and set a 26 event up yourself, please let us know and we’ll do everything we can to support you. Just get in touch at talktous@26.org.uk.

26 members recommend...

‘Sideways’ on DVD (Fox Searchlight, Amazon £12.99)

Deftly written, this hilarious yet poignant variation on a road movie sees Miles (Paul Giamatti) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church) get into a series of scrapes on a wine-tasting tour of California the week before Jack’s wedding. Giamatto puts in a delightfully lugubrious performance as a struggling novelist with taste for Pinot Noir. Lashings of fine wine, middle-aged angst and the trials of getting your manuscript published... subjects close the heart of many 26-ers. JD

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‘The Clumsiest People In Europe: Or, Mrs Mortimer’s Bad-Tempered Guide To The Victorian World’ by Todd Pruzan and Mrs Favell Lee Mortimer (Bloomsbury, £10.29 on Amazon)

Fabulously funny book in which American editor and writer Pruzan shares his fascination with Mrs Mortimer, the Victorian children’s book writer. She wrote rabidly insulting travel guides such as ‘The Countries Of Europe Described’ without venturing further than the English coast. ‘...The Spaniards are not only idle, they are very cruel,’ opined Mrs M. ‘Though the Welsh are not very clean, they make their cottages clean by white-washing them...’ ‘Nothing useful is well done in Sweden.’ And much worse. A hilarious and deftly handled study of peevishness and xenophobia. Great holiday reading. TR

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Email disclaimers

Sick of the legalese, veiled threats and authoritarian paranoia attached to the emails you get from anyone working at a large business? It’s not your friendly employee-friend who is responsible – the disclaimers get attached automatically to every email that’s sent, it seems. What a great opportunity for a big corporate to differentiate itself. While we TRwait for that to happen, here are some awards for laughably mad disclaimers.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/05/18/readers_letters_the_email_disclaimer/ TR

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‘The White Stuff’ by Simon Armitage (Penguin, list price £7.99, Amazon £6.39)

26 favourite Simon Armitage’s second novel is out in paperback. The tale of a marriage at breaking point as a couple struggle to conceive a child, its narrative voice gracefully flits from the laddish banter of pubs and stag parties, to a more graceful internal prose used to highlight the male protagonist’s inner torment. Oh the angst of being a modern-day man. JD

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‘Nouvelle Vague’ by Nouvelle Vague (Peacefrog, £9.99 from Amazon)

Reworkings of classics songs by the Clash, PiL, the Cure and the Specials, among others. And when I say reworkings, I mean reworkings. They’re sung by a couple of laid-back French chanteaux, in a kind of catchy, low-key, bossa nova meets easy-listening style. Quirky to say the least. And it goes to prove one thing – those raucous 80s anthems hid some fine lyrics and cracking tunes. JD

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http://abecedaria.blogspot.com
Suzanne McCarthy’s blog is, it says, “about keyboarding in diverse scripts, literacy and digital literacy”, which is a dull way to describe a fascinating bazaar of language-related insights, oddities and observations. Wonderful stuff on Cherokee and the alphabet, plus entertaining ruminations on letterforms and some seemingly profound stuff about the language of computer code that lost this visitor completely! TR

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‘Dexter’s Laboratory’ (Cartoon Network, every day, 6am-6.30am and 12.30pm-1pm or Cartoon Network + 7am-7.30am and 1.30pm-2pm)

How a typical suburban American family spawned a short, squat child genius with a Mittel-European accent and a secret, custom-made laboratory is left unanswered. But Genndy Tartakovsky’s superbly animated cartoon series certainly gives ‘The Simpsons’ a run for its money in the writing stakes, with quick-fire gags, infectious catchphrases, and canny cultural references. Not to mention the maddest, baddest theme tune on television. JD

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http://www.cucumis.org
A new free online translation service. Become a member and get access to a community of translators. “Cucumis roughly translates as ‘Watermelon’ from Latin, a spherical fruit like the earth, full of vitality and happiness. With about 3000 spoken languages over the world, we hope this website will help us to get to know each other.” Lovely stuff. TR

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http://www.weaselwords.com.au
A site for people who have silently wept into a crumpled copy of their company's mission statement, for teachers who want to work in classrooms and not customer service points, and for all those who have been underpinned by an innovative, value adding, creative, sustainable, diverse and optimised framework. TR

This month’s plugs by Jim Davies and Tim Rich. They aren’t necessarily the views of 26, but we hope they’re not too far off the mark. All contributions gratefully received.

