Jessica Tillings
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iMAGE bY bRYONY lOVE
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 I really am the worst at this whole blog/website thing.
So what has been occurring at the slug colony? I am very psyched to say that I will be performing at Datableeder FIVE in Canterbury on Wednesday 29th May—alongside Azad Ashim Sharma, Robert Kiely, Caspar Heinemann, Nancy Gaffield & Katrine Lynn Solvaag—which is pretty INSANE as ^^ these beans are fucking awesome. Really honoured to be among the bill. As well as doing a lot of self-healing & discovering that I'm actually NOT the worst person on the planet—I am exceptionally honoured to say that I have been doing some editorial work for Arc Publications' new & unfathomably important anthology I am Rohingya, which brings together sixteen new Rohingya poets, many still living in the camps, and will be the first collection of Rohingya poetry published in English. This book is the labour love of the exceptional James Byrne and Shehzar Doja, who I am immensely humbled to have worked with—even if my contribution to this book was teeny in comparison to the crucial work that these beans have been doing. You can pre-order I am Rohingya here. In support of the Rohingya cause the irreplaceable John Kinsella has written a gut-punch of a poem & statement over on his site, which can be accessed here, John's work & general approach to writing/life has been immeasurably important to my own writing, if you are unaware of him (which is BAFFLING to me) then please go & fall in love with him—thanks. My next bit of news is still reeling a little in my dusty toad skull—I have very recently joined the amazing team over at MAI: Feminism & Visual Culture as a Creative Editor. There is more to this announcement but I am keeping schtum about it until I can scream about the next phase of this. But it's exciting—trust. Until then I will continue to do a jaunty dance around my house. I AM WRITING Yes you heard that right. It's painful, consuming & a pain in the arse, but I am doing it & will have new work to perform at the aforementioned event—so come? Or don't. Over & out my dudes. Stay amphibian.  extract from '& She Says' first published in Blackbox Manifold, No.21, 2018. Really pleased to have made Blackbox Manifold the home for my poem '& She Says', after admiring the journal and tentatively putting off submitting work there for a few years!
You can read it, along with a great bunch of other poems by great people here. Also in the issue: Tessa Berring & Kathrine Sowerby, Iain Britton, Daniel Borzutzky, Imogen Cassels, Geraldine Clarkson, Jen Crawford, Christian Coppa & William Hall, James Dufficy, Daniel Elthringham, Gerrie Fellows, Calum Hazell, Katy Lewis Hood, Kimberly Campanello, David Lloyd, Kyle Lovell, Burgess Needle, Jac Nelson, Stuart Pickford, Esteban Rodriguez, Maria Sledmere, Don Thompson, Catherine Vidler, Dawn Watson, Ruth Wiggins, J. L. Williams and Theodore Worozbyt.  Very pleased to be in among such great company in the new issue of HVTN with a witchy piece I did in response to the Malleus Maleficarum. 🧙♀️🔮🌩️✨ Can't wait to read all of the other contributions, including some exciting new work from Amy Cutler. I fully recommend that you check out Terrence Abrahams' poem 'from mountain v field' & Amy Cutler's online feature for free through the link below - where you can also pick up your copy of the magazine. Read these pieces or buy your copy HERE. Also in this issue: Rodrigo Arteaga + Amy Cutler, Juliette Defrance + Serena Braida, Kira Zhigalina + Mischa Foster Poole, Terrence Abrahams, Sarah Cave, Sarah Dawson, Sophie Essex, Rose Hunter, L. Kiew, Julia Rose Lewis, Mallory Pearson, Flo Reynolds, Jake Reynolds, Vik Shirley, David Spittle, Alexandra Teague, Pınar Yaşar, Owen Vince.  extract from 'Diluere' first published in HVTN 4.2, 2018 So it's been a trip, but Reverb is coming to an end after it's 9th event. This last session has been co-organised with Dr Tasleem Shakur to seek awareness for the Rohingya refugees and I am immensely proud of how this has all come together. It's a great end to a great experience.  Amnesty International describes the Rohingya as “one of the most persecuted minorities in the world”. They have fled from Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh, with almost 60% of the refugees being children, who are all now being faced with deportation, even though they remain stateless, with uncertain futures. It has been observed that there has been very little awareness of this catastrophic human disaster in the Western world.
