Writer in Residence reflects on joyful times at Seven Sisters
October 10, 2022
Writer in Residence Alinah Azadeh looks ahead to the new season after a busy summer of walks and events.
As we head into autumn and uncertain times ahead, I have enjoyed reflecting on a summer full of the joy of being able to share new work and open up our guided walking and writing sessions more publicly, together with fellow writers from our We See You Now cohort.
Having had a difficult time recovering from Covid, I found this summer’s collaborative activities extremely healing.
Exploring a spectrum of themes as we walked and wrote, including belonging, ancestry, change, loss and healing, we covered multiple sites; up and over Exceat Hill at Seven Sisters for the Renature Festival; high above Charleston Farmhouse for The Festival of the Garden with writers Georgina Parke, Razia Aziz, Nina Thaddeus and Georgina Aboud. Freedom From Torture also used our writing prompts on solidarity and healing over the Seven Sisters on their annual fundraiser walk, as part of this year’s Refugee Week theme.
Live readings are an important part of us developing new writing now, especially as it will be recorded and sit across the landscape from next spring on Listening Posts, thanks to a commitment from the Authority to further support next year. So I also really enjoyed also trying out work in more urban settings, such as a poetry night at Printer’s Playhouse Eastbourne. It was a great compliment to the project to be nominated and shortlisted for a New Perspectives award for Campaign for National Parks.
I loved unpicking the archaeological findings of the Seaford Head cliff fall and working with filmmaker Chip Phillips to create “If You Can Imagine”, a short spoken word film on deep time, climate emergency and heritage loss, which features stunning drone footage. Part of the Seaford Head Archaeology project, it intersects with my own current research and new writing for We See You Now.
As I am now sea swimming, Seaford has become an important focal point of my week and a version of this poem will be part of our Listening Posts trail next year. The first story there will be by the writer and educator Dulani Kulasinghe, who is my guest on this month’s Colour of Chalk podcast, Not So Far Apart. Expect moving work on climate change through her personal lens and to learn more about legacies of empire in the landscape, including the WW1 Seaford Caribbean soldiers.
I am likely to go quiet this autumn and winter as I focus on writing, editing and recording with our group, but I plan to share updates on social media and offer a few preview launch readings, so please stay tuned! Thanks to everyone who joined us this summer, especially Jenny Wistreicht, a Seven Sisters Warden, for her wayfinding.
