Notes and Reflections #1
The first in an ongoing weekly series.
Good morrow dear Storytime folks,
This is the first edition of what is intended to be a weekly notice board.
Notes, reflections, meditations, ruminations and various other multisyllabic synonyms to project some sort of aura of intelligence.
We will gather ideas and updates from the thriving storytelling and poetry community in London and beyond. We are lucky to be a small part of this community and would like to use our platform here on Substack to spread the good word.
My personal notes from the week are limited. It has been hot here in London, hotter than ever before. For some, this has instilled a sense of good cheer. For others, grumpiness abounds. On the Bakerloo, I sat next to a man sullenly sweating through his grey and woollen suit, retaining a stubborn ambivalence about the unfolding year, he tutted and grumbled under his breath as roaming packs of schoolchildren boarded eating soleros and exchanging tidbits of gossip.
Such are the contrasts of the London in the heat. Don’t be a sullen sweater.
Go and have a solero instead.
When it comes to plugs… There is only one place to start… I am very excited about our solstice event this evening. We’ve got a bumper crop of incredible readers from our collective and a magical musician in the shape of Isaac the brave.
It’s our first outing in Peckham.
There will be air conditioning.
Doors 7pm, readings start 7.30pm prompt.
I will be telling a story about a protracted text exchange and host Leo Flanagan will be sharing a Tombry Tale or two.
Get set. Final tickets here.
Notice Board
As this is the first edition of the notice board, we have not had nearly enough time to solicit submissions.
However, I do have one plug for the wonderful Dean Atta.
I was lucky enough to interview Dean for a separate project that I am launching next week. He is an absolutely delightful human - charming, funny, wise and reflective in the way that only the very best poets are.
Praise Dean!
Dean is running a crowdfunder for a very exciting poetry and music project by him and Antosh Wojcik. It is entitled I Don't March to That Drum takes poems from Dean Atta’s forthcoming poetry collection of the same name and sets them to music composed by Antosh.
Dean’s poems celebrate his Blackness and queerness while acknowledging the challenges other Black and queer people have faced and continue to face worldwide. The show is a rallying cry for love and solidarity, urging us to stand together but march to the beat of our own drum.
Dean and Antosh are seeking to raise £5,000 and are offering highly desirable rewards of 1:1 creative consultation sessions, feedback on your poetry, prose, or scripts, and executive producer credits on the project.
Get involved here.
Support the project and claim your reward by 1 July 2026.
Get involved, support Dean, and get feedback on your work from one of the best poets working in London today.
We’ll be back next week for some more notes and reflections.