These Streets Think of Summer

Leicester, 17 June 2017

we chose this place,
                or this place chose us

looked at from above, the streets
around the Clock Tower
have the shape of an icicle

as angels mingle with crowds,
in the near tropical heat,
sampling continental, Mediterranean
and world dishes at the party
                greeting new arrivals

the cooling sound and lulling spray
of water from the fountain

i meet Venus on Horsefair Street
                she cannot stop

the families, poets, priests, lovers,
musicians and Pan bask,
picnic in the sun, remembering
celebrating Venus' sister, Jo

the historians, philosophers, prophets
and revolutionaries at the cross
                pointing the way to the heart of the city,
prophesy a time when money
will not be a measure
for human life

Notes:

These Streets Think of Summer was inspired by: the Continental Market that was held around the Clock Tower on 17 June 2017; the Refugee Week celebration that was held in Town Hall Square; the event celebrating the life of Jo Cox that was held at Leicester Cathedral; and the convergence of protests that took place at Jubilee Square all on the same day. 

The poem has also been featured on the pavement at the Leicester Against War / Leicester for Peace vigil that has been taking place at the Clock Tower weekly since December 2015. The vigil is the longest running current vigil of its kind in Britain and is calling on Britain to, among other things, do more to support people who are looking for refuge as well as for an end to British military intervention in countries like Syria.

Leicester: an Extraordinary City?

A few years ago, Fiona Allan, the then Curve Theatre director, gave a TEDx Talk titled, "Leicester: a City of Culture".

The speech remains as relevant today as when it was first given because it shows part of how people who have an interest in the city and in the arts view what is happening here, what the city has to offer, and what needs to improve.

In her speech, Allan's main criticism seems to be that there is a mismatch between the way the city talks about itself and how others perceive it. As examples, she cites a Labour Party manifesto that describes Leicester as a City of Festivals and another document that describes Leicester's Diwali celebrations as "world famous", and she suggests that these descriptions are either exaggerations or hyperbole.

However, while there are a number of places around the world that are defined by or known for or associated with a particular large scale festival that takes place there, part of what makes Leicester different is precisely that many things of various sizes are happening at more or less the same time such that no one festival defines the city.

What Allan calls 'volume' or 'quantity' is actually a plurality of festivals. This plurality is part of what makes Leicester a City of Festivals. The plurality is a good for the city because, among other things, it means there is activity all round the year around the arts in Leicester. The plurality and activity also creates more opportunities to create, experience and take part in arts-related initiatives for more people than would happen were Leicester a mono-festival city.

Running through Allan's commentary is the observation that much of what happens in Leicester is hidden or not known beyond the city.

While I agree with that observation, I dispute Allan's suggest that this relative invisibility is because what is happening in this city is not good enough to garner national or international attention. Instead, I suggest that the relative invisibility is because of a number of factors, one of which has to do with how London-centric media coverage and promotion of the arts in Britain is.

Allan proposes the city can enthuse others about what is happening around the arts in Leicester if it improves the way it talks about itself. At the same time as I agree with Allan, I would also say the city is trying to do just that and that as part of those efforts, the city ought to set up a dedicated arts and culture research and publicity team that, among other things, maps, documents and spreads the word about arts-related activity taking place in and around Leicester.

Talking to a friend about all this, a few days ago, we agreed that another thing the city could do is draw on its strength - its plurality, diversity, internationalism or how there is someone from everywhere who calls this city home - and start having conversations with its population's source villages, towns, cities and countries about the extraordinary things that are happening in Leicester.

New poetry anthology celebrates the city of Leicester

Taking inspiration from the city of Leicester, the poetry anthology, Welcome to Leicester brings together poems which celebrate the city.

Like a much-loved family member, Leicester’s faults are acknowledged but tempered with a huge deal of affection. The anthology explores the story of the city, as it is seen through the eyes of the people who know it best.

The anthology is published by Leicester-based Dahlia Publishing and was edited by Emma Lee and Ambrose Musiyiwa.

Ambrose Musiyiwa says:

Leicester is the site of one of the oldest known urban settlements in Britain and has made significant contributions to the development of the English language. It was at the centre of movements such as those that led to the development of parliamentary democracy in Britain, votes for women and the abolishment of the Atlantic Slave Trade. It is also one of the most plural and diverse cities anywhere in the world. There is someone from everywhere who calls the city home. We wanted to capture some of those diverse stories in a poetry anthology to show there's more to Leicester than a Premiership win and Richard III.

