Over the summer of 2021 the Art Assassins collaborated with Cecilia Knapp to produce a new zine of art and poetry. Named in honour of the new tree planted outside the gallery, the zine explores how poetry can help us archive our time and respond to the world around us, on our terms.
We’ve explored the gallery’s archives, the rich history between its walls and its commitment to community. We’ve drawn inspiration from the local area and asked what South London means to us, mapping our own walking route and writing along the way, albeit in the grey Spring rain. We’ve captured the unique identities, concerns, uncertainties and perspectives of each of the Art Assassins through a variety of poetic responses and we’ve curated them between these pages.
-Cecilia Knapp, Young People’s Laureate for London
The zine is available from the SLG shop or can be downloaded for free by clicking here.
Join the Art Assassins
Art Assassins are always keen to welcome new members. If you are aged between 14-20 years old and live in south London we would love to hear from you. You don’t need to know anything about art to be an Art Assassin, but you do have to be enthusiastic, willing to work as part of a team and eager to share your ideas.
To join Art Assassins please email: artassassins@southlondongallery.org
Bios
Cecilia Knapp is a poet, playwright and novelist and the current Young People’s Laureate for London. She has shared her writing extensively in the UK and internationally including residencies and performances in Johannesburg and Paris. She’s a former resident artist at The Roundhouse and a Ted X speaker. She was guest curator of Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2016. Commissions include The Tate, The BBC and The Guardian and she has written for The Huffington Post, The Independent, and The Stage. She has written poetry for Vogue and been featured in the magazine as one of the UK’s young writers to watch. She was shortlisted for the 2020 Outspoken poetry prize and the 2020 Rebecca Swift Foundation Women’s Prize. Her poems have appeared in The White Review, Ambit, Magma and Bath magazines and anthologised. Her theatre pieces Finding Home and Losing the Night both opened to sell out London runs at The Roundhouse before touring the UK. Her debut novel Little Boxes is forthcoming from The Borough Press (Harper Collins.) Her debut poetry collection Peach Pig will be published by Corsair in 2022. She curated the anthology Everything is Going to be alright: Poems for When you Really Need Them, published by Trapeze in 2021. She is a regular contributor to panels and discussions on the benefit of creativity and she teaches creative writing in a variety of settings. She was resident poet at Great Ormond Street Hospital for two years and is lead tutor for the Roundhouse’s prestigious poetry collective. She is an ambassador for the mental health charity CALM.
Spread the Word is London’s writer development agency, which means we are here to help London’s writers make their mark – on the page, the screen and in the world. We do this by kick starting the careers of London’s best new writers, and energetically campaigning to ensure that publishing truly reflects the diversity of the city. We support the creative and professional development of writing talent, by engaging those already interested in literature and those who will be, and by advocating on behalf of both. www.spreadtheword.org.uk
Art Assassins working on their poems with Cecilia Knapp