April Recap

Where does art go when real life intrudes? That’s the question that’s once again defined my last month. In a slew of personal/familial/medical crises, each overlapping and adding weight, where does creativity find time to flourish?

For me it’s about carving out opportunities to write while being true to what I’m feeling in the moment. How can a poem sketched in the hospital cafe not have an existential slant? Art as therapy might not always produce the best results but it will get you through to face the next day with your mind intact, follow that treatment plan long enough and you might find yourself in the position to be writing with intention again somewhere down the road.

It’s times like these that remind me of my own value in encouraging others to write and express themselves creatively. I spent April working with iFit - an organisation dedicated to providing the framework for those leaving the criminal justice system to integrate back into society and lower the risk of them reoffending.

Over the month I watched the guys grow into their voice and get used to sharing thoughts and ideas around poetry and what it might mean to their lives. Apart from prison letters no-one in the room had written anything since their schooldays, within a few weeks they had created a body of work that expressed the complex set of experiences that constitutes coming home and rediscovering their communities.

And so life provides perspective to work and work provides perspective to life - the two rolling on imperiously no matter what travails might be beseeching your inner world. ‘No enemies, Only teachers’ is the prevailing wisdom in philosophical circles - we have something positive to learn from every person, every interaction, every situation. Perhaps that extends to our creative selves too, with the harsh lessons of our private lives informing the art that will surely come flowing unabated from the other side of suffering.

Where can you find me in May?

16th May

I’ll be at Paisley Book Festival taking part in Gubsmacked’s fun ‘Flyting’ event - a chance for poets to go head to head in the great Scottish tradition of arguing about inane things.

21st May

I’ll be heading through to Edinburgh to headline the Rock the Boat poetry night at The Wee Red Bar. An old school open mic night with a youthful focus, I’m looking forward to hearing some new voices from the scene before sharing some new work and greatest hits.

Work in Progress

Every month I aim to share a bit of work in progress. This could be a poem, a section of a play or just a snippet of writing I find interesting. This month is another potential poem from my new collection. Tackling the ubiquity of globalisation and the absurdity it produces in its wake, this piece is a comedic take on the issue of homogenisation and what it might mean for already diminished communities.

From the Archive

(Another) Death in Duke Street, recorded at Rebel Loop Studios.

Thanks for subscribing to my newsletter, please feel free to let me know if you enjoyed it and would like to see more/less of anything in particular. I’ll be back with another update next month but in the meantime you can follow me on social media @kevinpgilday - with instagram being where I’m most active nowadays.

‘Come what come may, / Time and the hour runs through the roughest day’
Macbeth - Act 1, Scene 3

Cheers,
Kev x