Emma Lee says:

National Poetry Day's theme this year was messages so we asked for poems that contained a message or story about Leicester city. We asked via mainstream and social media and 182 poems were submitted from Leicester and beyond. From these we chose 90 to go in the anthology.

Dahlia Publishing is a small press based in Leicester, founded in 2010 by Farhana Shaikh. Dahlia Publishing manages both The Asian Writer and Leicester Writes.

Farhana Shaikh says:

Our diversity policy is at the heart of everything we do: we’re passionate about publishing regional and diverse writing and have signed up the Equip Publishing Equalities Charter. Welcome to Leicester is a sister anthology to Lost and Found: Stories from Home, an anthology featuring short stories from Leicestershire writers.

Welcome to Leicester will be launched at the African Caribbean Centre, Maidstone Road, Leicester LE1 0ND from 7pm on Friday 7 October 2016 during the Everybody's Reading Festival.

Entry is free.

The launch will feature readings from the poets involved. Each poem in the anthology contains a story or message about the city of Leicester.

World Peace Day: Leicester asks Britain to stop military intervention in Syria

Today, September 21, is International Peace Day.

Since November 2015, Leicester Against War / Leicester For Peace has been staging a weekly protest asking Britain to stop military intervention in Syria.

The protest takes place from 5.30pm to 6.30pm at the Clock Tower every Friday and is the longest running current protest of it type in Britain.

This week's protest will feature a performance from Leicester's leading street choir, the Red Leicester Choir which is also calling for an end to British military intervention in Syria.

In this video, United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon explains what International Peace Day is about and how everyone everywhere can be a messenger for peace:

*See also:
[1] A selection of photos from one Leicester Against War/ Leicester For Peace protest, and
[2] A playlist of videos from the protests.

Translating Tavengwa Kaponda

Tavengwa Kaponda is possibly one of the best Shona poets alive and writing today.

Kaponda is bi-lingual and is as comfortable with English as he is with Shona. He might also be conversant in a number of other languages that are used in southern Africa but he writes poems in Shona. His poems have been featured in a few bi-lingual magazines like Tsotso that publish poems and short fiction in English and Shona.

I first got a taste of his poems close to two decades ago when he used to write and give readings to a very small set of people. Then, as now, I was impressed by the depth of his knowledge of Shona poetry and how he came across as a distinct voice within the canon of Shona poetry.

Some of his poems are now starting to appear on his Facebook page. One of the first poems I came across there was "Gwenyambira":

Gwenyambira angakande mbira
mudziva otya kusara nechitima chechimanjemanje.
Mutinhimira nhemamsasa mutasvi wenguva
anowana wakamumirira
pachiteshi paanodzikira.

I loved the poem for how it could be read as a commentary on the relationship between the artist and his/her art.

In a Facebook conversation about the poem, a friend asked if I could translate the poem into English and, although I'd never tried translating anything from Shona into English or vice versa before, I had a go, and this is what I came up with:

The mbira player might throw his mbira
in the river, afraid he is going to miss the train [of what's new].
The mbira beat, rhythm and tempo, the rider of time
will be waiting for him
at the train station when he gets off.

The exercise was fascinating and revealing.

In my translation, I use 'he' and 'his' but the poem itself doesn't mention gender. The mbira player could be a man or a woman.

There were also references in Kaponda's poems that I couldn't translate into English. For example, I translated "Mutinhimira nhemamsasa" as "The mbira beat, rhythm and tempo" but that that doesn't fully convey what the phrase means. This is because nhemamsasa or nhemamusasa is a particular type of mbira music. It has particular significance in the Shona musical-social-spiritual-cultural tradition and is particularly associated with events where families or spirit mediums commune with the ancestors. Here is one example of it:

The music tends to be unwritten and it tends to be passed on from one mbira player or one group of mbira players to another. In that respect, it is very much like Kaponda's poems which, although they are written, they are mainly unpublished and can only be accessed when Kaponda gives readings or when he posts them on Facebook. And even when he does that, there might also still be need for them to be translated into other languages.

And like the mbira player who has received the beat, I took "Gwenyambira" to a South Leicestershire Poetry Stanza meeting recently and read both Kaponda's poem and my translation. The discussion that followed also looked at the mbira, the mbira player and the context within which nhemamusasa is played and the challenge inherent in trying to convey these references and contexts in translation.

The University of Leicester must offer Scholarships to People who are Seeking Refuge

Today is ‪#‎ResultsDay‬. Many students who did well are celebrating and are preparing for university.

