Creativity is non-acceptance, wonder, rebellion
With the pressure to get all the many many tasks done and with most people writing on the side, on top of actual paid work, it can be very easy to slip into task mode as well while writing. We only have an hour or two and we want to get as much done as... Continue Reading →
I think the big mistake Chavez made at the end of his life was not trusting the people – the millions who had spent the past 15 or so years participating in the Bolivarian revolution. After all those years, all those meetings and marches, he could have left it to the people to choose someone... Continue Reading →
At 1:20am this morning around 300 National Guard and state security officers entered an Indigenous community centre in Puebla, Mexico and violently removed the environmental activists from the space. Known as Altepemecalli, the buildings were previously owned by Bonafont, a water bottling company that was stealing local water. French transnational Danone is the parent company... Continue Reading →
Most self worth advice is useful. But most of it puts all the responsibility on us, rather than also looking at the social and economic patterns generating such rampant low self worth among the global population.
My Náhuatl They say my language, Náhuatlhas had her head cut off,her feet bound togetherand her eyes blindfolded.I, a man from Atzacoaloya,will show otherwise:Náhuatl has a head,quick feetand an insurmountable gaze. I am surethat she walksarms free, her soulbeating like the heartof an oak forest -By Martín Tonalmeyotl Nonauatlajtol Kijtouaj kampa notlajtol nauatlyokechtejkej,yokikxisalojkejniman yokixtlapachojkej.Najua uan... Continue Reading →
He tells me the long story of trying to cross the border, of looking to buy a life jacket to cross the river at 4am but then changing plans at the last minute because there were gangs there extorting or kidnapping. He's been trying to cross the border for three years, and he will try... Continue Reading →
Like everything with writing, creating powerful metaphors comes with lots of practice, and more hard work and crappy writing than most people are comfortable with. Metaphors are not spontaneous bursts of genius.
When we’re talking about what sort of creativity and care work should be paid, the starting point has to be a better definition of work.
It is unacceptable that the Syrian war and its deep, shattering, complicated consequences, are largely boycotted by most mainstream and commercial media. But as a journalist and a novelist I can understand that there are aspects of this war that are better communicated through art than through the rough cold facts of news. Blindness, turning... Continue Reading →
Following on from my post on the importance of creativity to everyday life and to struggle, here are some activities you, your workplace, family, organisation, or other types of groups can try. These tools can help you generate ideas when you are at a loss for how to solve a problem, or they can help... Continue Reading →
Foto: Tamara Pearson No puedo mencionar su nombre porque es una niña. Tenía doce años en ese momento, era demasiado joven para trabajar legalmente, pero no demasiado joven para ser obligada a ser madre. Era mi alumna, y recuerdo que, hace unos años, jugaba al puente con ella. Se reía con deleite infinito mientras yo... Continue Reading →
We typically associate creativity with art, writing, and music. And while that is spot on, creativity is also a life skill. In essence, it is the ability to think beyond the obvious, outside the box, and to use one’s imagination to create new, good, ideas and things. So, practising creativity through the expressive arts can... Continue Reading →
Daisy Zamora is a Nicaraguan poet who has written about women's rights, politics, revolution, art, history, and more. She fought against the Somoza dictatorship in the 1970s, and joined the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in 1973. During the revolution she was program director for clandestine Radio Sandino, and after the FSLN came to power,... Continue Reading →
Too often, the general vision of poor countries and oppressed peoples is provided by the white male gaze and viewpoint. People - journalists, photographers and tourists - from the US come to Mexico for example, for two weeks. And it is their US-centric version of the world that makes its way into the English-language media... Continue Reading →
When I was living in Venezuela, I struggled to write creatively about it. Instead, my first novel was set in my home country of Australia. The novel I’m working on now is set in nearby Mexico City rather than Puebla, where I live. It’s a great set up, because I visit Mexico City enough to... Continue Reading →
Jorge Madrid is a Honduran activist whose opposition to current right-wing president Juan Orlando Hernández saw him receiving death threats and having to flee the country. He was also a student leader when then President Manuel Zelaya was overthrown by a coup in 2009. He says the stealing of the elections in 2017 and direct... Continue Reading →
resistance words 