Hey gang,
Welcome to 2013, and let’s hope this year is the year we all get what we need in spades, and that all surprises winging their way to us are diamond geezers instead of nasty, evil demons that ride on our shoulders whispering doubt and vitriol in our ears.
One of the last things I did in 2012 was write a report for the Arts Council on the what had happened with the first year of the grant it had given to Loose Muse, plus an article for Write Out Loud on its Tales from the Venues slot, also on Loose Muse (which should be published some time in January).
Looking back on our progress, even I was surprised at how much we’d actually done. For example, since Loose Muse started in 2004, we have featured over 160 women writers of all genres drawn from all over the country and overseas – from the USA to Argentina, Europe to Singapore via the Middle East. True it’s a tad poetry/poet heavy, but that’s my world, so hardly surprising. But those who attend know it’s completely cross-genre, with novelists, playwrights, bloggers, song-writers and journalists as well as women writing flash fiction, shorts stories, or who work in film, theatre or radio. Basically Loose Muse is for any woman who write anything at all, so that those who want to write can learn from, and share skills with, those who already do.
The grant has also enabled Loose Muse to commission six writers so far for two series of poems and four short stories, as well as produce two amazing high-quality Anthologies of new writing by women, with a third one open for submissions – deadline end January, with a launch probably early March, so get your submissions in soon!
And Loose Muse is also going national, with gigs/events planned over the next few months in Manchester, Surrey and Loughborough (at the university there), all with a view to encouraging women young and old to pick up their pens and start writing. Way to go ladies!! I’ve also got my eye on expanding this list to other parts of the country, and hopefully collaborating with all kinds of other organizations and groups, so watch this space. Tomorrow…seriously…the world!
Until then, the next Loose Muse is on February 13th, at the Poetry Café as always, featuring novelist Kate Fox, and playwright/poet Nandita Ghose, both writers of power and strength. So be there, or be square!
Cheers,
Agnes
Loose Muse 
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