Today is also a reminder of one of the tragedies that's inherent in how Britain treats people who are seeking refuge.

Among those who got their results today are young people who will not be allowed to go to university for no reason other than that they are asylum seekers.

People who are seeking refuge should have the same access to university as any other similarly able young person.

In Leicester, De Montfort University (DMU) is offering a number of scholarships and awards to enable asylum seekers to access university. For that, I commend DMU.

The University of Leicester should offer similar scholarships and awards to people who are seeking refuge. The university should also lobby central government and encourage it to allow asylum seekers to access higher education. By doing neither of these things, the University of Leicester is condoning an injustice.

Leicester calls for an end to British military intervention in Syria

Since November 2015, Leicester Against War / Leicester For Peace has been staging a series of protests calling for an end to Britain's military involvement in Syria.

The protests take place at the Clock Tower between 5.30pm and 6.30pm every Friday and are the longest running current protests of their type in Britain.

At the same time as these protests are taking place, a lot of people are also expressing opposition to how the British Army is targeting and selling war and military life to children in Leicester.

The army was at it again on June 25.

June 25 was also the second day of the 2016 Street Choirs Festival.

Given all of the above, it was fitting that the massed sing that took place at Jubilee Square on June 25 started with over 30 choirs from all over the UK singing Roxane Smith's "Ain't Gonna Study War".

Leicester & the Historic City legend

So, there are these signs, that are popping up all over the place, that say:

Welcome to
Leicester
Historic City

Is there anywhere (an online photo album, for example) where images of all the signs can be seen?

Was there a public consultation on the wording and images featured on the signs? If so, where can one find details of the consultation?

Also, does anyone know how many of these signs have been put up so far and whether there are plans to put up more? If more such signs are being planned for other access points into the city, is there any chance this too could be subject to consultation so that the people of Leicester can have a say on where the signs appear and what the signs say?

Given that all cities everywhere in the world can claim to be 'historic' cities, the signs as they are currently worded and as they currently look, rankle the senses because they aren’t saying anything much about where Leicester is coming from, where it is currently or where it is going.

I suspect the signs came about because City Hall is aware that Leicester doesn't tell its story well.

I hope this also means there's a willingness to listen and a willingness to explore other ways through which that storytelling can best be done and that, in this and other ways, the city will eventually find a way to enthuse visitors and citizens alike about all the things that Leicester is and all the things it could be.

City Hall could, for example, commission a series of multimedia works exploring where the city is coming from, where the city is currently at and where it might go. The works could include video, still and moving images, animation and music.

In addition to that, the city could sponsor a poetry and short fiction anthology inviting Leicester citizens, residents and/or anyone who has a connection of any sort with the city, to respond to the 'Welcome to/Leicester/Historic City' legend.

The legend could also be the title of the anthology.

The city would need to give the anthology's editors a free hand and leave it to them to select the poems and short fiction that work best as standalone pieces and as part of the anthology.

The call for submissions would also need to avoid being too prescriptive and give poets and writers room to interpret the legend as they will.

The other option would be for the city to hire a public relations or ad company and have that company do all the storytelling. But doing things this way could sideline communities and the story that ends up getting told won't necessarily be one that anyone who has any meaningful connection with the city can relate to.

Similarly, if the call for submissions is too prescriptive, the stories that might end up getting told might not necessarily be the best ones that people can tell.

If it is to sponsor the anthology and other multimedia works about the city, City Hall would need to trust the talent we have in Leicester and it would also need to trust the process.

An earlier version of this blog post was published as, "The making of a city's legend", a letter in the print version of Leicester Mercury on 13 February 2016.

Mandela event was just as he would have wanted

On December 14, I attended the memorial event that was held at Nelson Mandela Park as an amateur filmmaker, with the intention of documenting the event from the perspective of one of the community choirs that were performing.

Going over the footage I got from the event, I am convinced that had Mandela been there to witness it, he would have been really pleased with the memorial.

He would have seen the event as a seamless whole that started in the park with township music by Leicester jazz ensemble, Afro City Swingers, who set the tempo for the event and gave it ambiance.

Afro City Swingers were followed by city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby, who spoke about how Leicester is connected with Nelson Mandela and the struggle against apartheid that he embodied.

A number of young people from the St Philip's Centre read from Nelson Mandela's writings and spoke about what Mandela means to them, while my own MP, Jon Ashworth, who described Nelson Mandela's achievements as "extraordinary, urged people to keep Mandela's memory alive by supporting the causes that he had championed.

