Storytelling
During lockdown, and before the pandemic, what is a story of Greater Pollok that tells the story of your community?
Tell the story of greater pollok
Does this story focus around a person, a location or an event that took place?
Can you creatively tell this story by developing a short story, a poem, a song or something else that tells the story through words?
Your story could include:
- Local Heros
- History
- Myths
- Social Commentary
- Ideas for the Future
Example 1: Stories for Strangers
Stories For Strangers is a series of short stories written by Luke Winter. Luke writes his stories on the street with an old fashioned typewriter.
People ask for a short story and suggest a topic which he then writes for them while they wait. He calls this process “Stories While ‘U’ Wait”.
Example 2: Darren ‘Loki’ McGarvey
Greater Pollok alumni Darren ‘Loki’ McGarvey is undoubtedly one of our country’s greatest storytellers.
Having started his career as a musician making Scottish rap albums such as ‘Welcome to The Ninth World’ which features great examples of storytelling, Darren then went on to write his book Poverty Safari which focuses on his own experience of growing up in the area. The book went on to win the Orwell Prize.
More recently he has been working on a podcast which he uses to discuss ideas and current events.
Example 3: Leyla Josephine
Leyla has been writing poetry since 2013. A friend asked her to come along to an open mic night and perform some of her work that she had written for theatre, not realising it could be defined as poetry. She had never been to a spoken word night but she fell in love with how quickly things could be shared and the community that came with it.
She started competing in slams and came first in the UK National Slam at The Royal Albert Hall 2014. She then won The Commonwealth Slam in the same year and The Loud Poets Grand Slam 2016. She was a finalist in the Roundhouse Slam 2017 and runner up for The Scottish Championships 2018. She has been lucky enough to perform her poetry in Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, The Czech Republic, Canada and in The US.
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