Here’s the flyers for the Writers Avenue’s New Writing event this Jan. It looks like it’s going to be an entertaining evening for all involved. So if you enjoy new writing, theatre, or fancy yourself as a critic come down an support us new writers, we crave your input, ideas, and beautiful presence.

My play ‘Seconds’ took part in the second season of the ‘DYSSING MONADYS’ event produced by DYS(the)LEXI this November. Due to swine-flu I missed the event and didn’t get a chance to thank anyone in person, so I thank you all here, for all that effort and hard work.

I can’t stress what a much needed platform DYSSING MONADYS is for breaking down the negative stereotypes associated with dyslexia. Not only does the event offer a fantastic night out, but allows people to experience the other side of the disorder, the vibrant creative side. I urge other dyslexic creative’s to lend their imaginations, time, and presence to next year’s event if you, you won’t regret it. Check out their website to find out more. www.makingtheatrework.com

‘Seconds’ is also taking part in the Writers Avenue’s ‘first twenty minutes’ event Jan 15-16 at the Rosemary Branch Theatre in London. The event showcases twenty minutes of three plays and the audience gets the chance to offer feedback on the performances. So, if you fancy yourself as a theatre critic then come along and offer us fledgling writers your opinion on our work, you can find out more by visiting www.writersavenue.co.uk

See you in January!

Do you like cake? (Of course you do stop lying!) Are you near Manchester tomorrow?
The Birdhouse Charity is having a cake sale in Albert Square tomorrow to raise funds to help women in Greater Manchester who need a cash boost to achieve their potential. It’s an innovative idea and you can find out more here….. http://www.birdhousefund.org/
Go along and buy a homemade cake and make a difference!

I’ve not blogged in, well what seems like years. I’ve been busy finishing my second play, penning my novel (still in progress) and getting divorced, all of which have taken me away from the act of writing streams of inner dialogue for this strange little medium of online collective chattering. So here I am again, if only to briefly irritate and confuse you with my inarticulate waffling.
Despite the world descending at breakneck speed into its familiar cyclical darkness; what with hoodies, recession, war, climate change, and of course the horrific swine flu epidemic (what happened to good old bird flu that’s what I wanna know?) I feel remarkably cheerful and look forward to re-acquainting myself with this neglected old blog, shaking the dust off its crusty old skin and giving it a much needed, long overdue hug.

Dignitas Clinic

A YOUGOV/Telegraph poll states that 86% of people believe the terminally ill should be able to ask for medical assistance to help them die if they can not end their lives themselves. However, only 650 Britons are currently registered with Dignitas and only 100 have been helped to die there (2008 figures). With so many sympathetic to euthanasia, and UK courts yet to prosecute a single family member for helping a loved one travel to Switzerland, why are so few using the service? What causes such a vast incongruence in the figures? Of course there will be many factors, but can we rule out economics being one of them? And if not, is this fair?

On average, it’ll set you back five thousand pounds to end your life at the Dignitas clinic, not to mention flights, accommodation, legal fees, etc , something out of reach for most individuals with a terminal illness/degenerative disease. Figures from Macmillan state that more than three-quarters of people living with cancer suffer some form of financial hardship and that even travel expenses to hospital appointments can be a struggle surely rendering travel to Europe a pipe dream for the majority. I for one feel uneasy that the right to die in is an option only for those who can afford it.

So, is it time to legalise euthanasia in the name of equality? Should the right to choose how to die be determined by you, and not your economic status?

To support Macmillan’s ‘Better Deal’ Campaign

To find out more about Dignitas

The Burka; never has a garment been so emotive. With Sarkozy’s call for the banning of this piece of clothing throughout France I am yet again faced with the troubling issue of how to climb off the fence on this divisive topic. So, I’m asking for your help. What do you think of Burka? Is it a symbol of male oppression or a woman’s expression of spiritual liberation?
Sarkozy’s grounds for outlawing the burka is that it –

‘Deprives (women) of all identity’ and that it’s ‘not the French republic’s idea of women’s dignity.’