Jon Ashworth was followed by The Rt Rev Tim Stevens, the Bishop of Leicester, who led an interfaith prayer for Nelson Mandela.
I am certain Mandela would have appreciated the heckling Bishop Stevens received from the secularists who argued, even as the Bishop was speaking, that the Church had hijacked the event.

Madiba would also have appreciated the grace and tact with which Bishop Stevens received the heckling.
Afterwards, Mandela would most certainly have told the bishop, the politicians and the secularists that his funeral would not have been his without the politics, without the demonstrations or trappings of faith, just as it would not have been his funeral without the arguments.

He would then have joined Red Leicester Choir and would have shown off a few of his dance moves.

He would also have joined in on Freedom Walk and in the singing and dancing that accompanied the walk.

He would have loved the drums that were waiting at the cathedral and would have joined Bobba Bennett in the dancing and then, because he does not have Bobba's energy, at the earliest possible opportunity he would have gravitated towards Paulo Carnoth, Carol Leeming and the drummers and tambourines so as not to make it obvious that he was about to pull a disappearing act, before finally disappearing into the cathedral (on the face of it to join the others who were gathered inside but in reality to catch his breath and to catch a rest).

He would also have loved the service that was conducted in the cathedral because the service was beautiful.

And, Leicester Amika Choir? Leicester Amika Choir would have made him think he was still in South Africa.

Afterwards, he would have said there wasn't anything about the memorial he would change because the memorial, as a whole, was beautiful. It was just as he would have wanted it.

*This article was featured in the Leicester Mercury letters page on 23 December 2013.

The 2nd UoL Refugee Week

February 25 - March 3, 2013

The second University of Leicester Refugee Week starts on 25 February and runs till 3 March.

The purpose of the week is to raise awareness about what it means to be a refugee as well as to raise awareness about how refugees and asylum seekers are living in the United Kingdom and to raise funds for Leicester City of Sanctuary, a local charity that provides practical support to refugees and asylum seekers.

The week builds on the success of the first student-led Refugee Week that was held at the university last year and will see the university host a series of public events around issues relating to refugees and asylum seekers.

Programme Summary

February:

• 25: Panel Discussion/Debate on Gender, Sexuality and the Refugee Experience (speakers will include a practising solicitor; an academic; a social worker; and, a charity worker); Attenborough Lecture Theatre 3, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH; 6.00pm - 8.00pm
• 26: Society Event (Syria: Uprooted! a case study on the Syrian conflict with particular emphasis on how Syrians are being displaced, where they are going and how they are being received); Attenborough Seminar Room 002, University of Leicester; 6.00pm -8.00pm
• 27: An evening with the Zimbabwe Association Choir (feat. Film Screening, Leicester City of Sanctuary presentation, and a Zimbabwe Association Choir performance); University of Leicester, Attenborough Building, Attenborough Seminar Block, 2nd Floor, ATT 208; 4.00pm - 6.00pm
• 28: "Refugee Women’s Experiences in Fiction and Non-Fiction: a reading in two parts” feat. Dr Leah Bassel (University of Leicester, Department of Sociology) and Jonathan Taylor (poet, novelist and De Montfort University creative writing lecturer); University of Leicester, Attenborough Building, Attenborough Lecture Theatre 3; 6.00pm - 8.00pm

March:

• 1: Networking Evening plus Red Leicester Choir; University of Leicester, Attenborough Building, Attenborough Seminar Room 001 ; 6.00pm – 8.00pm
• 2: 'Simple Acts' and fundraising
• 3: 'Simple Acts' and fundraising

Detailed Programme

Monday, February 25, 2013
"Gender, Sexuality and the Refugee Experience": Panel Discussion
Venue: University of Leicester, Attenborough Lecture Theatre 3
Time: 6.00pm - 8.00pm

• What is a refugee?
• What is an asylum seeker?
• How does a person become a refugee or an asylum seeker?
• Does a person's gender and/or sexual orientation have any bearing on whether a person can apply for asylum or not?
• What are some of the things that can be said about the manner in which the UK's immigration and asylum system responds to asylum applications that centre on questions of gender and/or sexual orientation?
• How easy or difficult is it to prove that one is a genuine asylum seeker?
• Does the asylum process have any effect on how individuals, families and/or communities live?

These and other questions will be the subject of the panel discussion that will take place on the first day of the 2nd University of Leicester Refugee Week.

