Paul White, Chloe Green, Monika Lehner, Michelle Nicol, and Kaye Brennan take us through the events they’ve been to over the last month – either those run by 26, or featuring its members. From a new New Zealand writing project, to the launch of the new Dark Angels Poetry Book, And So We Grow.
- Page 26, Line 26: A Note from 26’s New Zealand Contingent
- A 26 Songwriting(s) Session
- Dark Angels Book Launch: And So We Grow
- Dark Angels Summer Residential 2024 at Bore Place, Kent
- Restore Nature Now
Page 26, Line 26: A Note from 26’s New Zealand Contingent
To celebrate the shortest day of the year down under (July 21st) the New Zealand Aotearoa Chapter of 26 completed a short short story project called Page 26, Line 26 – an idea conceived by NZ 26-ers Lindsey Dawson and Sue Heggie.
Page 26, Line 26 asked New Zealand writers from 26 to create a 260 word story in 26 days. Each writer was randomly assigned a sentence taken from a book of fiction or non-fiction chosen by another writer in the group. The brief was to then use as their starting point the 26th line from the 26th page of their assigned book. The only rule was that each 260-word story must begin with that exact sentence – after that the story could go anywhere.
You can now read all 19 of our 260-word short stories here. Check out the About page, too.
– Paul White
A 26 Songwriting(s) Session
While I sadly could not make Nick Asbury and Kate van der Borgh’s “Songtalkings” on 12 June, I caught up with their learnings and listenings through a recording of the talk on their Substack, Songwritings.
We start with their version of a song – not just “lyrics + melody” but also “interpreting, editing, arranging, playing, singing, recording, producing, stomping on bathroom floors, shaking random household items, apologising to neighbours, waiting for trains to go past, borrowing ukuleles, and spending f-ing hours in GarageBand.”
And then for the songs themselves. The gently haunting “Been Dreaming About You Lately” (played to whimsically hallucinatory scenes from the 1906 silent film Dream of a Rarebit Fiend) features contemplative, alliterative lyrics alongside the jingling of Kate’s chain necklace (“like Marley’s ghost”). “I Delight in You” is combined with scenes from the 1927 silent film Metropolis and ends on the film’s title card “To the Heart Machine!” – to Nick, “the slogan of songwriting.”
Listen below to a mini playlist assembled from the songs mentioned in Nick and Kate’s talk:
- “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye”
- “Stormy Weather”
- “As Time Goes By”
- “Blue Moon”
- “You’ll Never Walk Alone”
- “Yesterday”
- “Been Dreaming About You Lately”
- “I Delight in You”
- “Songbird”
– Chloe Green
Dark Angels Book Launch: And So We Grow
You’ve done something right when a crowd leaves a central London pub on a weeknight, all happy faces, with a lively step, inspired by words from a new collection of writing. On 2 July, Dark Angels writers, 26ers, and a selection of other poetry-lovers convened for the launch of And So We Grow, the new Dark Angels book of poetry.
The evening was orchestrated by John Simmons, who also gave a taste of his own writing, accompanied by a variety of 26 regulars – Carmen Lavin, Galen O’Hanlon, Lisa Andrews, Sophie Gordon, Olivia Sprinkel, Michelle Nicol, Max Parfitt and New Zealander Jayne Workman – all reading their poems from the 26 Plants project with the Wildlife Trusts last year. This led us on to Dark Angel Jonathan Holt, whose writing made up the latter third of the book, and who had travelled from his North Carolina home to contribute to the event.
Poetry readings can affect your mood in many ways. This one was a feast of tearless joy.
The book’s overall theme of “Growth” brings together a variety of responses around plants, nature, time and far beyond. Its words are made tangible by the letterpress printing of Paekakariki Press, with a cover design by David Carroll and a cover illustration by Lisa Andrews. In other words: It’s a gem. Get one. And get another one or two for the poetry lovers in your life. Get it here.
– Monika Lehner
Dark Angels Summer Residential 2024 at Bore Place, Kent
“What do you need?” One of the questions we’re invited to respond to. “Light, air, space, time, connection,” are some of the words I write in my notebook. They’re provided in generous abundance at this Dark Angels Summer Retreat.
Lead by Neil Baker and artist, writer, speaker coach Steve Chapman, there’s a playfulness, a freedom to experiment and creative prompts a plenty over the next four days as we write, create, paint, move, draw and explore inner and outer worlds.
As with all Dark Angels experiences, everything is an invitation. Connect and play along if you want to. Or disconnect from emails, social media and life admin. There’s plenty of what we come to term ‘baggy spaciousness’ to explore your own writing, or just be in this beautiful setting, sit in the garden, go for a walk, find what you need.