Whether you agree or not, his comments have breathed air into the question most of us would like to see suffocating under a pillow – is wearing the Burka an act of self-determination, or the ideological oppression of Muslim women?
This is of course a feminist issue. Feminism is defined by the equal right of women to determine the course of their own lives and to have fair and equal treatment before the law. This being so, in order to answer the question of whether the burka is worn out of a Muslim woman’s free choice we must first look at the relationship between religion and free will.

My happy-go-lucky liberal side wants me to believe that burka wearing Muslim women are exercising their free will. My other side, the cynical recovering Catholic who knows what it’s like to be indoctrinated, has a gut feeling this just isn’t so for all Muslim woman. You see, the crux of the matter is free will. Free will doesn’t generally go hand in hand with religion. Religion restricts the individual’s free choice for many reasons; to live morally/ethically, to reach enlightenment, please god, understand god, gain a place in heaven, etc etc…Therefore, religious domination of the individual via dogma can and does interfere with free will. If you believe your god demands you behave in a certain way, and will not be too pleased if you don’t, where is your free will and self determination? Moreover, if your religion dictates that you are not equal in the eyes of god, (women not allowed to be ordained, women having to dress modestly etc) then surely as feminists we need to challenge these notions? These are important questions we need to face head on in our society.

As a young Catholic girl I often wondered why there were no women priests. I was a deeply spiritual child, and equally as questioning. When I asked the nun training me for my first holy communion why she was not a priest she said, ‘It’s god’s will. We are the priest’s servants’. This sent a clear message to me, no matter how connected to my god I felt, I would never be ‘good’ enough. My male peers were special. I was to serve them. It was a vicious feeling; a spiritual disempowerment of the most corrosive form. My gender dictated my place within my faith, and that place was a firm second. Even as a child I felt angry. There was a huge incongruence between what Jesus had said and what the church did, and still does. I sometimes feel sure similar incongruences exist within Islamic teachings, and I worry.

I worry we may be ignoring the religious domination of some woman within our society. I worry our lack of communication and desire to keep the boat steady is hindering some women’s right to own the empowerment some of us take for granted. Yes, I worry and I don’t know if it’s unfounded.

The two Muslim women I know have very differing views. One wears the Burka, as she feels it is her duty to not evoke the lust of men. The other, equally devoted, chooses not to wear it as she feels it’s a middle-class Afghan fashion statement of wealth and as it’s not mentioned in the Qur’an she’s not obliged to cover up. (And there’s that troubling word again, ‘obliged’, it’s a word that makes me feel very very uncomfortable.)

So, back to the question and I’m just about off the fence. Should we ban the Burka? So far my answer is… no. There’s no such thing as the fashion police and nor should there be. Politicians should stay out of women’s wardrobes. They should no more legislate against women covering up than they should demand they wander round naked. If we start interfering with people’s right to dress how they choose we’d all have to wear the latest fashion dictated by Vogue magazine…that prospect makes me shudder right down to my bone marrow. Besides, if we ban it we can pretend the issue has gone away, it won’t. If we ban it, every religion should be de-robed. If we ban it, we are in danger of further victimising a section of the community who are already so unfairly treated it’s tantamount to bullying. You simply cannot fight oppression by oppressing people. And finally, if we ban it, we ultimately forget we live in a democratic society where Muslim women’s voices deserve to be heard too, who are we to decide for them?

However (and it’s a huge great big however) we should be aware that the burka could be used to dominate and manipulate some women into a subservient role. We all have a duty to protect women from domination and oppression of any sort. We should be vigilant, we should talk, and we should try our best to empower our sisters no matter what their colour or creed, but we can’t do this by patronising Muslim women and treating them like they don’t have an intellect just because they have a faith! If you ban the burka, you send a message that the majority of Muslim women can’t think for themselves, this is just plain insulting and unjustifiably wrong.

If you believe differently, I’m open to your comments.

If you, like me, feel you want to challenge the BNP’s bigotry, expose their lies and denounce their attempt to legitimise hatred, come along to the Unite Against Fascism’s emergency conference this Sat 18th July.
Let’s show the Nazi’s what British democracy really means by using our right to free speech to counter their nauseating views. Visit Unite Against Fascism’s site using the link below to find out more
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The BNP are trying again to give their little press conference at 12.30 today. If you want to demonstrate, (and what sane person wouldn’t) protesters are meeting at 12 on Oldham Road Royal Mail Dep, come along.
Griffin also on the BBC at 5.30 so there will be a demo from 4.30 onwards on Oxford Rd (outside the BBC) come along! Show your support!