Free Sex And Chocolate

Review by Sarah McCartney

You’ve got to admire the audacity of the Belfast furniture store owner who put up a poster headlined:

‘Sofakinggood’

But as Matt Wilson from the Advertising Standards Association told us, the complaints came in, so down it came. Matt took the title of his 26 talk (held in July at the October Gallery) from the three words most likely to attract our attention. Once he’d got us, he held his audience captive with a really useful talk about the ASA’s services, generously sprinkled with a series of outstandingly offensive (and some outrageously funny) ads to keep us all amused.

The ASA administers the UK’s advertising codes independently for the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) to protect customers and make advertising fair. As well as the mainstream mass media, direct marketing material, brochures and website banner ads come under the ASA’s remit. (Organisations’ own websites, like packaging, are handled by Trading Standards.)

Matt described some mailshots from what he called “the dark underbelly of advertising”: leaflets promising ‘free’ gifts but with multiple strings attached and a mailing from Damart stamped “Final Reminder” which implied that the receiver was defaulting on their payments. Distressed elderly people were worried about the postman telling their neighbours they were in debt. The writer should have taken into account the context and the likely audience.

Matt explained that the ASA measures “the offence threshold of the nation”; it’s not the volume of complaints received which gets an ad banned, but their validity. The ASA gets around 25-30,000 complaints a year – around 75% of these aren’t followed up because they are not breaking any rules. (Over a pint following the talk, Matt explained that my own personal unfavourite ad at the moment, the M&S food ad “this is not just smoked salmon…” etc… could not be banned just because it irritates the hell out of me. Shame.) The regulations are complicated and many fine lines are drawn, but the traditional “legal, decent, honest and truthful” guidelines still apply.

26 members all reached for their pencils when Matt told us about the pre-checking service for advertising and marketing copy. Both the ASA website and the CAP site have a store of free advice; if in doubt, go there first. It was reassuring to see examples of ads which were permitted to run, despite their potential to cause offence to some. We were told a cautionary tale of the ad agency which checked first, was advised against, went with it anyway then got fired when their ad was banned, but we won’t say who it was.

26 thanks to Matt for a great evening.

26 to the power of three

We know. It’s not the paltry £26 for a whole year’s membership of the UK’s most exclusive words-based club. It’s the hassle of writing out a cheque every 12 months. Writers are so stingy with their words. So we’ve decided that members can now sign up for three years in one fell swoop. And you don’t even have to reach for your cheque book any more. Just ask your bank to wire us the money. Get in touch with us at newsletter@26.org.uk and we’ll send you our bank details. That’s it.

New members for August

Poet and author Simon Armitage has accepted our invitation to become the 260th member of 26. Simon’s collections of poetry include ‘Book of Matches’, ‘Travelling Songs’ and ‘The Universal Home Doctor’. His novel ‘The White Stuff’ has just come out in paperback (see ‘26 members recommend...’). Visit http://www.simonarmitage.co.uk to find out more.

And a warm welcome to our other new members... Designer David Hughes has been given honorary membership for his sterling work on the 26 newsletter; Matthew Blackbourn of Polon; copywriter Simon Carberry; Dan Barley, Robert Bell, Lucy Forrester, Peter Green, Isabella Park and Paul Roberts, all from COI Communications; copywriter John Fountain; Delia Elcock of Citigate SMARTS; and last but not least, Natalie Woodhead.

We’re now up to 271 members.

We hope you will all enjoy and contribute to 26.

Finally, for our new members...

A big thank you for joining 26.

We started meeting as a group in 2002. We were eight individuals in search of others involved in the daily business of working with words. We simply wanted to share our experiences and ideas, and learn from one another. You can find out more about us at http://www.26.org.uk/who.htm

News spread of our meetings, and it soon became clear that 26 could be, should be, something much bigger than just us. So we decided to open up the organisation to other writers, editors, language experts and anyone else with a love of language. We launched 26 formally in September 2003...

..And here you are. We're delighted you've become one of 26. We hope we’ll get to explore and enjoy language together in all sorts of interesting and unexpected ways.

26 is open to new ideas from any of its members. We would be especially pleased to hear from you if you'd like to be involved in 26 talks, publications, seminars or other initiatives – even in a small way. You can reach us on 0870 121 13 26 or at talktous@26.org.uk

As for your 26 quid... thank you very much. The funds we're raising with your annual subscriptions will go towards running events (most of which will be free to members), developing our web site, creating an online message board for members, and bringing to life a whole range of other initiatives we haven’t even imagined yet.

A number of members have asked whether they can refer to 26 on their business card or in their emails, web site, autobiography or whatever. We think this is a great idea as it helps to raise awareness. We just ask that you use the phrase One of 26, followed by the web site address www.26.org.uk.

In the meantime, your friends and colleagues can find out more about 26 and join at http://www.26.org.uk , so spread the word.

