Women in Word II Hypatia Trust, Penzance and FINAL CALL for films
I am really thrilled to be back at the second Women in Word Literary Festival based out of Hypatia Trust, Penzance, Conrwall and this year running from 6th to the 8th of June. I will be part of the selection team for the poetry film section including Lally MacBeth and Linda Cleary from Hypatia. The films will be screened on Thursday, 6th June and on the Friday I will steer a Poetry Film Roundtable discussion on practice and the making process from everyone’s point of view. This is for anyone to join, however experienced, and all are welcome.
https://hypatia-trust.org.uk/women-in-word-festival-2024-poetry-films
Last year, the poetry film screening of women poetry filmmakers with connections to Cornwall, was standing room only and prompted much debate (some of it outside on the cobbles for over half an hour! Where newbies were extolling its praises.) The standard of the films was very high and the themes being discussed were varied and thought-provoking. It was also wonderful to present The Poetics of Poetry Film and have it nestling down in the bookshop and in their archive. I feel very blessed to be able to go back down to the West Country, one side of my spiritual home, and be welcomed by Linda and the team. I also deliberately go by train to experience the landscape sliding through from the beautiful Exe estuary lapping at the side of the track, sweeping passed the wilds of Dartmoor, down to Plymouth and then over viaducts with sailing boats below to the open vistas again, forested gullies dipping and stretching, pulling away from mankind until the land leaves the trees behind and we reach the end of this little island (more or less) and it breathes a sigh of relief.
CALL
The rules for entry are pretty much the same as last year, short films ideally five minutes or less, particularly aimed at women with ties to Cornwall. The connection can be via the director, or poet. The DEADLINE is 5 p.m. April 30th so email Linda immediately, especially as there are already enough people to screen and this is a valuable and important yet jewel-like event, with cosy seating, so book early!
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR POETRY FILMS FOR INCLUSION – CLICK HERE
Also looking forward to all the other elements of the Festival: Linda’s workshop, Bookclub, Ella Frears, and the fascinating subject of Lost Words from Maggi Livingstone. This is also one of the last places on the planet where you can enjoy a good boogie/rave/ bust a groove / throw some moves / get down, on a dance floor on a Saturday night, and in a bespoke Georgian ballroom. In the UK? You must be joking. A warm and wonderful festival and all set in ancient Penzance saturated in folklore and tales with the co-mingling of polite, grey English Channel and sparkling wild, Atlantic beating relentlessly at its walls.
Featuring a festival bookclub, in conversation / readings from established and emerging women writers, talks, events and workshops, poetry films by women, networking opportunities, a literary stitch event – and an evening finale in a Georgian ballroom!
The Hypatia Trust has a commitment to advancing women’s equality and being visible, strong and collaborative – and we also like to put on fun, community events – so we are super pleased to be putting on our second Women In Word literary festival celebrating women creatives in Cornwall. Women In Word is a women focused literary festival but the events are open to everyone to attend.
Our first Women In Word literary festival in June 2023 was a great success with full and engaged audiences.
For June 2024 we have extended the programming – look out for further updates on our social media channels and subscribe to the newsletter to be the first to know when the tickets go on sale!
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
Bookclub – led by Alice Mount and Zoe Fitzpatrick: looking at short literary works that connect this year’s theme.
Writing workshop with Linda Cleary – Looking at both interior landscape (of self) and exterior location in relation to: (dis)place(d)
Screenings of short poetry films – Our second year of showcasing work made by women with connections/ties to Cornwall. Co-curated by prizewinning poetry filmmaker and author Sarah Tremlett.
Poetry Film roundtable – for poetry filmmakers and those interested: discussion of process and practice, hosted by Sarah Tremlett and including the films from the previous evening’s screening, with commentaries from the filmmakers, and sharing of ideas, all welcome, plus Q and A.
Poetry reading and in-conversation with Ella Frears – we are so happy to welcome Ella to the festival this year. Ella will read from a selection of her work.
