We took Matter 9 to the Dore Festival on Friday.  It was really lovely.  The venue in Dore Old School, and the audience were perfect.  I’m so glad we were able to be part of their festival.

I opened this time.  I read one of the poems from Matter 9 and some new stuff.  It was quite an intimate space, which was a little scary at first, but the audience made nice appreciative noises, so I soon felt at home.  I haven’t read for so long before.  We all did about ten minutes.

It was great to hear so much from people.  Susan Clegg was able to read her short story “Dogwood,” which I’ve read many times, but it was brilliant to hear it read out loud.  Marian Iseard read an extract from her novel, Looking for Alex, a longer extract than on Monday.  Again, I think having that extra time was really good for getting into the piece.

Noel Williams read  from Matter 9 and some new work.  He’s promised next year we can hear some of his Children’s novel, How to Kill Francesca.  Twice. which will be featured in Matter 10 this autumn.  Noel is well used to speaking and reading, and delivered his poems with the confidence we’ve come to expect from him.  He has a great range of long intense poems and others more easily accessible, which is perfect for this kind of reading, where the audience has to grasp  the words without seeing them on the page, being able to reread them as needed.  He had just the right balance, I think.

We had time for an interval and it was a lovely evening for a glass of wine and a chance to chat with the audience.  Thank you to Maureen Cope, who organized the event especially for us.  We haven’t performed at the Dore festival before, and they were telling me that they don’t tend to have many literary events on the programme.  They seemed really happy with the success of the event, and suggested we might be able to return next year.

Fay Musselwhite opened the second half with “Eggs”.  Fay also has a wide range of poems, often with an outdoor landscape.  She read “Boulder,” which will be in Matter 10, and from her long poem, “River”.

The church bells provided a lovely soundtrack to the second half.

Helen Cadbury read an extract from her children’s novel, Sal and the Flood Pirates, which is one of her many entries in Matter 9, being brilliant at prose and poetry.  Congratulations to Helen for her MA Writing with distinction from Sheffield Hallam University, and thank you for coming all the way from York to read with us.

Ruby Robinson closed the show with her usual modesty and brilliance.  Ruby is heading off round Europe and New Zealand, where she will be taking part in the Kepler Challenge.  New Zealand’s gain is definitely our loss, but hopefully we’ll get her reading again when she gets back next year.

Tomorrow will be the last outing for Matter 9.  We’re reading at the Dore Festival, Dore Old School, Savage Lane, 7pm.  Call 0114 236 0002 to guarantee your place.  Refreshments will be provided.

We had a lovely time at the Sharrow Fringe Festival on Monday.  Thank you to Lu, who organises all the fringe events, and to everyone at Highfield Trinity Church.  Fay Musselwhite opened the reading with her excellent poem, Boulder, which will be featured in Matter 10 this autumn.  Fay has a great voice for readings.  She’s so lucky.

Noel Williams, also a pro at reading his work, promoted Matter brilliantly.  He read some of his work from Matter 9, and also some of the poetry to emerge from his Bank Street Arts residency focusing on women and warfare.  Some great stuff.  An extract from Noel’s children’s novel will be published in Matter 10, so I’m looking forward to hearing that at the launch readings this autumn.

Marian Iseard read an extract from her novel.  It was great to hear a different extract to the one I read in Matter 9.  I’m really getting a sense of the whole.  I always think it’s particularly tricky reading prose.  Whenever I’ve done it, I get about two thirds through and then remember I’m reading out loud.  I start to panic, asking myself if I’m really supposed to be speaking.  Then I get lost on the page.  Luckily, Marian didn’t have any such wobbles, and  I was reading poetry.

Laura Wake was there representing Matter 10 with her novel extract, a story that follows two narratives.  We heard the story from the child, Violet’s, point of view.  Helen Cadbury read her poetry for us, some from Matter 9, and some new stuff.  And Ruby Robinson closed the set with her award-winning poem Tuning Fork.

It was a great night.  I hope we can do it again next year.

See you tomorrow!

