WRITE ABOUT TREES

Event Information

Hosted by poet & rapper Arji Manuelpillai, the WRITE ABOUT TREES showcase event introduces the shortlisted authors of the Urban Tree Festival writing competition, and includes readings of their poetry and prose.

Run by the Museum of Walking and Sampson Low Publishers the Urban Tree Festival writing competition attracted over 100 entires. The competition required writers to compose poems or prose of 250 words and under, inspired by the theme of “trees close to you”.

Your host

Arji Manuelpillai is a poet, performer and creative facilitator based in London. For over 15 years Arji has worked with community arts projects nationally and internationally. Recently, he was the Jerwood Arvon Mentee mentored by Hannah Lowe. His poetry has been published in magazines including Cannon’s Mouth, Strix, The Rialto and Bath Magg. He has also been shortlisted for the BAME Burning Eye pamphlet prize 2018, The Robert Graves Prize 2018, The Oxford Prize 2019, The Live Canon Prize 2020, The National Poetry Prize 2021 and Winchester Prize 2021. He has also come runner-up in the Robert Graves Prize 2020. Arji is a member of Wayne Holloway-Smith’s poetry group, Malika’s Poetry Kitchen and London Stanza. Arji’s debut pamphlet ‘Mutton Rolls' was published with Out-Spoken Press. www.arji.org

Authors shortlisted in order of appearance at the Showcase:

The writers will be joined by the competition judges

For poetry:

Ghazal Mosadeq is an Iranian-Canadian writer, poet and translator based in London. She is the founder of Pamenar Press, an independent cross-cultural, multi-lingual publisher based in UK, Canada and Iran. Mosadeq's work has been performed internationally at festivals such as the Inishbofin Festival, Surrey Poetry Festival, Po-Ex Symposium Chile, among others. Her writings have been published by Words Without Borders, Poetry Wales, Boiler House Press, The Stand Magazine, Hesterglock Press, Vanguard Press, Tentacular and Oversound. She has published three poetry collections, Dar Jame Ma (2010), Biographies (2015), and Supernatural Remedies for Fatal Seasickness (2018). She lives in a home jungle of apartment plants.

Dr Samantha Walton is a poet and non-fiction writer, whose books include Self Heal (2018), a collection of poems about nature and the self, and The Living World (2020), the first literary study of the Scottish nature writer Nan Shepherd. She’s soon to publish a book about the deep history of the 'nature cure' Everybody Needs Beauty (Bloomsbury, July 2021) exploring the science and stories behind this relationship, and considering how the climate crisis will affect our mental health. Samantha is unable to attend the showcase event.

For prose:

NG Bristow is a screen writer, director and visual artist. He is rooted at Goldsmiths University of London, where he runs the MA in Directing Fiction. An award-winning filmmaker and installation artist whose practice encompasses classical narrative, expanded cinema, and para-cinema. Past work in these categories includes: CONTROL , winner of the Louis Mitchell award for best feature / short at Action on Film festival 2016. UNSOUND, showcase premiere at SXSW. Using the prototype Sensum Emotional Response Cinema technology, the film recomposes its narrative in real time based on bio-feedback from the audience. He has been commissioned by: FilmFour, C4, BBC, UKFC, BFI, NIFC, NI Screen and the Arts Council.

Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone is a prize-winning writer, editor, reviewer and creative writing teacher. Her novel, Home, about a corrupt care home, is published by Red Button Publishing and Glitches, her short story chapbook, is published by Acorn Books. A creative writing lecturer in several settings for over ten years, devising and delivering workshops for City, University of London (MA and Short Courses), Bishopsgate Institute, Emmanuel & Pembroke Colleges Cambridge, the Guardian and the Graham Greene Festival. She currently teaches on City’s Novel Studio and runs City Writes, a showcase event for students and alumni of Creative Writing Short Courses at City, University of London. Rebecca is also the anthology editor.

The anthologies are beautifully illustrated by Alban Low and published by his family’s 300 year old publishing company Sampson Low Publishers.

Read more about WRITE ABOUT TREES and the competitions in the blog.

Buy the Canopy 2021 chapbook anthology of poetry and prose - in support of future festivals - just £4.50 +p&p