First they came for the Jews,
I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for the communists
I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist

Then they came for the social democrats
I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a social democrat

Then they came for the trade unionists
I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist

Then they came for the Catholics
And I didn’t speak up because I was a protestant

Then, they came for me –
And by that time no one was left to speak up.

Martin Niemöller

My grandfather was in the RAF, he fought in WW2. When his plane went down his best friend was instantly killed. My mother tells me her father caught fire; he survived to bury his comrade and endure night terrors of the event that almost killed him and stole his friend.

I know little about my grandfather, he died before I was born, but my mother’s story gives me a great sense of pride. My grandfather fought against fascism as I’m sure many of your kin did also; I am proud of him, just as I am proud of yours too.

Today is a bleak day. To wake and find the fascist BNP have gained two seats in Europe has cast a shadow over my movements. In truth, it casts a shadow over the northwest, and should. It is a shadow of shame. What would the fallen say?

I was obviously displaying chronic naivety in my last post about the BNP. It appears disaffected labour voters did scrabble to put an X in the BNP box. It’s a bizarre swing from left to far far right. I simply cannot figure out if you BNP voters are just mind-blowingly stupid, stunningly ignorant, or loony-bin level deluded. I simply don’t want to contemplate the more terrifying prospect, which is that you’re a bunch of genuine fascists. After-all, I stood up and said in my last post that the working-class are not idiots. (the vast majority are not). We’re no ones fools, least of all the BNP’s. Shame on you BNP voters. Look how you’ve painted the UK’s working classes to the world. You’re countrymen who died in the fields, in the trenches, in the seas and skies to keep the fascists out would be disgusted that you have let them in via the backdoor. You should hang your head, and then get it tested. Oh, more fool you BNP voters. Why unearth did you do it? I challenge you to speak up and validate your vote with debate, come on now, out from under your stones, tell me – those of you who decided to vote for fascism as a protest –what are you protesting about that you think fascism could ever possibly remedy?

Those of you who voted for fascism because you feel you can’t trust the main parties – do you honestly think you can trust fascists?

Those of you who voted for fascism because you’ve lost your job– why the far right and not the alternative left?

Those of you who vote for the BNP because you think your voice isn’t being heard, ask yourself – Do you really think a fascist dictatorship will listen to you?

Women BNP voters – do you value you human rights, your equality?

Do you as a BNP voter know how fascism would treat you? Do you remember from your history lessons how fascism treats women, older people, the mentally ill, the disabled, children, people with religious beliefs, trade unionists, journalists, writers, musicians, people of differing race, culture, sexuality and opinion? Or have you forgotten? Perhaps you don’t care. I say again, more fool you. You have voted for people who agree with the flowing statements

“Honestly now, would you prefer your kid growing up in Oldham and Burnley or 1930s Germany? It would be better for your child to grow up there.” Mark Collett, leader of the Young BNP on Channel 4 in 2004

“Meanwhile, the indigenous side in the low-to-medium level civil war brewing in this country is getting its training… It’s all going to get very messy.” Nick Griffin’s blog on BNP website

“Rape is simply sex. Women enjoy sex, so rape cannot be such a terrible physical ordeal… [It] is like suggesting forcefeeding a woman chocolate cake is a heinous offence.” Nick Eriksen the then BNP London organiser and GLA candidate,

AIDS is “a friendly disease because blacks, drug users and gays have it.” Mark Collett, leader of the Young BNP on Channel 4 in 2004

(All quotes cited from Unite Against Fascism http://www.uaf.org.uk/theBNP.asp)

And to the BNP, I say this. There’s more of us than there is of you. You may play on people’s paranoia, give credence to the dark shadows of people’s imaginations, and twist the truth into odd shapes with your lies, but we remember your kind. We have your number. And we’ll mobilise. We’ll rip off your mask to expose the ugly distorted face beneath. There will be no place for you without your sheep’s clothing; the sheep, they will simply disperse.

