Image Description: Vincent Silk is wearing a white t-shirt and smiling into the camera. 

In episode 4, Carly speaks with Vincent Silk. Vincent is a writer, poet and community organiser. His work has been published in the UTS Writers' Anthology, Voiceworks, Going Down Swinging, Archer and Seizure, among other places. In this conversation Vincent reflects on his first novel, Sisters of No Mercy, speaks about his passion for collective organising and shares with us a writing exercise that we can use to ground ourselves during this health pandemic. 

Grounding exercise shared by Vincent Silk (extract from interview)

It’s an automatic writing exercise, so some people like to set a timer and do it while having a coffee or cup of tea. Try 20 minutes. It’s been really hard to ground myself with all the uneasiness and confusion of this global pandemic. So I have been trying to use writing to ground myself, and feel joy or pleasure.

Take a line from your favourite book, poem, song, performance. Mine is from the transcript of a live performance I saw in NYC earlier this year, by a collective called What Would A HIV Doula Do? -  ‘I want to be seen. By you. I don’t want to be dismissed or forgotten.’

Speak the line aloud to yourself. Write it down. Really think about why it speaks to you. Write down how it makes you feel. Where do you feel it resonate in your body? Does it make your shoulders light? Does it make you want to stand up and stretch your legs?

Whose voice do you hear when you speak this line aloud? If you had to respond to it, what would you say?

Write down these things, and as you do, notice how the words are flowing. Keep writing as unconsciously as possible, your reactions to the quote you wrote down, and your reactions to your own words and ideas as they form on the page. Let your thoughts come in whatever way they do. When you’re done, read over what you’ve written, and observe any reflections you have about how you’re feeling. Do you feel a new meaning in the prompt phrase? Do you feel connected to what you’ve written? You might even like to share it with someone else. Or keep it to yourself.