Have you ever wanted to visit a recording studio and perform for posterity? Supported by Portsmouth Creates, Pens of the Earth are offering people in the Portsmouth area two day-long opportunities to attend a practical workshop teaching performance skills in the morning, before recording a short piece from the book Wild Seas, Wilder Cities in the afternoon. The event runs from 9:30 to 5pm on Saturday 25th October or Saturday 8th November.
Christine Lawrence – an experienced spoken-word performer, actor, workshop tutor and long-time S&C contributor – will be leading the workshops and supporting you as you record. Christine is a founding member of Pens of the Earth and is well known in Portsmouth both for her friendly, encouraging and fun workshops and for her locally-set novels. After editing, each attendee will receive a copy of their own recording.
Pens of the Earth was founded in 2019 by a group of Portsmouth creative writers. Wild Seas, Wilder Cities is their first book. It’s a collection of stories, poems and articles, written by local poets and authors and beautifully illustrated by local artists. Written in collaboration with local environmentalists, it is a celebration of the many positive actions being taken to fight climate change, and to make our cities and streets healthier, happier places – where children can play and communities can gather. It’s a celebration of the small changes which are happening, and of what can be achieved by ordinary people when we come together to act, create and use our voices.
The 54 contributors to Wild Seas, Wilder Cities all gave their work freely to support the vital work of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust in its repair and maintenance of the Solent Seagrass meadows. Pens of the Earth have raised over £4000 for the Solent Seagrass Restoration Project since the launch of Wild Seas, Wilder Cities in October 2024.
We’re delighted to play a small role in the restoration of these essential seagrass beds. You may have seen the recent Portsmouth news celebration of this project in their 26th August article: ‘Innovative project sees Seagrass begin to flourish in the Hamble for the first time in almost 100 years’, stating ‘Seagrass meadows are vital nursery habitats for marine life including pipefish, cuttlefish and thornback rays. They can also capture carbon, burying it down in the seabed and making them one of the most important natural solutions to the climate crisis.’
Once completed, the Wild Seas, Wilder Cities audiobook will also be sold to raise money for seagrass restoration.
Pens of the Earth are looking for a range of ‘Wilder Voices’ to perform and record pieces from the book. Christine has carefully selected a range of pieces from Wild Seas, Wilder Cities to use in the workshops, and will contact you prior to the workshop to find out a bit more about your reading preferences and experience, before allocating you a suitable piece in advance. This is so that you can familiarise yourself with it prior to the day. To enable this, ticket registration will close one week before the event.
No experience is necessary, so why not give it a go?
Find out more and sign up (registration closes one week before each event) here.
Local outlets who sell Wild Sea, Wilder Cities are listed here. They include City Museum locations, and the Portsmouth Library of Things & Repair Café in Cascades. Wild Seas, Wilder Cities is also available in Portsmouth Libraries and was recently selected as a Reading Group book set.
You can read more about seagrass restoration here.
Picture courtesy of Pens of the Earth.
