This month’s Suffolk Spotlight is dedicated to the Queen of the Ipswich Spoken Word Scene, Amy Wragg, who has been running open mics in Ipswich longer than anyone else. She has helped hundreds (or more likely thousands) of local writers and performers find their individual voice and the passion she brings to her own written words is a joy to experience.
Q & A with Amy Wragg
Hi Amy, can you tell me what you enjoy most about writing?
What I like most about writing is the freedom to say what I want, without anyone telling me its wrong. I generally write poetry to be spoken out loud, so I’m also driven by a need to share my thoughts, fears, hopes, and dreams for the world we live in. It’s part-art, part-therapy, part-performance. My work always reflects the times, my worries, my fears, trying to make sense of it all.
What do you find the most challenging?
Being a writer who loves to respond quickly, and emotively, making changes has always been a challenge. For some reason, I thought the truth would get lost in my desire to shape work into a more formal style. However, I am now practising the importance of editing, and slowly starting to enjoy going over the same piece several times to craft it into the best version of itself. Its a new kind of fun!
What achievement are you proudest of?
I am especially proud of a performance I did last year with an ambient electronic musician called ‘Fjorten’ (who also happens to be my husband). The poems – Too Much, and The Question – were brand spanking new, and Fjorten’s soundscape uplifted them far beyond expectation. Unashamedly informed by my interest in women’s lives and feminism, I was super brave and vulnerable in those poems. After the event, a few women told me they cried, having identified with my words and experiences. Its quite a thing to hear your work resonate with someone else so deeply. Its an honour. Connecting with others is what sharing work in a live space is all about.
What advice would you give to new writers?
If I was asked to give advice to new writers it would be just to write. Don’t worry what others think. Enjoy the process. Fail. Be rubbish. Get up and try again. We were all bad once, even the greatest writers of all time. Maybe I’ll never release a collection, but just maybe I will have the very best time writing and performing and sharing my poems in my local community. That is more than enough for me. The fun is the making.
How can people find out more about you and your work?
If you’d like to find out more about my work, first and foremost, please come to a gig and see me live. Digitally you can find more on my website, instagram, and facebook page, all under the name of ‘getonthesoapbox’.
Amy’s Upcoming events:
Tuesday 25th November, headlining performance at BoHo, Jessica’s Place, in Clacton. 7-9pm. Donations welcomed.
Tuesday 2nd December, Words & Verses (spoken word open mic), at The Spread Eagle, free.
Thank you for agreeing to be the focus of this month’s blog Amy and I look forward to seeing you at the Spread Eagle gig this December.
Next month will be the turn of Suffolk Writers Group member Bethan Davidson. Bethan’s children’s christmas story about a lonely snow leapoard will be featured at the big Christmas event at Ickworth Estate National Trust this year. I’ll be asking her all about that as well as her recent experience writing poetry for Mind charity.
Previously Featured on Suffolk Spotlights
Jane Spencer-Rolfe – Founder of Wild Words Suffolk, Writer and Admin for SWG
Sue Thompson – Author, Poet and Performer
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