Speaking at the event will be:

• Bushra Ali, Head of Immigration at Thaliwal Bridge Solicitors and recipient of the 2012 Leicestershire Law Society Solicitor of the Year Award as well as recipient of the 2012 Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Award;
• Vanessa Bettinson, a lecturer at De Montfort University who is currently teaching on "Gender and Sexuality in Relation to Claims for Refugee Protection" in the final year Immigration & Refugee Law module at De Montfort University;
• Cathy Stevenson, a Refugee Services Manager with the British Red Cross in Leicester; and
• Jawaahir Daahir, Managing Director of Somali Development Service; co-editor of Somalia to Europe: Stories from the Somali Diaspora (Leicester Quaker Press, 2010), and a qualified social worker who worked with asylum seekers and refugees and their families for many years.

The panel discussion will be chaired by University of Leicester student, Max Beck who is also president of the Leicester United Nations Society.

The discussion will be followed by a Q&A session in which the panelists will take questions from the audience.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Syria: Uprooted! a presentation on the Syrian Conflict and Refugee Experience
Venue: University of Leicester, Attenborough Seminar Room 002
Time: 6.00pm -8.00pm

• How many people have been displaced as a result of conflict in Syria?
• Which parts of Syria are affected?
• What (if anything) do those who are being displaced have in common?
• Where are they going?
• What are they finding there?
• How are they being received?
• To what extent are things like gender, ethnicity and political and/or religious beliefs and practices playing a role in this displacement, migration, reception and settlement (or lack of)?

These and other questions will be the focus of Syria: Uprooted! a University of Leicester Politics and International Relations Society presentation on the Syrian conflict.

The presentation will pay particular attention to how Syrians are being displaced, where they are going and how they are being received. The presentation will also look at the extent to which factors like gender, ethnicity and political and/or religious beliefs and practices are playing a role in this displacement, migration, reception and settlement (or lack of).

The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session in which the University of Leicester Politics and International Relations Society will take questions from the audience on the presentation.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013
An evening with the Zimbabwe Association Choir
Venue: University of Leicester, Attenborough Building, Attenborough Seminar Block, 2nd Floor, ATT 208
Time: 4.00pm - 6.00pm

The evening will open with two short films that show some of the realities of life for asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This will be followed by a presentation from Pam Inder, who chairs Leicester City of Sanctuary, on the challenges refugees and asylum seekers face in the UK and the role individuals and voluntary sector organisations play in supporting refugees and asylum seekers.

The evening will culminate in a performance by members of the Zimbabwe Association Choir who will share some of their stories, music, song and dance. Many members of the choir are survivors who escaped persecution and violence in Zimbabwe.

Thursday, February 28, 2013
Refugee Women's Experiences in Fiction and Non-Fiction: A reading in two parts
Venue: University of Leicester, Attenborough Lecture Theatre 3
Time: 6.00pm - 8.00pm

• What are the causes of forced migration?
• How easy or difficult is it for refugees to find places where they can feel safe?
• If at all they do find such places of safety, is integration really possible or even desirable?

Two writers - one a poet and a novelist and the other a sociologist - will approach these or related questions from different perspectives and in different ways.

Dr Leah Bassel – a Sociology lecturer at the University of Leicester and the author of Refugee Women: Beyond Gender versus Culture (Routledge 2012) – will open the evening by giving a talk on migration and the politics of refugee women's integration.

She will be followed by Jonathan Taylor – a poet, novelist and a creative writing lecturer at De Montfort University – who will give a reading from his novel, Entertaining Strangers (Salt Publishing 2012).

The two presentations will be followed by a Q&A session in which the two writers will take questions from the audience.

Friday, March 1, 2013
Networking Evening: *plus Red Leicester Choir
Venue: University of Leicester, Attenborough Building, Attenborough Seminar Room 001
Time: 6.00pm - 8.00pm

This informal evening will bring together University of Leicester staff and students, members of the Leicester Migration Network, members of the public, refugees, asylum seekers and supporting organisations.

The Networking Evening will be a good opportunity to make connections or to develop and build on links with relevant individuals, groups and organisations.

The evening will culminate in a performance by the Red Leicester Choir which, as choir member, Jan Wild-Grant puts it, sings "songs of struggle, songs of freedom and songs for the fun of it" from all over the world.

Saturday, March 2, 2013
‘Simple Acts' and fundraising
Venue: Various
Time: Various

University of Leicester students are encouraged to continue supporting the UoL Refugee Week fundraising efforts and to do simple acts like learning a few facts about refugees and asylum seekers; writing a letter or an email about refugees and asylum seekers; having a conversation with a refugee or an asylum seeker ...

