Arts Collective Paisley

Last month (November 2015), I started attending an open mic event that was being hosted by the Arts Collective Paisley. It is being held in Blend Coffee Lounge on Causeyside Street. Last month, I read some of the poems from my poetry collection, Goddess of the Night. I have to admit, I was nervous and half expecting to mess it up. Once I got up and did my piece, I felt elated and happy that I had actually done it. I felt as if I had actually achieved something and I wanted to do it again.

Everyone in the group was so supportive. It was also nice to see so many people, who work in different art forms, coming together to show their work and to encourage one another. There were singer/songwriters, poets, authors and artists. It made me smile to know that Paisley was so full of creative, imaginative people. I knew that I was certainly going to be going back and doing even more readings. I also think that the choice of location was brilliant. The staff of Blend were more pleasant and they were even willing to take part in the open mic event itself.

This month (December), rather than reading my poetry, I am going to be reading a section from Between Two Worlds, my short story from the first volume of the Northlore Series. After the reading that the other writer gave last month, I hope that I do as well as she did. I certainly will not be reading the full story, as I wouldn't want to give away too much of the story, just in case someone wants to buy the anthology. 

I do think that the Arts Collective is something that would be a great way of helping Paisley's attempt at gaining City of Culture status in 2021. It is groups like this that highlight so much of the town's culture, which might go unnoticed otherwise. As well as being good for the town, in highlighting the positive things that are going on, these events are brilliant ways of supporting local writers, artists and musicians.