Blog

the word is out

Welcome to our blog

Our new blog area, The Word is Out will feature contributions from attendees of our Spoken Word Open-Mic events as well as from local and International writers and contributors who have words to share.

Plus we’ll be sharing more of what we aim to achieve with Words Out Loud and all the latest news from our events, workshops and activities.

FEATURED POSTS

From our contributors 

Stonepillow Winter Appeal 2023 – There’s This Place

Stonepillow Winter Appeal 2023 – There’s This Place

Stonepillow Winter Appeal 2023 - There's This Place Words Out Loud were asked to write a poem for the Stonepillow Winter Appeal and this year they wanted to highlight the positive impact that their hubs have on the homeless and rough sleepers. Mike Jenkins wrote a...

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Artist Development Programme – Investing in the Arts

Artist Development Programme – Investing in the Arts

Artists Development Programme: Investing in the Artists of the Future Chichester Festival Theatre is launching an Artists Development programme for emerging artists. The programme is open for theatre makers from multiple disciplines, each theatre maker will be offered...

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A Room Full of Soul

A Room Full of Soul

Shane Hudson  5th July, 2023The backroomof a coffee shop...? No... A room full of soul,rivalling many a church. Words out loud. No stage, no mic.A couple of hours set aside from our busy lives. I found myself a curious spectator...Once,I believed events like this were...

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The Polish Poets at Words Out Loud

The Polish Poets at Words Out Loud

The Polish Poets at Words Out Loud  On Zoom Date of Live Meeting: Wed 19th Oct 2022 Featured Readers: The Polish Poets + Open-Mic on Zoom and in Chichester  Oct 2022 On 19th October we hosted  Special Guest Poets from Poland. We were delighted to present poems by...

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Call for Submissions – The Well of Lost Voices

Call for Submissions – The Well of Lost Voices

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS Words Out Loud present: ‘The Well of Lost Voices’ We are seeking written submissions for potential inclusion in a scripted, live performance piece to take place at a venue in Chichester.Date and Venue to be Confirmed. Minimum Age to participate:...

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Ken Jones Reads in Ventura California

Ken Jones Reads in Ventura California

Ken and Deni Jones recently returned to Ventura, California where they had been living for 8 years before coming back to Chichester in 2020. High on their list of friends and relatives to visit was the Open Mic at the E P Foster library hosted by Phil Taggart (with...

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Words of Art – One Painting Speaks to Another

Words of Art – One Painting Speaks to Another

Sarah Williams - Workshop Participant  Any initial doubts I had about signing up for this workshop, (mainly doubts about my own ability!), were soon dispelled once I joined the friendly group at the Pallant House Gallery brought together by Words Out Loud on that...

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Levy tells how she found her voice in written word

Levy tells how she found her voice in written word

It seems that the volume of your words is not only found in what you can hear, as this article from the Sunday Telegraph of January 16th 2022 shows in the case of Deborah Levy. Booker Prize-nominated author Deborah Levy has told how she was inspired to write by a...

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Secret Haven

Secret Haven

The poetry sessions have motivated me to write poetry in order to be able to read something to the rest of the group. Being one of the winners in the competition earlier in the year gave me more confidence in my own work. I am also more motivated to read other...

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Night Light – Mike Jenkins

Night Light – Mike Jenkins

Incapable of holding on a moment longer
night falls around us
deadening dark carpet of
still sudden thrum.
Here
we are together:
sparks in the stark of night
hearts ablaze
as one.

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Trees in Winter – Hillary K Sinclair

Trees in Winter – Hillary K Sinclair

The trees are undressing now
Thin black skeletal branches trellising the sky
Silently listening under the stars
They await their resurrection in the spring.
Bowing to the rich resplendent Earth,
From which they grow.

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Words Out Loud from the Sea

Words Out Loud from the Sea

To those of us living in and around Chichester, living by the sea influences us in ways we are unaware of until readings by the sea brought it home to us. On Tuesday 12th October, Words Out Loud hosted an evening of Words from the Sea at the Anchor Bleu at Bosham...

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Ginny – A Short Story by Piers Rowlandson

Ginny – A Short Story by Piers Rowlandson

Ginny - A Short Story by Piers Rowlandson A regular at our Open-Mic events, Piers offers readers of the blog a free PDF version of his short story, Ginny. Read the opening lines of the story here on the blog and if you'd like to read further, feel free to view and/or...

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Poets – Tina Cockett

Poets – Tina Cockett

Tina Cockett is a regular at our events and shared this evocative, provocative and atmospheric poem at Words Out Loud in the Park at Priory Park, Chichester. In this poem, Tina asks: What are poets? And like all good questions, the answers she discovers reveal deeper...

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Poetic Souls Across the Pond – Bonnie Goldenberg

Poetic Souls Across the Pond – Bonnie Goldenberg

I am so grateful to Ken Jones, who was our wonderful host in California at both of our local libraries in Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park for several years, for not cutting us off but continuing to include us after he returned to his home in Chichester, U.K. It has...

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The Alchemy of Creative Expression – Nigel Millett

The Alchemy of Creative Expression – Nigel Millett

Nigel Millett shares how writing poetry helped him process feelings and gain a fresh perspective. If something is wrong in your life, let’s make it write... put down those feelings on paper before it bites.Bites into your heart, then moves into your head, so write it,...

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The Poetry Course – Sue Shattock

The Poetry Course – Sue Shattock

A regular at our Open-Mic events and one of our previous Featured Readers, Sue Shattock shares this charming and poignant video of a poem she wrote after attending a poetry course.© Copyright 2021 Sue Shattock - All Rights Reserved 

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Words Out Loud Reading in Priory Park a Sunny Success

Words Out Loud Reading in Priory Park a Sunny Success

Words Out Loud Reading in Priory Park a Sunny Success On Sunday 26th September, Words Out Loud held a reading in the sunshine at Priory Park. Enjoying one of the last sunny days were nearly 20 visitors who came to read and listen to a wide range of readings. This was...

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Celebrating the Spoken Word – Mike Jenkins

Celebrating the Spoken Word – Mike Jenkins

What we are, what we do and who it is for.  Words Out Loud is a Charitable Trust - we want to promote and foster the benefits of the spoken word in local communities through live in person events and live/recorded online events/performances. Forming Social...

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At Home with Mr. and Mrs. Twinkie – Elaine Alacron

At Home with Mr. and Mrs. Twinkie – Elaine Alacron

Elaine joins us regularly from the US for our Zoom Open-Mic on the 3rd Wednesday of every month. In this amusing and ordinarily tragic poem, Elaine paints a picture of a couple ageing together, where the every day mishaps of a practiced routine begin to falter. At...

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Poems- Tina MacNaughton

Poems- Tina MacNaughton

Tina MacNaughton shares with us a few of her poems, encouraging us to look a little deeper at our individual and collective experiences.  Tina writes regularly for the community in Wokingham, Today and The Portsmouth Evening News in an attempt to spread the enjoyment...

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A Case for No – Sue Shattock

A Case for No – Sue Shattock

To say YES to everything creates an onward movement, a momentum which is indeed very helpful in the creation of a full and satisfying life. But surely the key to life is knowing when to say NO. To restrict that momentum and choosing NO so that there is time and space...

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Contribute

We’re currently accepting submissions for our blog, The Word is Out.

Please email us at

enquiries@wordsoutloud.org.uk

and let us know what you’d like to share. We’re keen to hear your pespectives, stories, poems, and creative expressions – so get writing, start speaking and let the word out!