The theme for 2015 is “light”.
Amaal Said
Age: 19
Themes in your work: I start with the personal. I write about my family, the stories that are passed down to me, and the ones I watch unfold. I write about shame and silence, beauty and trauma.
Favourite poem: "Elegy for Joseph Brodsky" by Ilya Kaminsky.
What comes to mind when you think of the word "light"? Writing after a long period of sadness and feeling the curtains open is what comes to mind. I think of the word "light" when I remember the first time I sat down with my mother to ask the hard questions. I brought my notepad and recorded the interview on my phone. It's the only word I think to describe it, because we were closer and it felt like a weight had been lifted. I didn't have to make up my mother's past life in my head any more.
Amaal Said
Inua Ellams
Age: 30
Themes in your work: Identity. Displacement. Destiny.
Favourite poem: This is an impossible answer. I have various favourite poems that I go to for various reasons and at various times of year, depending on how I feel and what I’d like inspired in me. At best, I can give my favourite poem at the moment, which is called "The Same City" by Terrance Hayes. I recorded myself reading it.
What comes to mind when you think of the word "light"? This year, I have been working with this theme in various parts of the world, in various incarnations. When I think of light I think of shadows – where we crawl out of and crawl into – of the privilege of electricity, the privilege of education, of light pollution in urban areas and how we take it for granted in suburban areas, of the cost of light, how it changes economies, and whether or not darkness has riches we should be spend time relishing.
The Art Valley
Rachel Long
Age: 26
Themes in your work: Sexuality, growing up, hurt, mixed parentage, love, eating disorders, death, dreams.
Favourite poem: Impossible to choose. I've sat here for a half hour with fingers over keys or in my hair. I can't call it between: "In The Book of The Disappearing Book" by John Gallaher, "The Ugly Daughter" by Warsan Shire, "Snow" by David Berman, "Sex Without Love" by Sharon Olds, and "Of August" by Karen McCarthy Woolf.
What comes to mind when you think of the word "light"? Marlboro, that sunrise, a macro photograph of oestrogen taken by science photographer Lennart Nilsson that looks like a firework. It was stunning to see, and to know that we have this exploding, all the time, on the inside of our bodies
Amaal Said
Dean Atta
Age: 30
Themes in your work: Race, sexuality, equality, love.
Favourite poem: "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg.
What comes to mind when you think of the word "light"?
There Shines a Light
from your phone screen
as you lay in bed
tweet-dreams, tinder-night
scrolling your timeline
swiping left or right
when looking for love
a picture = 1,000 words
or 140 characters
there is a hashtag or app
for everything, you believe
people are getting closer
to reaching enlightenment
to reaching enlightenment
people are getting closer
for everything, you believe
there is a hashtag or app
or 140 characters
a picture = 1,000 words
when looking for love
swiping left or right
scrolling your timeline
tweet-dreams, tinder-night
as you lay in bed
from your phone screen
there shines a light.
Hussina Raja
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