More things should be celebrated thus

I had no intention of writing a follow-up article about the book launch, but it seems one is necessary as there has been so much energy and inspiration buzzing around since the event, but no single ‘summing up’. So, to summarise…

The book launch was a success! Hundreds came, but luckily not at the same time as the venue space was a fairly ‘cosy’ size. I made a gigantic pot of chai from scratch and kept the supply constant, and there was cider available but the chai proved to be more popular! This is exactly the vibe of the event that I had worked to create – an engaged and relaxed audience, without the need for drug-induced comfort. The smell of spices aromatised the evening and drew people off the street and into the event, and it contributed towards balancing out the sense-feast of displayed artwork and the flow of music and poetry on stage.

People started arriving for the exhibition before we were quite finished getting the artwork onto the walls, however the spontaneous arrangement of artwork in the morning went towards creating a colourful and unique atmosphere that sparked some fantastic conversations and creativity in the evening.

The stage opened at 6pm. I had organised the line up so that there were two poets to a musician, which mixed the wordiness with the music. All the performers were magnificent poets and musicians who I’d seen at different events, so it was fantastic to get them all into the same place and into a space where they could meet each other and perform before an audience that isn’t usually exposed to poetry in particular.

Even though I was celebrating the launch of my book More Thing Should Be Thought Out Thus, it was meant to be something to share with other people (and certainly not for profit: I made a ‘loss’ in monetary terms at the event). All of the artists showcased their works and performed for free; we do this for the love of art, not for gain as in almost every other area of society.

And this is why arts events can be the truest of community events.

Whenever I read new poetry I imagine that my words might not come out right, or might be interpreted ‘incorrectly’  and that my hard work and vision will not be understood. At the launch my vision was realised because as they left people who I did and did not know thanked and hugged me (sometimes repeatedly) with utterances of how amazing the event had been and how inspired they were, and how many wonderful people they had met.

The warm weather and sunshine helped, of course! And the myriad of exceptionally talented local artists created an amazingly colourful and creatively energising event. It was free and there were free vegan cookies and brownies for all who came.

And this is how true community spirit is created; by giving and sharing, not by putting the word ‘community’ in the title of the event, or creating an event for profit. It’s a hard thing to balance of course, as artists cannot survive as artists without some form of payment, because that is how society works. These events must be supported if we don’t want to end up with malls and car parks on every street corner, marketers instead of painters, and the occasional museum dedicated to an artist who had the monetary means to create such a venture for his or herself. It would be a sad thing if all the buskers were to disappear, and sculptures only appeared in fancy pay-per-view buildings.

People should be able to gather to appreciate and enjoy art without the need to make money and without the unspoken list of rules regarding what can and cannot be done or said, or how a thing should or should not look or sound. For this I thank the wonderful people at Book-Cycle; their openness, flexibility, and generosity in allowing me to use the space as I wished was essential to creating the event.

Throughout the evening numerous people asked me for a spoken word or music slot. I didn’t want to turn anyone away, which meant that the event ended up lasting over six hours! At half past midnight I’d already officially closed the stage and started taking the artwork down off the walls, but as the night drew darker and closer around it, lit only by a near by streetlamp and the few solar fairy lights hung around the stage, people began to sing together in ways that I have only ever witnessed before around campfires with very close friends.

Someone came over to me and said that her view of the world had changed, ‘because people are actually so beautiful and amazing’. Importantly, she was sober when she said it, because the space welcomed that; it was a space created for her to open into, not asking her for money or to buy alcohol or to keep the banter down; and in that open space, in the openness of the community present, her eyes were opened.

It’s all about bringing the festival vibe to the city. If you enjoyed the event, I recommend Sunrise Festival in Somerset, which starts next Thursday. I’ll be there stewarding, and if you bump into me, I’ll be sure to offer you a chai

Here are some of the comments from people who attended my book launch:

Well done for organising it! wow – so much work goes into getting something like that together… lovely bunch of people. Chai was delicious . what’s your recipe – cardomom spices and cloves…?

Thank you for making it happen – you are a special person – one love xoxoxox

Really wonderful night Zion, well done. Such a great venue for everyone to get together.

I feel so lucky to have met everyone. Met some truly great people and proud to be a part such a perfect evening. Love to everyone!!

What a fantastic evening! It’s amazing how many mind-bogglingly brilliant people there are in this little town. Thank you for putting on a great show and for letting me be a part of it x

Fab fab fab – thank you. xx

What a feeling of happyness and inspiration!! Was a truly awesome night last night, met some interesting amazing people!!

I had a great night at Zion’s book launch, poetry, music and wonderful people… What a talented community Exeter has!

Alfresco open mic nights are the way forwards. Brilliant night, AMAZING chocolate brownies! Thanks to Zion for organising it!

It was terrific

Thank you for asking me to play and well done for such a fantastic evening. It went brilliantly and you did so well getting it organised and keeping at all going, I hope you feel very proud of yourself because you should!

I had a really good time playing at Zion’s book launch at BookCycle Exeter last night. Nice talented people chilling out in the sun on cushions and a well crafted home-made stage. Lots of love went into bringing that event together for sure!

What you and the tribe pulled off last night was incredible. It was an amazing evening and I enjoyed it immensely. Thank you for having me, and I really hope your book sells out

LOVED Saturday. Such a good vibe in the shop/garden. Hope it to be the first of many more events like that! xx

You did a fantastic job keeping everything together on Saturday which is commendable but more importantly you actually created a memorable event that was centred, not just on your book (which I think should be pushed by everyone that attended that event, let alone bought) but on the spirit of giving and celebration. 
There are not enough of these events; events that are about the celebration of music and words rather than just entertainment. I think to anyone who was there it was clear that you had put a lot of hard work and love in to creating the space and the atmosphere.

Your book signing event was an amazing evening and I also liked the free Vegan Cakes.

Was such an amazing night!!

Even within the short duration I was there for, it looked good and the atmosphere was perfect! Also, the cookies were a complimentary addition to the already set scene. So, all in all, you should be proud; well done!

It was an amazing day, I knew that scene existed in Exeter but you managed to bring them all together and truly create it! There was such an amazing vibe, you could just look around and see that everyone was feeling it- including me of course, I had such a buzz!

What an amazing night, you did a fab job of organising it! You have really opened my eyes, what amazing people there are about, the world isn’t such a bad place after all, am proud to have been part of it, thank you!