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The Forum page is the place to promote your events and take part in debates on topics that can be serious or whimsical. This month, Andrea Enisuoh, Centerprise Literature Development Co-ordinator, explains what the recent funding cuts by the Arts Council England means for her project.
February 2008
It was just before Christmas 2007 that we at Centerprise Literature heard the news that our funding might be cut by Arts Council England. After more than ten years of delivering high quality courses for writers, hosting author readings and publishing Calabash, one of the only free magazines aimed at black and Asian writers, we were told that the Arts Council had ‘serious concerns’ about our project and officers were recommending that funding be stopped at the end of this financial year.
To say we were stunned would be to downplay just what an impact this news has had on us. We had not long finished organising Word Power, the largest international Book Fair and Festival in Europe showcasing black writers. That had been a massive success and we had already started planning next year’s event.
We were also extremely pleased that we had produced the first full colour edition of Calabash magazine to complement the Festival. Now instead of building on what we had achieved, valuable time will be eaten up arguing with the Arts Council about why they should not cut our funding.
We quickly discovered that we were not the only ones. In fact close to 200 organisations funded by the Arts Council faced a funding threat. They were theatres, publishers and literature projects, many with a long and proud reputation of delivering services to their communities. Some, like the Bush Theatre, had high profile support from actors like Kevin Spacey and Judy Dench in their campaign against the cuts. Others like Centerprise and Subtext, an East End literature project working particularly with young people and hard to reach groups, had enormous grass roots support.
It was the beginning of February this year that we were given the final decision: Arts Council England would no longer be funding our literature projects. Many other organisations received similar bad news, while some, like the Bush Theatre, received a reprieve.
While undoubtedly a blow to our project, it has to be said that it is not the end of the Centerprise Literature. We will continue to run our main courses with some of the best creative writing tutors out there. We are also looking elsewhere for funding to maintain the rest of our programme and Calabash magazine.
As part of the defence for their actions, the Arts Council has said that they want to build ‘centres of excellence’ rather than fund so many groups. Excellence is an interesting - and I would say subjective - word. At the end of the day it is for our local communities to decide if we are delivering the services that they want at the standard they want. The overwhelming support we have received since people heard about the threat to our funding has convinced us that we are doing the right thing.
With or without Arts Council funding, we will continue to develop and support writers. Most importantly we will continue to deliver the services that our local community want and need.
If you’d like to comment on this article, email info@wordsofcolour.co.uk
For more information on Centerprise visit: www.centerprisetrust.org.uk
Forum Listings
The Book Bites Back
Four poets (Daljit Nagra, Denise Saul, Jamal Msebele and George Chopping) celebrate World Book Day with a special performance poetry event hosted by Apples & Snakes, a leading organisation for performance poetry.
Date: Friday 7th March 2008
Venue: The Albany, Douglas Way, Deptford, SE8 4AG
Time: 8pm
Price: £7/£5 concessions
Visit: www.applesandsnakes.org & www.thealbany.org.uk
An Evening of Skewed Garage Poetry
Novelist, singer, songwriter, painter and poet Billy Childish performs his poetry with beat survivor Fran Landesman and spitter Riz MC, all compered by William Stopha. It promises to be a ‘cult’ night.
Date: Wednesday 27th February
Venue: Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE
Time: 8pm
Price: £8/£6 concessions
Visit: www.applesandsnakes.org & www.thealbany.org.uk
Contact: 0870 429 6883
Wisewords
Alternative Arts presents a seven day showcase of women’s writing, comedy and music as part of International Women’s Month. Performers include Tamima Anam, Shamim Azad, Cupcake Brown, Ninia Benjamin, Jo Enright, Shazia Mirza and Joolz Denby.
Dates: 3rd-9th March 2008
Venue: Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, Shoreditch, London E1 6LA
Price: £10/£8 concessions
Visit: www.alternativearts.co.uk
Contact: 020 7247 2584
PROFILE YOUR EVENT
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Maxine Quintyne-Kolaru shares her joy at being selected for a rehearsed reading at the Royal Court for her play Shredder.
Loraine Martins of the Olympic Delivery Authority shares her experience of having dinner with living icon Angela Davis.
Andrea Enisuoh, Centerprise Literature Development Co-ordinator, explains what the recent funding cuts by the Arts Council England means for her project.
Have you made a New Year Resolution to take your writing further or get your poems or novel published? Let us know your writing dreams for 2008.
