Raw Revolutionary Writing - The Masses Find Their Literary Voice By Rich Mills

A balmy summer Sunday saw me attend my first meeting of the Renegade Writers Group, a Hull based writers circle. Now there are apparently a number of writers circles in Hull, the city being such a hot-bed of literary creation and such. However many if not all of these are high-brow and full of literary snobbery. The Renegade Writers Group is different from groups that have come and gone before. Established just over a year ago, the group has performed pieces of their musings at the Humber Mouth Literature Festival, produced a small publication of their works, and is currently in the process of putting together a book of poetry and prose from the members of the group.

Why is the group different from others? Because the people are all extraordinary people, but all perfectly grounded and with that uniquely wry Hull sense of humour. The pieces of writing I heard read out at the group had one thing in common, they were written from the heart. Not for any intellectual deep-rooted literary academic reason, but simply from an emotional response the experiences of life as the writers in the group see the world they live in here in this fair city. Poetry and prose from love, sex, politics and war to wanting to kill your neighbour's noisy dog, anything goes! And that is mainly the point of the group. A non-judgemental space for free expression. Ordinary working-class Hull people who do not accept that to be a literary genius you must have the ivory tower academic education to go with it. Raw and powerful stuff is what I saw emerge from the group in that two hours, heartfelt and humorous. Literature for the masses, not talking down to them, but directly to them in words and language they use themselves every day. If you see the word 'fuck' in a Renegade piece of writing, it is not there for shock or to be cool or street! It's there because that is the language that would have been used down the pub, the language of the scally on the street-corner, the everyday language of ordinary people.

If writing is the new rock 'n' roll, then this lot are heading for number one with a rocket. As with the advent of the thisisull web-site, the development of this group is as response to the apathy in this city and the world beyond. The leaders of this city talk the talk, but always seem to trip-up when it comes to walking the walk. There is a ground swell of opposition to this apathy from grinding us down any more, the people of Hull are starting to find their voice finally. The voice of the people of Hull may at first seem raw and harsh, full of disappointment at the world as it is to them, but it is run through with hope for a brighter future they themselves are going to create. Rather than that of a future imposed on them from the corporate controllers in their well paid job, and out-of-town housing. Those who know what's best for us, without even asking us what we actually want. The revolution is happening around us, and it is a war of words, and insurrection of information. As when people are left out of the decisions being made about them, and they feel all control over their lives been slowly eroded away, the one thing that can never be taken from us is the ability to speak-out. The pen is mightier than the sword, or so they say. Well with the development of the internet, our voice has become global. A voice that will always find a way of being heard. The Renegade Writers and thisisull are two examples of ordinary people finding their voices, and long may they continue.

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