Stacie Withers' Five Things.

Written by Lazy Gramophone on Thursday the 28th of March 2013

Five Things is a series of short journal posts introducing each of the writers and artists involved in our up-coming Time project.

Since the project's inception, the idea has been to create an environment where independent writers and artists could come together in order to share their work. The result of this endeavour is a collection of stories, images and poems based around the theme of time, its pages placing particular focus upon the relationship between words and pictures. By sharing in this way we hope to inspire each other as well as those around us, to draw a diverse audience and so help to illuminate the work of alternative artists and writers everywhere. 


Biography.

Stacie Withers began writing so she could be like her idol, Lynda Day. When this showed itself to be the pipe dream it had been all along, she switched to poetry, because it's good for the digestion. Stacie says she writes, mainly, so she doesn't have to talk to people. After studying Creative Writing at BSU, where she wrote for and edited the now discontinued 'Pegasus' zine, and went on to complete post graduate studies in Library Management at Northumbria University, which indulged her twin passions for libraries and promoting open access to literature. Her work often focuses on themes of decay and the passage of time, although her experiences of motherhood have also influenced her work over recent years, and she explores the implications of each of these ideas within her poetry and short fiction. She has written articles for various online publications and is also author of a 'mummy blog', focusing on her experiences parenting a child with ASD. She lives in the Wiltshire countryside and eats far too many biscuits. 



Five Things that have Inspired my Writing.

Good Bones - M. Atwood 
Margaret Atwood played a major part in my adolescence, and my writing.  She shares my interest in the passage of time, and the simultaneous process of development and decay.  This collection of short stories deals with the realities of nostalgia and the roads not travelled; a subject which fascinates me and features heavily in my work.

The Common Years - J. Cooper  
I'll be honest, I've never read any other Jilly Copper books.  But I was lent this one, years ago, to read on a rather long train journey.  I loved every single word and it began my interest in the minutiae of life, the day to day and the wonderful details we barely notice.  

Mortal City - Dar Williams  
Dar Williams confessional brand of song writing has been major influence on my work, and I have been a huge fan of hers since I was a teenager.  Her interest in the ongoing changes to feminism and in the process of personal evolution and self awareness mirrors my own fascination with the lessons we learn the hard way. 

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - T, Stoppard 
(there is also a wonderful film, starring Tim Roth and Gary Oldman). 
I am, I confess, a bit of a Stoppard fan girl.  Arcadia was my introduction to his work, and remains one of my favourite plays, but Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is so utterly wonderful, so fast paced, so intricate and perfect, that I keep going back to it again and again.  Stoppard understands the importance of rhythm, of how words feel in the mouth as well as how they sound to the ear, and, as a poet, I have learned a lot from the principles of his play writing.

Seamus Heaney  
An odd choice to finish off, as I am not hugely fond of Heaneys' poems.  Being made to study them endlessly throughout my time in school, college and university means that any emotive response they may have elicited has long since departed and they now leave me rather cold.  However, I feel strongly that being a writer, or an artist of any discipline, requires work and a desire to perfect the form.  Instinct is vital, it's the thing that first prompts you to pick up a pen and say something, but it needs to be fed and nurtured beyond that initial stage.  By studying the 'craft', for want of a less pretentious word, you learn about the precision of good poetry, the care with which the right word is chosen for the right reason.  You learn about rhythm and metre, and the way to play with these concepts to best present your message.  The easiest and most effective way to study poetry is to read it.  Read lots of poetry, by many different poets.  Over time, you start to pick out the good, and the not so good, and you start to understand technique and style.  Heaney is a master of his craft and studying his poems has taught me about cherry picking words, not just because of their meaning, but because how they flow and fit within a verse.


The Time Project.

1. Time Book Launch Lazy Gramophone Events Page 

2. Time Book Launch Facebook Page

3. View our Clock page (counting down to the release of Time)

4. An introduction to Time

5. Contributors' Five Things Journal Posts:
- Adam Green
- Bryn Hall
- Inua Ellams
- Zoe Catherine Kendall
- Andrew Walter
- Laura Dockrill
- Mat Lloyd
- Sorana Santos
- Will Conway
- Hannah Stephenson
- Matt Black
- Claire Fletcher
- Carl Laurence
- Zophiel Webb
- Jude Melling
- Stacie Withers
- Tom Hirons
- Megan Leonie Hall
- Vincent J Prince
- Kaitlin Beckett
- Guy J Jackson
- Eliza Gregory
- Jeannie Paske
- Jo Tedds
- Maria Drummey
- Tom Harris
- Liz Adams
- Lola Dupre
- Kirsty Allison
- Alexander Aspinall
- Paul Bloom

6. Buy Time from the Lazy Gramophone Shop 

7. Press/Reviews
(Click the links below to read each article in full)

Huffington Post:
'An intriguing book project from one of the most innovative groups of creative people in the city.' ~ Huffington Post

Fabric Magazine:
'...we'll bet you've never seen time as it's portrayed in this stunning new publication.' ~ Fabric Magazine

Rooms Magazine:
'Time is a treasure box brimming with creativity and fresh talent.' ~ Rooms Magazine

Annexe Magazine:
'Lazy Gramophone's anthology, Time, lives up to the high bar it sets for itself.' ~ Annexe Magazine

MORE...

For more on The Time Project tweet us @lazygramophone or #TheTimeProjectLGP or visit our Time Facebook page.
Tags for this post: Stacie Withers, Time, Lazy Gramophone, Five Things, Inspiration.
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