Matter 9 is on tour.  Contributors will be reading at the Highfield Trinity Church Hall, London Road, Sheffield at 6pm.  This is a free event to mark the end of the art exhibition supported by Creative Action Network:

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28^th June

• Poetry and Music Evening, Highfield Trinity Church, London Road. 6-8pm FREETours, local artists exhibition, cake and refreshments, and poetry from Matter. (Matter is an annual anthology published by Mews Press at Sheffield Hallam University.  It features the best poetry, prose and script from students on the MA Writing) The theme for this evening is celebration and is open to everyone. The exhibition will be open from 10am-6pm

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http://www.creativeaction.net/view.php?id=81 for more events

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or follow the fringe festival on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=46611088710

Matter is (and always was) a stylish, grown-up, proper magazine. For all sorts of reasons – because it looks so good, because established writers are published alongside student writers, because the overall quality is so high – being published in Matter is a big deal and a pleasure.

Tony Williams

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Matter has been a journey, of new friends and new places. trips to Hay on Wye, to London, a mention in ‘Time Out.’ Being on the team and selling advert space to hirer’s of JCB’s, trawling the bookshops with copies to sell, selling copies at the launch – me and Em getting drunk on the free red wine – good fun, good writing.

Bryony Doran

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The MA Writing at Sheffield Hallam University was a turning point for me, not only because it enabled me to meet my agent, and get published, but because it gave me the space and encouragement to develop as a writer, with the confidence to tap into my own creativity. That focus, craft and creativity are evident in the work published in Matter.

Matter introduces you to the work of some of tomorrow’s best writers before they get famous. It is work that is honed, un-rushed, thoughtful and deeply imaginative. There is something very exciting about the virtuosity and freshness of undiscovered talent, and this is amply evident in this wonderful collection of poetry and prose, which reveals the painstaking eye for detail and ear for the rhythms of language in each contributor.

Marina Lewycka

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Perhaps the most valuable part of doing a writing course is placing yourself in an environment where the urge to write is taken seriously. If so, then Matter must be the physical manifestation of that: a designated and beautifully-designed space where new writing stands up beside the big names; a real book that makes it into shops and stuff, sometimes as far away as London. That said, my fondest memories of Matter aren’t from appearing in it, but from editing an issue with a group of close friends in 2006. Lots of food, lots of arguments. It taught me as much as any seminar did about taste and judgement, not to mention publishing. There are plenty of small magazines around, and some of them attached to university programmes, but how many are run by the students – and different students every year? Matter is special as much for devolving editorial control into the hands of writers as it is for the writing itself.

Frances Leviston

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Matter provides a valuable platform for emerging talent, helping to raise the profile of new writers by showcasing them alongside some the most revered names in contemporary English literature. The artistic quality of the content is matched by fresh design and production values making Matter a very sexy product. It was a real privilege to be involved in several issues of Matter, as both a contributor and poetry editor.

Cathy Bolton

Here is Fay Musselwhite reading one of her poems from Matter 9. Fay is a member of the Tuesday Poets, and an MA Writing student at Sheffield Hallam.

Adam Marek’s short story, If Dead Fish Could Blink, featured in Matter 9, has just been released as an audio file by Spoken Ink, and can be found here: http://www.spokenink.co.uk/catalog?id=95

Matter 9 contributors are reading at some of the summer festivals. We will be reading at an art exhibition for the Sharrow Fringe Festival on Monday, 28th June. The event runs from 5:30-7:30pm and is at the Highfield Trinity Church Hall on London Road, Sheffield.

We are also reading at the Dore Festival on Friday, 2nd July, 7pm. Venue details to follow.

The readings will be different across the two events, so it would be great to see you at both.

Exploding Poetry, the exhibition by Noel Williams and hosted by Bank Street Arts, Sheffield, has now closed. It was a wonderful exploration into women and warfare, and randomness in poetry. There are more installations and events planned at Bank Street. Visit their website www.bankstreetarts.com for more information.

Noel has put a selection of the audio installation from the exhibition onto a CD, Speakers 2. This features many of the writers who participated in Noel’s collaborative project, and is available from Bank Street for £5, or you can contact Noel at noelwilliams@blueyonder.co.uk

Performing at Bank Street Arts

The Tuesday Poets are reading at Bank Street Arts this Friday 5th March. This is the last reading event of the Exploding Poetry Exhibition, which runs until Saturday. Admission is free.

Adam Marek

Adam Marek, guest writer from Matter 9, has been longlisted for The Sunday Times Short Story Award, alongside Rose Tremain, AL Kennedy and Jackie Kay, amongst others from around the world.

Judges include Nick Hornby and Hanif Kureishi.

The Short list will be announced 7th March.