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HOPE not hate
Celebrating modern Britain

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“We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, militarism and economic exploitation are incapable of being conquered.” Dr. Martin Luther King, 1967

I’m giving up unnecessary consuming for June. Not to please god, or save the world, but as an experiment in happiness.

Don’t get me wrong, here are many valid ethical reasons why pointless consumption of goods should be stopped for environmental reasons. But I’m convinced the decay goes further, I believe it seeps into our self-esteem.

A couple of weeks back, my twin and I were moaning about the state of the country and drinking tea when we stumbled onto the subject of consumerism and self-worth.
“It’s the new religion,” she said, smoking a cigarette and giving me a knowing nod. “Yes,” I agreed, burning my mouth as my enthusiasm to speak got the better of me, “a cock-eyed form of good citizenship.”
“I buy therefore I am!” she yelled,
“I have what I’m meant to and therefore I have worth.” I replied, and immediately regretted it; she forgave my cumbersome articulation as we were feeling pleased with ourselves, happy with our tea and philosophy. What came next led to this blog.
“We should stop” she said,
“Stop?”
“Yeah, stop”
“Okay, yeah. How hard can it be, starting June I’m stopping.”
We fell silent. We weighed up our pact. An air of regret and fear filled the room which neither of us acknowledged. We smiled when we parted, but I know we were both wracked by anxiety. I walked home thinking about the shiny pink shoes I wanted to buy. I decided to get them before the fast began.

We discovered nothing new in our caffeine fuelled discussion. Deep down we all know consumerism is devastating to self-esteem. What’s worse is that we still comply regardless, we’re all afflicted, and our MP’s appear terminally ill with it.

The developed world is filled with ‘I wanters’ (I include myself in this group too). We seem to think this want is natural, a given right. It’s not. But it seems we are culture bound, our minds raised by marketers and advertisers, our self-worth bound to white goods, shiny cars, and designer clothes. Most people fear not having the latest trinket in case others crucify them; oh the shame of not having the latest hairdo, what shall I do! Quick find me a good stylist, or a strong noose. Sadly, the old adage of ‘what you say about me says more about you’ rings true. We judge others by how we judge ourselves. Miserable bunch aren’t we. Surely people are worth more than their trainers. Can’t we judge people by what they contribute to society rather than what they own or consume? Can’t human-beings be valued for being just that, human? Alive and breathing in all that beautiful complexity that no car or mobile phone could ever possess. Yet it seems even humans are consumable, celebrities buy children like sweets, women and children are held captive in sweat shops or packed into trucks and transported for sex across the world. Money doesn’t just talk, it screams too.

I’m not attempting to lecture or create an air of superiority; I’m including myself in this strange tribe. I consume too much food, yes even imported out of season fruits. I moan if the supermarket doesn’t have enough choice or my favourite yogurt, I’m a sucker for shoes, lip-gloss, hair colour and dare I say it lingerie. Just because I put my unnecessary bits of crap in a jute bag is no way to salvage me. Environmental tat is on the rise too. Green consumerism is still consuming and someone inevitably suffers for it, and that someone could be in a factory in India but more immediately it is you and I. You only have to look at adverts to see how they play on your insecurities (and create them where they never existed). Good consumers are scared and insecure. We buy to feel good enough, attractive enough, in other words; to feel worthy.

I don’t want to live like that; with my self-worth rising only as my bank balance sinks. I’m sick of l’oreal telling me ‘I’m worth it’ when I’m worth so much more. Therfore I’m challenging myself to stop all useless consumption for one month to see if I can find a more natural, sustainable self-worth. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a shopaholic, I’ve not been graced with the income or facile personality necessary, but I do have a suspicion, a creeping smelly old gut feeling that I buy far too much shit for one woman so I’d like to see what happens when I stop. Maybe I’ll have an outrageous breakdown without my organic hummus or become the irritating Buddha of the council estate.

So goodbye impulse buys, chocolate, wine, and boo hoo cheerio shoes, so long takeaways….
I get the feeling it’s going to be a long, long month.

Wish me luck