Al Margen - in the margins

“It is possibly where you can find the engines of creativity working furiously: in those edges of the mainstream. It is where artists, storytellers, poets, musicians, troubadours find their creative flow, looking in at the main drag of the currents, sometimes jumping in and swimming about, but more often watching, observing, looking outwards to other realms, to other planes of existence. It is where thoughts germinate, grow and blossom into words, shape into beauty.

“It is uncomfortable to sit in the margins, a footnote to the rest of the story, a passing annotation. Yet it is from those margin notes that ideas can be culled, that a few momentary thoughts are captured in brief words and eventually germinate and flourish in the artist’s mind to become powerful works in their own right.

“It is equally uncomfortable, as a writer, to watch events unfold around you and not to be fully immersed, or to feel somehow excluded. Yet it is from that very space of discomfort, of unbelonging, of being outside the boundaries of the norm, yearning to be part of it and also rejecting the norm, from that realm of internal conflict, that creativity emerges. The inspiration and drive is that much stronger when stepping beyond the pale.”

Those were my margin notes when I was doodling around an article about the ‘conventional’ writing world, when I was pondering the business of publishing (because it is a business, not a charity, not a non-profit that is some way supports the arts), writing competitions, journals, online resources, physical resources and ‘literary events’. We can all feel we fit somewhere, yet we can each feel a misfit and I wondered if it is precisely when you accept your place in the margins, and dip into the mainstream now and again when it suits, that you can unshackle yourself from the ponderous expectations of the mainstreams and release your own creativity.

It is from this place that the event ‘Al Margen’ called out to me. A small group of writers in Gibraltar, all of whom write poetry among other things, gathered in Switzerland, very definitely outside the mainstream of Gibraltar as a place and a culture, and sparks of creativity lit us up. We talked about the upcoming Gibraltar Literary Festival; we all love it, we all see its flaws and its omissions but we also appreciate its positives. We talked about the fact that there seemed to be no evening events. What, no wine??? we hollered in horror. Wine is in the pulses of our poems, it fuels, it nurtures, it consoles. Hell hath no fury like a coven of poets deprived of their potions. So we decided to do our own thing. An evening event full of the richness of words and rhythms, beats and music.

It’s all happening next week, Wednesday 12th November, at The Rock Hotel. Rebecca Calderon wanted a cabaret style evening, tables with candles, low lights and attentive waiters. She’s got it (I’m hoping for that speakeasy vibe). And then she ‘s going to offer up poetry that will transport us into her world and give us a glimpse of ourselves, as the best poetry always does. James the Heartist is going to pull people into the joy of his rhymes, into the pain and the pleasure of his poems, to feel alongside him, to breathe in meaning. Adrian Pisarello will mesmerise with his music. Conchita Leon will remind us of our flamenco roots, reach into the passion that lurks inside all of us Jonathan will host as well as perform, a master of the spoken word that he is. Jonathan will make us laugh and cry and carry us on a journey that will be as exhilarating as it will be amusing as it will be thought-provoking. The Rock Hotel will have wine and tapas and more wine.

Best of all, it’s a free event, which is what happens when lovers of literature, poets who care more for their art than their bank accounts, come together to share their words with the world. The Rock Hotel is a marvellous host and we can’t thank them enough for their support.

But more than anything, we want all of you, to come, if you are in Gibraltar that day, if you happen to be over for the Literary Festival, if you are local or just passing by, book a table so you can reserve your place (email dunia.garcia@rockhotel.gi) and be part of our life in the margins. It’s going to be great.

One of my footnotes, an instant thought as I read the foreword in “An Anthology of Gibraltar Poets”