Anne is an activist, writer, photographer and poet with 20 years experience working in the community as a workshop facilitator and project leader.. She is the author of Touched; a solo collection of poetry, editor of And Then There Was Light and Out is the Word. She is the founder of The Way of Words Creative Writing and Live Literature Events and has run creative writing classes and workshops at the V&A and for Survivors Poetry, Lambeth Mind, Cooltan, The Social Hope and Recovery Project and St Mungos Broadway Recovery College.

Anne was the writer-in-residence at Cressingham Gardens Estate, a Council estate facing regeneration, a euphemism for the demolition of 306 homes. Work produced by the writer-in-residence and the residents of the Cressingham Gardens Estate in South London will be compiled in an illustrated book and serve as a record of and tribute to the ability of a community to continue to live and love under conditions of uncertainty and fear, a testament to the tenacity of a community driven to contemplate choices not of their own making.

Anne writes about relationships and intimacy, women's history based on recollections of her grandmothers stories, and her work expresses her strong anti-war convictions and a desire for a fairer world that embraces equality and diversity and addresses class not just as an outdated notion but a living reality. Subjects have ranged from the Arab Spring to the Hungarian uprising and the devastation of working class communities in the wake of the defeat of the 84/85 Miners strike.

Anne graduated from The London College of Printing with an MA in Film which informs both her written and visual art. She agrees with Viktor Borisovich Shklovsky quoting Potebnya, who states, “Art is thinking in images.” Shklovsky adds "Poetry is a special way of thinking; it is precisely, a way of thinking in images, a way which permits what is generally called “economy of mental effort,”" Shklovsky argues "Aesthetic feeling is the reaction to this economy." Anne uses her photography not just as an expressive medium but as prompt for writing, note taking but above all as a way of seeing.

A contemplation of colour and line, atmosphere and texture find it’s way into her street photography as does a meditation on the detritus of life, that which is left on the street, hinting at a narrative as a cover does to a book. Which also serves as an exploration of how the use of public and private space is changing as austerity and globalisation are brought to bear on our towns and cities.

Anne is a member of Poets for the Planet and Unite the union and former member of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen – a writers’ collective. She has a Level 3 Award in Education and Training and a Certificate in Writers in the Community from The University of Sussex.

Performance

For over a decade Anne performed with Poets Know it including a residency at The Fridge Bar. Anne was the mc of the poetry club Trulips for three years. She took part in Lambeth Libraries Write Around Lambeth and the opening of the Norwood Library Poetry Garden with Lemn Sissay. She participated in the Poem-A-Thon for Refugees that raised over £20 000 for Médecins Sans Frontières, and has appeared at The Bowery Poetry Club NYC, the Iraqi Cultural Centre, Loose Muse, Beyond Words, Lumen, Hearing Eye and Angel Poetry. Anne is passionate about finding new audiences for poetry and to that end has also performed at Subterfuge Cabaret, The Creative Swing, Madchicks, on picket lines and at a swimming pool.

Publications

Anne has had poetry broadcast on Resonance fm and her poem essay 21st Century Guernica, about the massacre in Fallujah Iraq in 2003, was published by the Stop the War Coalition and broadcast on the Islam Channel. It was described by the late Tony Benn as “Powerful and intensely moving.” Way back she worked as a reviewer for arts newspaper Create 24:7 and has had flash fiction and poetry published in Leaf Books, Inner City Magazine, Proletarian Poetry, Atom Bomb Bubble Gum and the Loose Muse Anthologies.

Matter poetry

In recent years her poetry has evolved in form and content, incorporating found and ready made objects, colour and texture, in the tradition of Spanish artists Tapies and Brossa. An example found in the poem as installation, Forgiven not forgotten: sometimes words fail us exhibited at Brixton Art Gallery as part of the Homesite exhibition. Also in the collections The Little that is Left and You Would Say That Wouldn't you.

Exhibitions

Anne has also exhibited photography at the I SHO exhibition, The Urban Art Show , The Salome Gallery and the Portico Gallery.

I have worked with Anne on numerous occasions. She was influential in establishing The Word is Out Creative writing project, involved in designing the project, facilitating workshops and leading on producing an anthology of work. This led to an innovate model of working, involving true co-production, with a series of workshops, covering different genres of writing, being held in various community locations, including the Oval theatre, inpatient wards, Norwood Library and the Ritzy cinema.

In addition to this Anne has run several creative writing workshops at SHARP, both as a course and as stand alone sessions for events.

She has always been enthusiastic, professional, with an amazing skill to engage clients and pitch sessions perfectly, as well as being able to hold a safe space to bring out peoples creative flair.

Senior Occupational Therapist, Service Development Lead & Evaluator at the Social Hope and Recovery Project.

Anne provided a much needed avenue for people to explore their creative writing skills. During her sessions students' belief in their ability to write increased, leading to greater sense of confidence and self esteem.

In the sharing of her skills, she offered students an opportunity for self development which, truly, is what the Recovery College is all about.

Former Coordinator at St Mungos Broadway Recovery College