By Amy Boyle
On Thursday 28th March, I had the pleasure of attending the Beyond the Walls Showcase. Hosted by 2nd year York St John Creative Writing students Amie Watts and Lizzy Harrison, the showcase featured poetry readings from five of York St John’s talented writers.
Beyond the Walls is an annual York St John University anthology edited and curated by 2nd year Creative Writing students, and published by Valley Press, Yorkshire’s leading independent publisher. This year’s theme for the anthology is ‘Resilience through the Unknown’ – a poignant theme given the events of the past year. Although submissions have now closed, the showcase provided a glimpse of the quality and talent we can expect to read in this year’s edition of the anthology.
The event saw poetry readings from Hannah Cross, Tasha Gibson, Bethan Teale and Toad Cook, as well as an anonymous poem read by Leah Figiel. The poems covered a range of topics and issues including lockdown, pre-conceived notions of sex workers, the non-binary experience and even an 80s music inspired romance piece entitled ‘Purple Rain’. Although I wish they could have lasted longer, the live readings were powerful and evocative, truly leaving the audience wanting more – which I’m sure will be provided with the release of the anthology.
My favourite reading of the night was “Flat Pack”, written by an anonymous writer. I resonated with this poem in particular due to its skilful ability to explore the student experience of this past year in a short piece of writing. The poem considered the way in which students were uprooted during the pandemic – leaving parts of their lives scattered, living in family homes in rooms that no longer feel their own. The student experience is a precarious one in normal circumstances, and the last year was anything but normal. Something about the writer’s choice to adorn anonymity was striking – adding to the unknown and indeterminable nature of this past year and the situation described. I felt that I could relate on a very personal level to the writer’s own experience.
Readings were followed by a small question and answer session, which allowed the writers to discuss their inspirations, tips and advice with regards to the writing process. As well as this, a number of the writers discussed their own writing successes – most notably, Toad Cook, who is a founder and writer of Pro-Noun Zine and has had her work published by Savannah Brown. These success stories were inspirational and provided some much-needed optimism in our current moment which can sometimes feel consumed by stasis rather than progression.
In true York St John spirit, the showcase acted as yet another example of the unbreakable nature of the University’s community, which continues to thrive despite the physical limitations of the computer screen. Regardless of the virtual nature of the event, it was an undeniable success, and that is all testament to the amazing Beyond the Walls Creative Writing team who made the event just as engaging and lively as if it had been in person. I got to listen to the entire showcase sat in my pyjamas, with a Yankee candle lit, cup of tea in hand, and truly immerse myself in the writing – a different but equally enjoyable way to attend the event.
The Beyond the Walls team will be hosting another showcase on 6th of May highlighting the work of successful writers published in this year’s anthology. It appears that the March showcase was merely a taster for events to come, and so I wait for the next showcase in eager anticipation.
Beyond the Walls is one of many pillars of the York St John community, and I look forward to reading it.