New members

A warm welcome to … Jodie Inkson of Wire Sky Ltd; Rodney Mylius from Fortune Street; Eddie Gibb, Head of External Relations, Demos; Paul Sullivan, Business Fellow in Professional Writing at University College, Falmouth and last but not least, Stein Olsen

We now have 259 members. One away from the big 260.

We hope you will all enjoy and contribute to 26.

Finally, for our new members...

A big thank you for joining 26.

We started meeting as a group in 2002. We were eight individuals in search of others involved in the daily business of working with words. We simply wanted to share our experiences and ideas, and learn from one another. You can find out more about us at http://www.26.org.uk/who.htm

News spread of our meetings, and it soon became clear that 26 could be, should be, something much bigger than just us. So we decided to open up the organisation to other writers, editors, language experts and anyone else with a love of language. We launched 26 formally in September 2003...

..And here you are. We're delighted you've become one of 26. We hope we’ll get to explore and enjoy language together in all sorts of interesting and unexpected ways.

26 is open to new ideas from any of its members. We would be especially pleased to hear from you if you'd like to be involved in 26 talks, publications, seminars or other initiatives – even in a small way. You can reach us on 0870 121 13 26 or at talktous@26.org.uk

As for your 26 quid... thank you very much. The funds we're raising with your annual subscriptions will go towards running events (most of which will be free to members), developing our web site, creating an online message board for members, and bringing to life a whole range of other initiatives we haven’t even imagined yet.

A number of members have asked whether they can refer to 26 on their business card or in their emails, web site, autobiography or whatever. We think this is a great idea as it helps to raise awareness. We just ask that you use the phrase One of 26, followed by the web site address www.26.org.uk.

In the meantime, your friends and colleagues can find out more about 26 and join at http://www.26.org.uk , so spread the word.

What Not To Write

Time: 6.30pm for 7pm start
Date: Tuesday 26th July

Venue: October Gallery
24 Old Gloucester Street
London WC1N 3AL
Nearest Underground station: Holborn

Spewing bad-breath dogs, Clare Rayner’s ‘wings’, f’ing fcuk… where do you draw the line? Matt Wilson of the Advertising Standards Authority will explain the rules, and dip into the file marked ‘controversial’ to pick out some recently banned ads, and others which have run despite provoking the ire of Middle England.

1 + 1 = 3

Review by Nick Asbury

The knotty relationship between writers and designers was the subject of an entertaining evening hosted by Mike Reed. Dan Radley, a senior writer at Start Creative, bemoaned the fact that good conceptual writers still tend to gravitate towards advertising. Anelia Schutte, formerly a senior writer at Lloyd Northover and now at The Writer, contrasted the monogamous writer/art director relationships in advertising with the design industry’s kerb-crawling approach to sourcing copywriting, usually paying by the hour and then coming back for more if satisfied. The client perspective came from Jon Staines at Orange, who noted that few of the creative directors he encounters come from a writing background. He also expressed his dissatisfaction with the words ‘copy’ and 'copywriter', asking what was wrong with 'writing' and ‘writer’. Finally, Paul Cardwell of Doner Cardwell Hawkins injected a healthy note of scepticism, arguing that too many writers spend their time fiddling with apostrophes instead of tackling the big ideas. He also achieved the admirable feat of standing in front of a sizeable audience of 26 members with a board reading ‘Writers are wankers’ and still managed to get a warm round of applause.

26 members recommend…

Fyne olde insults

A mad US website which spews random Shakespearian insults at you. You’ll find this a pleasant five-minute diversion, guaranteed to enrich your vocabulary. Also you can vent your spleen at myriad poltroons of everyday life without them having the faintest idea of how rude you've just been to them. “You starvelling, you eel-skin, you dried neat's-tongue, you bull's-pizzle, you stock-fish…“ ad infinitum. Visit http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/Shaker/index.html for some verbal ammunition.

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‘Married to Genius’ by Jeffrey Meyers (Southbank, £9.99 list,
£6.99 Amazon

Do you have to be a complete bastard to be a good writer? Jeffrey Myers tests out this theory by digging into the relationships of nine eminent 19th and 20th century writers, from Tolstoy to Hemingway, DH Lawrence to Virginia Woolf. And by and large, it appears, you do.

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‘Shop Horror – The Best Of The Worst In British Shop Names‘ by Guy Swillingham (4th Estate, £7 on Amazon)

In the age of the identikit High Street, let’s hear it for the quirky bastions of independent retailing. Pun-loving shop-fronts from up and down the country vie for the biggest groan in this must-have collection. There’s lingerie from Brief Moments, fish and chips from Battersea Cod’s Home, haircuts at Cliptomania. For a taster, visit shophorror.