Sunday, March 3, 2013
'Simple Acts' and fundraising
Venue: Various
Time: Various

University of Leicester students are encouraged to continue supporting the UoL Refugee Week fundraising efforts and to do simple acts like learning a few facts about refugees and asylum seekers; writing a letter or an email about refugees and asylum seekers; having a conversation with a refugee or an asylum seeker ...

*For more information, visit the UoL Refugee Week facebook page or contact event organiser, Iqra Mazhir.

Leicester Caribbean Carnival 2012

A selection of photos from the Leicester Caribbean Carnival which took place on August 4, 2012:



The drums and percussion accompanying the photos are from Sambando's performance at the carnival.

A playlist with more videos from the event -- including an interview with Dennis 'Sugar' Christopher, chair of the committee that organised the carnival -- is available here.

[Transcript] Leicester - Red Cross Refugee Service

Piotr Kuhiwczak is Project Worker with the British Red Cross' Refugee Services in Leicester.

In an interview with CivicLeicester, Kuhiwczak talked about how the Red Cross Refugee Service operates in Leicester. The interview took place on 16 December 2011, at an event organised by the Zimbabwe Association and the Zimbabwe Action in Solidarity (ZAS) Leicester Drop-in:



Piotr Kuhiwczak: My name is Piotr Kuhiwczak. I work for the Refugee Services of the Red Cross in Leicester, which is quite a big service compared to other services of a similar kind in the UK. And the reason for that is that Leicester is a dispersal city: that is, the Home Office sends asylum seekers to Leicester, puts them in accommodation, and they [asylum seekers] come up with all kinds of needs, which we help them to find answers to. So, the range of work we do is very wide - from helping people to get legal support, solicitors; helping with appeals when asylum seekers lose support, NASS support; to medical help; schools... it's the whole range of needs which everybody has got and all these problems, especially for people who come from overseas and they don't know how to operate within the system.

We also have got a large programme to alleviate destitution because a lot of asylum seekers, in between appeals, they end up either homeless or destitute. They have no food. So we have got a large programme of food distribution that is helping, supporting basic needs.

The service has been going for, I think the 10th year now and we don't see the needs decreasing. I would say the needs are increasing.

So, that's what we do.

Civic Leicester Community Network: And where in Leicester are you based?

PK: We are in Oadby, which is on the southern end of Leicester, down A6, London Road. Bus 31A can take anybody just nearly to our doorstep.

And we moved there because we had very small premises in the city centre. Now the building is large. We have got a large food store and we can do more things than we used to do.

CLCN: And if I want to find out more about the work you are doing, how do I go about it? How do I get in touch with you?

PK: You can come to us. You can call us on [0116]2710359. Make an appointment. Come and we shall explain to you in detail what we do. We shall give you examples of our work; show you our premises; introduce you to our volunteers, so you will be able to see the whole range of work we do.

CLCN: Thank you very much, Piotr.

PK: OK. Thank you.

Drew Gummerson: a natural storyteller

This evening I attended the launch of Drew Gummerson's latest novel, Me and Mickie James.

The event was held at Waterstone's on Market Street in Leicester and was the first book launch I've attended in the five years that I've been in Leicester. It was very well organised and was, in itself, a very pleasant experience.

There was quite a gathering there. And some of the people who were present had come from quite far afield.

Drew read three extracts from the novel and then answered questions from the audience about the book, about how long it had taken him to write the novel and about how he approaches the stories that he writes.

The man is a natural storyteller and entertainer.

I first met him about three years ago. We'd both taken part in the Leicester and Leicestershire Library Services' first annual short story competition. His short story, "Teeth", took first prize. (Even though it's been three years since I heard him read the story, I can still remember it. I can still hear the narrator's voice and I can still see some of the action that drove the story. It was also the funniest story that I'd heard in a long time.)

I met Drew again about a year later at a writers' workshop which had also been organised by the Leicester and Leicestershire Library Services and we have, sort of, kept in touch since. From time to time, I visit his website and blog to see what he's been up to and to read some of the short stories he's written that have been published online.

A few additional notes:

• The photos above have been reproduced with the kind permission of the one and only, Ivory Fishbone, a.k.a. Alison Dunne.
• There's a chance to win a copy of Me and Mickie James on Pulp.net.
• One of the very first reviews of the novel is available on GaydarNation.