Following on from the success of Dr Shakur’s Festival of Ideas event, ‘Who are the New Boat People’, and coinciding exhibition from photojournalist Fojit Sheikh Babu, we have invited a collection of local artists to demonstrate some of the lost voices of the Rohingya. From transcribed folk songs, to translations of poems from the camps this will be a dynamic evening of music, poetry, art, film and discussion. This will be the first in a series of events around the UK which Taz and I will curate together. Speaking on his activism Taz said: “Rohingya refugees, particularly the women and children, need urgent and worldwide attention and support. The Rohingyas are experiencing torture, rape and genocide and I wanted to help raise awareness of this to help alleviate this desperate situation.” The event will feature performances from James Byrne, Dr Joaquín Cortés, Shehzar Doja, Francisco Carrasco, plus more. Speaking on the event, James Byrne said: “The systematic violence enacted on the Rohingya people is barbaric. How long must the refugee camps last? Each month I phone up a poet I work with in the camps and he has told me me how important art is a vital source of hope among a people who remain stateless and traumatised. I am presently editing a feature on Rohingya poetry for Modern Poetry in Translation. Events like this one at Reverb are crucial in raising further awareness so action will be taken. Nobody in the modern world should live like this, not least the Rohingya after what they have been through fleeing the brutal hands of the Tatmadaw.” Reverb 9: Raising the Voice of the Rohingya will be held at The Arts Centre on Monday 19th November at 7pm. The event is free and requires no booking. For the full line-up and more information about this event please visit the Reverb website. To learn more about the Rohingya and how to get involved, please visit: Friendship's non-governmental organisation.  Performing 'Little Breath' at Reverb Yes - wow, I actually wrote something new! Well, it's one of two poems I have written over the past year. The engine is revving & I'm slowly working myself back into it. So yes, new work - a poem that is forthcoming in Issue 2 of Guttural, which was originally written as the piece I performed with Ascend Silver Poison as part of April's Reverb. We're waiting on some audio files to mix into the recording of that performance, so if I can bear to hear my own drone-vocals then I will upload that onto here too. Check out Guttural on their site - they're doing some very exciting things & have already published some incredible people, I feel honoured to be included.
 Issue one of MAI: Feminism & Visual Culture was published earlier this week and it is FULL to the brim with awesomeness. I am thrilled, and honoured that the first issue features some of the artwork from my 'Blood Rhythms' project - which I will ACTUALLY start sorting out later this year now that I have decided to take another year before I shackle myself to my MA.
This journal is going to go from strength to strength & has been made with a lot of love - sweat and tears and I know it means an awful lot to the fabulous editors and each contributor - as well as a lot of feminists who deserve open access! Please check it out it features work from: Alva Gotby, Amber Jacobs, Amy McCauley, Ana Maria Sapountzi, Anna Backman Rogers, Anna Misiak, Catherine Grant, Gabriel Maher, Gloria Dawson, Hannah Hamad, Jazmine Linklater, Kate Lewis Hood, Lauren Elkin, Mairead Case, Mariah Larsson, Mary McGill, Mel Gibson, Neil Fox, Nia Davis, Oksana Kazmina, Patricia Prieto Blanco, Paulette Jonguitud, Rebecca Harrison, Rebecca Jones, Rebecca Louise Tiernan, Solomiya Moroz, Sophia Kier-Byfield, Tina Krekels, Tracy Piper-Wright and Yasmine Akim. The link is here MAI: ISSUE ONE experience & appreciate the work & then check out what these brilliant people are doing outside of the journal.
Read the rest @ https://www.datableedzine.com/jessica-tillings-issue-7
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Writer/Artist//Events Co-ordinator/Editor/All around book & weird addict/Cat Enthusiast.
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May 2019
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