Literary Crafting with Maggi Livingstone and crafters – join us at The Hypatia Trust to stitch some of the words we are in danger of losing. In their book, The Lost Words, Jackie Morris and Robert MacFarlane highlighted words of the natural world such as bluebells, dandelions and acorns which are being replaced by technical words such as blog, broadband and many others. Hypatia will provide material and thread for the event.
The Big Finale Party with DJ Nina at The Union ballroom. Our Women in Word festival ends with a celebration! A grand finale in the Georgian lounge and ballroom at The Union, Penzance.
BIOS
Sarah Tremlett
Sarah Tremlett is a prize-winning poetry film-maker, poet and theorist and director and editor of Liberated Words online. Exhibitor and key speaker at Tom Konyves’ Poets with a Video Camera exhibition, Surrey, Vancouver (2022), she is a juror and curator at festivals; most recently Fotogenia, Women in Word & REELpoetry, and has given numerous talks, readings and screenings on the subject worldwide such as Vancouver & San Francisco, 2022. Her publication The Poetics of Poetry Film (Intellect Books UK, 2021) has been described as ‘“A ground- breaking, encyclopaedic work, and an industry Bible” https://www.intellectbooks.com/the-poetics-of-poetry-film
She also has a chapter on Voice and New Narrative frameworks in Intermedial Art Practices as Cultural Resilience (Routledge, 2024). Sarah runs a family history poetry film project, and inaugurated the Frame to Frames: Your Eyes Follow ekphrastic poetry film screening and prize, which she presented at FOTOGENIA, Mexico City, 2023. Published by Poem Film Editions through Liberated Words, the accompanying innovative bilingual publication Frame to Frames: Your Eyes Follow includes the poems, stills and artists’ details, along with a QR link to all the films in the screening.
More on Sarah here: www.sarahtremlett.com and www.liberatedwords.com
Ella Frears
Ella Frears is a poet and artist, from Cornwall, based in London. Her debut collection, Shine, Darling, (Offord Road Books, 2020) was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and was shortlisted for both the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, and the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry. Her latest pamphlet I AM THE MOTHER CAT written as part of her residency at John Hansard Gallery is out with Rough Trade Books (2021).
Ella is a tutor in poetry and creative writing at City Lit, was an Associate Lecturer at Goldsmiths University for the BA English with Creative Writing, has taught for Falmouth University, and University East London, as well as running freelance workshops for various spaces and organisations including Arvon, the Guardian, the Poetry School, the Poetry Society, Kew Gardens, Dartington, and Spread the Word.
In 2023 Ella was Creative Fellow at Exeter University working with the Maritime Environmental History Department, and is currently the Royal Literary Fund Fellow for the Courtauld Institute of Art.
Read her full biography here: www.ellafrears.com/biography
Linda Cleary
Linda Cleary is a British born Irish diaspora writer from a working class background, currently living in Cornwall. Her work has been published in various journals plus spoken word, audio and poetry film; one of her most recent poetry films was in Bloomsday Festival 2023. She is a Literary Arts Consultant delivering courses, coaching and editing. Linda set up and curated Hypatia Publications’ literary department 2019 – 2022 and she is the creator and curator of our Women in Word literary festival.
More on Linda here: www.freewriterscentre.org/about
Lally MacBeth
Lally MacBeth is an artist, writer and researcher. She graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2013 with a First Class Honours in Fashion History & Theory, and has since divided her time between being sensible and silly. She founded The Folk Archive in 2020, and co-founded Stone Club in 2021. She writes regularly for Caught by the River, has curated film programmes for Folkestone Docu Fest and London Short Film Festival, and sits on the board for Bosena.
Maggi Livingstone
Maggi is The Hypatia Trust’s lead archivist, archiving the correspondence, notebooks and original manuscripts in The Hypatia Trust collections so that they can be preserved for the long term and made accessible for future generations to enjoy. She is also a crafter and committed to a sustainable lifestyle, wanting to ensure that crafting skills are passed within community and between generations.
DJ Nina
Nina is a Brazilian British resident of Penzance and she has been DJ-ing Latino grooves, vintage tunes and cool mixes for many years; here in Cornwall and across the world. For the Women in Word finale party she will play a bespoke international mix of women singers and musicians.
