Vote like your future depends on it
Countdown to the UK General Election, writing prompts, community events and open calls for submissions
Hey! How’s it going? Welcome to our new subscribers!
This week the newsletter hit 100 subscribers, which is incredible! Thank you so much for your support whether you’ve come to a Coop or The Inkubator, or you’re a paying subscriber and community member.
Your support allows me to keep the Coop and The Good Egg Project running. It takes time to talk to people across the creative scene to find opportunities and open calls that are suited to all kinds of writers. But with more paying subscribers and ticket donations, I can do that! We’ve got some very exciting newsletters coming up that are very similar to this newsletter on open mics and events across Edinburgh.
If you’d like to become a paying subscriber, you can do that for £5 a month (or £50 a year which works out as getting 2 months of newsletters packed with prompts, events, and open calls for free - wild)!
Paying subscribers can access the newsletter back catalogue, our community Discord Server, two free in-person writing groups a month, and early-bird access to Coop and Inkubator tickets.
Remember to vote on Thursday, July 4
I’m still talking about politics this week because the UK General Election is coming up fast and there’s a lot at stake for creatives and the general public.
For those of you who have been inundated with election leaflets, you’ll notice that this week’s newsletter title is borrowed from the Scottish Greens.
It’s not easy to feel optimistic given that art and creativity are often portrayed as luxuries instead of necessary and worthwhile activities that improve mental health, deepen empathy, and create connection (to name just a few benefits). But by engaging with campaigns and voicing our opinions, we see victories like the reversal of funding cuts in Scotland as a result of organising and campaigning by non-partisan alliances like Campaign for the Arts earlier this year, which comes back to our original point about voting like our lives (and future lives) depend on it.
Access to the arts and creativity isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity and we all deserve time to be creative or to pursue outlets because they make us feel good or help us to express things we don’t otherwise have space or support to express. Profit isn’t everything and sometimes our pursuits can just be what they are, fun outlets that bring us happiness.
If you’re keen to organise or get to grips with organising, there are so many places and ways to get involved.
Living Rent is Scotland’s tenants and community union campaigning for local and national causes like lighting on Leith Links and rent controls and a new deal for tenants across the country. The union is growing quickly and is pushing back against landlord’s unchecked profiteering across cities and towns around Scotland.
Fossil Free Books welcomes writers, illustrators, booksellers, and any other workers involved in the book industry. FFB organises in solidarity with Palestine, and for a fossil-free book industry. Check out this post for more information on how to get involved.
Save the Roseburn Path is a local campaign based in the Roseburn area of Edinburgh. Edinburgh City Council plans to turn the Roseburn Path into a tramway, but locals are objecting and pushing for an alternative solution to protect this diverse greenspace and alternative travel route. You can find out how to get involved here.
I’d also recommend that Edinburgh residents fill out this 2024 Budget Engagement survey. You might’ve seen the posters asking for input to help the Edinburgh City Council save money, well, they’re looking for resident views on:
Where they can save money
Where they’re doing well
Where they need to improve
Your feedback and suggestions will help the council to develop proposals to balance the budget. You’ll also be helping Councillors understand your needs and priorities when they make decisions about how to spend the city's budget. The survey is open until July 28.
Writing prompt
Moving on from the election for a little bit, this week at our first community writing group of July our prompt was a response to someone else’s work.
I came across this poem, ‘What I Would Tell Eve’ by Meagan McAuliffe O’Leary, on Instagram at the weekend and I love it. It’s powerful and it’s defiant. What more do we need?
Have a wee read and check out the prompt below!
Write a response to Maegen's poem (before any long-form writers panic, this doesn’t mean you have to write a poem). You can write a short story about Eve on her journey to the gallows, write a love song for her, or write an article about Eve eating the apple and what it means for climate change (is there a link, who knows, write the fictional article to find out)!
If you’re struggling with the initial prompt, you can write a letter (or something else like a sonnet or vignette) to, for or about a person in myth or history.