Food, another item on my ‘what do you need’ list, is delicious, plentiful and expertly provided by Neil’s daughter Evie, with help from James. It’s an essential ingredient in creating this supportive and nourishing community.
As something of a ‘frequent flyer’ with Dark Angels, I enjoy seeing and meeting some newly winged choir members, and hearing how their doubts, anxieties and ‘should I really be here’s’ disappear in just a few days.
We create collectively and individually; at times riffing off each other’s ideas and words like a fine jazz collaboration. We recruit a confiding and confident jackdaw.
Voices grow bolder, braver, more experimental. Themes emerge and ripple through different creative outlets from paper cutting to stick painting, poems and prose. We end with readings around the campfire and an impromptu sing along.
Every Dark Angels experience is unique. A magical concoction of people, place and voices. Once experienced, it’s easy to understand why some of us are drawn back again and again.
– Michelle Nicol
Making Ripples: 26er Kaye Brennan at Restore Nature Now
A few short weeks ago, I donned my most comfortable shoes and my best biodegradable glitter and hopped on a train to London. I was joined by more than 60,000 other people who had put aside their weekend plans to galvanise for a collective purpose, through peaceful protest.
Perhaps you were there, in person or in solidarity, too?
‘There’ was the Restore Nature Now march on Saturday 22 June 2024. A legal, peaceful, massive demonstration for nature. Organised by a small collective it was designed to ensure the public and political audiences would see direct action groups standing shoulder to shoulder with conservation charities – a rare thing indeed! To build even more power, the march received support from over 450 different nature and climate groups, with many attending in person along with members, volunteers and supporters.
They all gathered because they all believe that everyone deserves a world free from the threat of climate catastrophe and where nature is thriving. I work for The Wildlife Trusts who were loud and proud alongside some of the friends you might expect us to be with – National Trust, RSPB, WWF, Greenpeace – as well as those you might not, such as Just Stop Oil, Animal Rising, Hunt Saboteurs, and Extinction Rebellion who were part of the organising team.
Each may choose different approaches to get the message across, but all are united in a common goal: a wilder, brighter, future.
It’s crucial these groups can make it clear there is support from the public for a healthier environment. All the partners are already actively restoring nature or engaging people in positive action, and between us we are making some incredible changes. Meanwhile, polling shows that over 80% the public already do far more than the recycling to help nature. But the scale and pace of change required is huge – we just can’t keep doing this by ourselves. Political action has been lacking for far too long. Nature loss must end now and that means – for example – legal protections must be enforced; licensing for species reintroductions needs to be progressed; land managers and farmers must be given the resourcing that was promised them; commitments to nature’s recovery (like a sales ban on peat composts) must be realised.
What a day! And, while there was limited details on the BBC, the march certainly got lots of media attention! The march featured on national broadcasts including Channel 4, ITV and Sky News and in over 20 national newspaper articles including from The Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Al-jazeera and Le Monde. Overall, Restore Nature Now achieved well over 150 pieces of media coverage, making this one of the most media-covered marches ever!
But, so what?
Well, this gathering doesn’t stop on the streets. Sir David Attenborough, my first and best teacher and master of simple but effective words, once said “What happens next is up to us”. And now, ‘us’ means you.
The next steps for all of us – for you – are to carry those messages from London back into your neighbourhoods. MPs need to know tens of thousands of people were prepared to take to the streets and call for change. They need to know that now they have been elected, they are now responsible for taking the action we are all asking for.
Perfectly describing the task ahead for us all, and why it is so important, was broadcaster Liz Bonin, whose speech kicked off a mass rally that had been arranged once the march had made its way to Parliament Square. Liz set me and lots of other marchers off (on what was already an emotional day!) when she said on stage,
“This [today] is what happens when as individuals, we reconnect to each other in the pursuit of a great cause. As a society, we have been encouraged to be individualised, disconnected from each other, better than, different to, doubting, fearful… but as a social species, connection and community is how we flourish; it is in our DNA. We need it, to be the best of who we are.”
And the theme of this year’s Wordstock – HUMAN.KIND – resonates so much in her final words that “true humanity is a oneness” with each other, and with nature. “Connection energises us, it inspires us to take care of each other and of nature. And when we give back to nature in reciprocity for all it does for us, everything thrives.”
Restore Nature Now – YouTube (starts at 42 mins)
PS: To help bring the march to those who were unable to attend organisers ran a live stream throughout the day – you can still watch this and hear all the speakers here: The Wildlife Trusts – YouTube.
-Kaye Brennan