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Taschen 25th Anniversary Series (£6.99 – £14.99)
With its roots in a small comic book store in Cologne, Taschen has grown to become one of the most recognised art and design publishing houses around. Edgy, contemporary and affordable, its eclectic list covers everything from Art Nouveau to erotic cinema, Renzo Piano to cartography. To celebrate 25 years in business, Taschen has re-released some of its best-sellers at knock-down prices. See Taschen for details.

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Where words
Did you sample a balti before 1984 or sport a mullet before 1994? And do you know how they got their names? A forthcoming BBC 2 series invites people to hunt for words and help rewrite the Oxford English Dictionary. The 50 words or phrases on the list all have a date next to them, corresponding to the earliest evidence the OED could find. Can you trump it? Entries include: bog-standard (1983); bomber jacket (1973); chattering classes (1985); codswallop (1963); cyberspace (1982); handbags at dawn (1987); and, of course, minger (1995). Visit wordhunt for more.

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Howies Summer 2005 Catalogue
A modest, interim effort from ‘Cardigan Bay’s third largest clothing company’. But it’s mix of eco-attitude, understated design and excellent writing are on the button as usual. Look out for a chilling essay on Moab Valley in Utah, a beauty spot on the surface, but an ecological disaster waiting to happen. Oh and some great T-shirts too. Visit Howies to order a catalogue

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July’s Word magazine

I know, I know, we seem to recommend Word magazine every month. But they keep coming up with such darned good feature ideas. And they’re not all about music either. This month there’s a piece on how popular phrases enter the language via TV, movies, novels and advertising. Examples include ‘If you’ve got it, flaunt it’ (Braniff Air ad), ‘Keeping up with the Jones’ (a comic strip in the New York Globe) and ‘She who must be obeyed’ (from a Rider Haggard novel). And of course we all know where ‘Doh!’ comes from.

One good learn deserves another

Two prominent members of 26 are involved in running forthcoming workshops for D&AD on – you guessed it – writing. The Writer’s John Simmons’ ‘Writing for Design – Decorator or Communicator’ is on 20 September 2005. This is designed to heighten your sensitivity to language and consider appropriate tones of voice. Will Awdry, Creative Director, DDB London hosts the Writing for Advertising session ‘A Warm Feeling for Words’ on 17 February 2006. Will will be looking outside the world of books for words that will surprise and intrigue you.

For more details visit www.dandad.co.uk or call Nia Evans on 020 7840 1130.

Message board

Traffic to the message board has more than doubled this month. Members are swapping views on everything from innovative methods for dealing with late-paying clients to great puns (current leader: a rubbish collection firm's slogan 'Speedy Gone Garbarge', in front by a short head from the Bargain Booze strap line 'Making life richer... for the pourer!').

Hate mail has built up for brand names written in caps, with an obnoxious ™ or ® added for good measure. Tone of voice remains a popular topic, with much discussion of business letters, together with information about a thought-provoking seminar by the Reputation Index. And there's been a very interesting exchange as to whether writers and agencies should charge for briefing time. But the burning topic this month is copywriting tests, and if asking a writer to take part in an unpaid competitive pitch to win a job is a reasonable request or potted evil.

Visit the message board — the password is 20six (keep that to yourself, this is a members-only site).

Update

The book ‘From here to here: stories inspired by London’s Circle Line‘ is now in full production. We’ll have more details in the August newsletter, including a special offer from the publishers Cyan. You’re urged to buy it in vast quantities for your mums and dads, friends and neighbours, and Great Aunt Mabel (you never know what to get her and she’ll love this book because it has something for everyone – you might need to steer her away from the Euston Square chapter though).

Just a week or two behind is a second book, ‘26 malts’, that originated with the Scottish chapter (notably Jamie Jauncey, Stuart Delves and Damian Mullan). They’ve been hard at it, gathering in work from the teams, setting up deals with the Scotch Malt Whisky Society and occasionally having a wee dram to keep out the cold. The creative collaboration between 26 writers and 26 designers is turning out to be a real thing of beauty. Again there will be a special offer (on the book, not the whisky) in our next newsletter.

Both books will be featured in an event at the Edinburgh Book Festival, and both will become exhibitions at the London Design Festival. We’ll let you know more later but please do your best to support the books and the events.

Our friends in the North

26 has members all over the country, and Scotland’s a real hot-bed of activity. So don’t wait for us, you can come together as regional chapters and get cracking on your own ventures whenever you feel like it.
For any members in the north-east, we recommend the Ed Kienholz exhibition at Baltic Gallery in Gateshead/Newcastle. A great place to have a meeting as well as a great exhibition – groundbreaking artist of big ideas, disturbingly executed. Just let us know what you’re up to, and we’ll give you a plug in the newsletter.