You were talking about breaking apart stereotypes?
Yes, there is still a stereotype that the only people who get time to write, have the education to be able to express themselves through writing, are people from a middle class background. That is definitely something which has come up in the workshops.
There is also a feeling that the use of language, particularly colloquialisms, is very different in working class areas and that might be a problem in that these aren’t the kind of terms used by writers from an academic background. This is despite the fact that writers like Scott McKendry and Paul McVeigh have shown that you can use language from working class area and create stories built around local dialects and accents.
In one of our workshops people talked about how your accent gives you away. There is an inbuilt prejudice against certain expressions and accents, and we talked people through how we needed to feel confident that our own self-expression is not just important, it is a right. It is important that we can document our lives through our own language and that local dialects are vital to that process.
Where did the participants come from?
We drew the participants from around North Belfast and Belfast City Centre for this first round. We used leaflets to advertise the project and we put them into Woodvale Community centre, Ardoyne Community Centre and everyday places around the area to reach, for example, older people who might not use social media. We also had people attend workshops in the Accidental Theatre which has a history of showing material from writers with a working class orientation. As the workshops progressed I think we developed a camaraderie as the participants shared their stories, shared their experiences, and through that got to know each other.
What were the outcomes of the project?
The Arts For All exhibition at the end of the project where we displayed the participants’ poems and stories was a key outcome, although really getting people to enjoy writing without restraint was the most important part of this project. We were also aiming to bring people from different communities together which we achieved.
Where to now?
Our plan is to get funding to extend the project to east Belfast, west Belfast and south Belfast. We would also like to try to bring workshops into the prisons and into the emergency services. Staff from Arts For All offered to extend our exhibition because people loved reading the work on display, which confirmed to us that there is real interest. Everything is funding dependent but the success of the project so far has given us enthusiasm to extend the project and that is what we hope to do.
To see more information about the Writing in the Real World project go to the links below