Community events
Burgh Blatherers Storytelling Ceilidh
Join host Bob Mitchell and members of the Burgh Blatherers storytelling club at The Scottish Storytelling Centre for the latest instalment of their regular open-floor storytelling nights on Wednesday, July 3 from 7 pm. These storytelling events are a welcoming gathering in the relaxed surroundings of the Storytelling Court with refreshments available from The Haggis Box Café. This month’s theme is Children of the Sun. The Burgh Blatherers offer their own stories and imaginative weavings while giving you the chance to tell your own tales as well.
Get tickets and more information here
Join CAPS Independent Advocacy’s LGBTQI+ collective advocacy group at Kafe Kweer on Wednesday, July 3 from 4-6 pm for Queer Utopias, a zine making workshop. The event is a celebration of queer joy, which also teaching people about advocacy. The workshop will consider questions like what does queer utopia feel like and where might we go looking for a glimpse of one? This event is specifically for the queer community and allies are asked to wait for future events.
You can book a free ticket on Eventbrite
This Wednesday, July 3, the Sad Song Club is back at Sketchy Beats Café. SSC is open to songwriters, poets, spoken-word artists, and other kinds of performers, all that they ask is that your work celebrates sadness. Sign-ups are open on the day.
Get more information and stay up to date on future events here
Push the Boat Out’s regular open mic Rock the Boat is back on Thursday, July 4 at The Library Gallery at Summerhall. This month their feature poet is Titilayo Farukuoye who recently published their debut pamphlet In Wolf’s Skin with Stewed Rhubarb Press.
Get more information in this post or register to perform here
This Friday, July 5, Poets of the Night returns to St Margaret’s House with a packed line up featuring community members, Georgia Bartlett-McNeil, Sam Mills and James Stedman, with special guest spoken word artist and Loud Poets open mic host, Mark Gallie. Tickets are free and the event hosts promise a wonderful evening of poetry and spoken word surrounded by an art exhibition by Rory Macdonald and Constantine the Artist.
Book your free space for Poets of the Night at poetsofthenight.events@gmail.com
Next Monday, July 8, the Loud Poets open mic is back at the Canons’ Gait. Join the I Am Loud team for an evening of poetry and spoken word performances whether you’re new to the mic or a seasoned performer. Their feature on Monday is Scottish writer, poet, and reviewer, Beth Macdonald.
Get more information about the Loud Poets open mic here
Open calls for submissions
Gypsophila Zine is open to submissions of poetry, prose, and short stories. One of our community members, Georgia Bartlett-McNeil, was published in their latest issue. The deadline is July 31. Find the submission guidelines here
Myceliart Collective is seeking contributions for their zine of Field-Studies in Radical Mycopgraphy. They’re looking for anything that can printed in a booklet including sketches, recipes, drawings, plant pressings, maps, photos, poems, journal reflections and much more. The deadline for submissions is July 15 and guidelines are in this post. Submit your work to Hana and Oona at myceliart.collective@gmail.com
Thread is an alternative literary magazine publishing poetry and micro prose. The publication is put together by the Chill Subs team (an excellent resource for writers who are looking to submit their work for publishing by the way). Thread is open for work in any genre as long as it’s 500 characters or less and speaks to the theme Fresh Start. Community member Laura Cooney had work published by Thread this year. The deadline is July 31 and submission guidelines are in this post
Open mic host and poet Ross Wilcock is open to submissions for The Poetry Experiment’s first Poetry Anthology. The theme is Best of You and Ross is looking for poetry that best represents you or your work. The deadline is August 28 and submission guidelines are in this post
Thanks for reading!
It means a lot to have almost 150 community members and subscribers supporting The Good Egg Project, I hope you continue to find something useful here as the newsletter evolves.
I’m looking forward to sharing more opportunities to be creative and highlighting other excellent work including open mics, events, and writing groups across Central Scotland (all coming soon) and putting together insights and answers to your questions from writers and creatives from any wordy background you can think of.
If you can’t afford to become a paying subscriber, that’s okay! This newsletter will continue to platform opportunities and events for free, but if you’d like to support my work in another way you can share the newsletter with friends or other writers you know.
Keep your eyes peeled for a ticket announcement for the next Chicken Coop Writing Group on July 30 soon.
Until next time, take care and speak soon,
Naomi x
P.s. Thank you for bearing with all the political talk for the last month! I hope it hasn’t been too much. Taco and I send Edinburgh Climate Festival cuteness as a special sign of gratitude