We were delighted to have two young writers from The Writing Squad – creating the next generation of writers in the North – at our Encounters Festival in March, and we would like to share their words with you!

Tife Kusoro reflected on their experience at the festival with a short piece of writing titled ‘Gods and Mothers‘

Here is a short snippet:

In the centre of the studio floor stands June, a young Black person of about twenty. They are poised, frozen at the beginning of a routine. Face forward, body straight and steady. Their shoulders are pointed towards the ceiling, their spine is arched, curved to give them an air of grace. Their right arm, its hand empty, is arched over their head. The left rests on their hip. They drive their nervous breath steady; in through the nose, out through the mouth. They are almost a sculpture, but this breath, as it pulses through their chest and across their balanced limbs, gives them away.

Please continue reading the full piece by clicking here. 

***

Laura Potts explored their time at the festival in the form of a poem ‘Virginity’

The first few lines read as follows:

It was winter. At the purple turn of the world,

the distant cities slept and slurred in the glim

on the sea’s wet skin. It was early evening.

I watched as a bird split the hinge of its wings

and left on the infant winds. Into the starling

darkness; into the black of the atlas;

into the silent miles it moved to the luteous

bruise of the moon. Smooth as a womb.

                            ***

Please continue reading the full piece by clicking here. 

Thank you again to The Writing Squad and to Tife and Laura, for attending the festival and for creating such wonderful responses. We hope to see you again soon!