EVENT ARCHIVES
Sussed Words
with SuAndi
This workshop took place on 2 - 3 October 2004 at the Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster
Please click here to see examples of participants writing from the workshop
Born of Nigerian and British heritage SuAndi has been a Performance Poet since 1985. In the nineties she turned some of her attention to the Live Art stage. She tours nationally and internationally, her last ICA commission 'The Story of M' having received critical acclaim in the UK and North America. Her work was recognised with an O.B.E. in the Queen's 1999 New Year Honours List following her Winston Churchill Fellowship in 1996.
Further information about SuAndi can be found on her Black Arts Alliance web page
The workshop was inspiring. It was productive to hear what other people thought about one's work and also interesting to hear other people's works and to discuss the different themes and styles apparent to the poems. It was also important for us all to do exercises where we were paired with other people! I found exploring the differences between performing art, performing poetry and writing particularly valuable.
I have to say on the second day my juices were really flowing with so much emotion in the room during and after our request to write an emotional poem and them to read it.
JH
As a poet, I found the whole experience very helpful in enabling me to 'loosen' up my style for performance. I write free verse and usually avoid rhyme as much as possible, however in a monologue I found that I could use rhymes by 'hiding' them in the flow, thereby give cohesion without stilting the piece.
SuAndi was a marvellous performer and the group as a whole were very friendly and inspiring. It was a really good weekend ... I got a lot of useful advice and help with funding applications.
CH