The Echo of Women's Lives

It seemed like a good idea at the time...

We’ve all been there, when it seemed like a good idea at the time. But now it’s raining, it’s dark and cold, threatening to snow, and I’m wondering why I ever agreed to go out. I have to confess I often feel like this, especially in the winter months, but in this case the outing is to celebrate the launch of Tabula Rasa, poetry anthology. A launch which had been my bright idea in the first place. ‘It’ll be great’, I said, plenty of local poets with work in the anthology on hand to read, a very special venue: our local independent bookshop, Collected Books, Durham, hosted by the lovely bookshop owner Emma. Yes, it was my idea, so there was no pulling out. I had to be there come rain, hail or snow.

By the day of the launch, we were already reduced in number, down to two poets and myself to read, with me introducing. I feared the worst. There would be more drop-outs, no one would turn up, especially on a night like this. And I wondered, as I often do at such times, why on earth I’d decided to put myself out there in this public forum and why I wasn’t staying at home in my jogging bottoms and baggy sweater, drinking tea and watching my latest binge series on Netflix. Though to be honest I wasn’t really binging on anything currently (recommendations welcome - tho I’ve probably seen most.) But here’s the thing - as it turned out, it was a night to remember. One I wouldn’t have missed.

I arrived just before six o’clock when the closed sign went up on the bookshop's front door. The remaining customers were gently ushered out and Collected Books underwent its transformation to launch venue. Emma and her helper had it down to a fine art and within fifteen minutes, coffee brewed, wine opened, it was ready to receive guests. My two trusty colleagues, Anna and Mary-Jane, both celebrated poets, arrived, took off their raincoats and we huddled together at the back of the shop, marvelling as the seats began to fill up with friends, familiar faces, and entirely new faces. Drinks flowed and before long there was a real buzz in the room. I breathed a sigh of relief. It was pretty clear, that our audience were ready and waiting and that all would be well.

So, it might have ended there, and I would have been more than happy at the outcome, especially as Emma practically sold out of copies of the book, which is obviously what you hope for on the night of a book launch. But that was only a small part of why it was such a special evening. What made it special for me were the other poets arriving totally unexpectedly, taking off their raincoats, huddling together with us at the back of the shop and preparing to read. They'd come unbidden, travelling from Liverpool, the Northumberland coast and wait for it - Vancouver via London!  In all, that night, there were five poets reading their work from Tabula Rasa, (one was too shy to read) and I was reminded, though of course I shouldn’t have needed reminding, of just how much it can mean to a writer, whether she’s new to writing or an old hand, to see her work in print and to have the opportunity to read that work aloud to an audience. I felt humbled. It's too easy to forget the joy and affirmation of publication. I write about not being published, and that being OK, but it's always special when our words are printed and heard.

Tabula Rasa was the brainchild of Linen Press intern Rawaa Elsir, supported by founder and editor Lynn Michell. I wasn't expecting to get as involved as I did with the anthology, but being there more or less from start to finish, right to the end game and the finicky, nitty gritty, of helping organise and format a poetry collection, meant I'd almost lost touch with the poems themselves. Hearing them read aloud by the women who'd written them, and who'd travelled a distance to read them, on a cold, wet night, brought to life their sheer beauty, their passion both personal and political, and in their voices, the echo of so many women's lives. If you would like to read the poems you can buy a copy of Tabula Rasa here

I am so proud of it, and everyone involved in its conception and production… it takes a village!

Me introducing the launch...

Last Sunday was Mother’s Day. I have such mixed feeling about Mother’s Day for so many reasons, again personal and political. I was going to write about them, partly because I’ve been writing scraps of memoir, to go with other scraps of memoir I have, but it would take a lot more words, so I’m saving it for next time or maybe another time altogether.

Thanks for reading - Avril x