Write On! Features: Creating An Anthology by Andrew Mears

Creative writing has appeared quite late in my life. In the nearly-three-years since I typed my first poem on my phone, it has consumed me, excited me and often surprised me. After a life of working as a retail manager, retirement was something I wanted to embrace with equal focus and, after being diagnosed with REM Sleep Disorder, my mind was full of ‘monkey chatter’. I found that writing my thoughts down helped my sleep quality, with improvement to this day.

Covid-19 preceded my retirement and, on walks along the Quayside area of Newcastle with my wife and our little Shih Tzu, we passed advertisements on litter bins stating a message to end rough sleeping between 2018 and 2022. The pandemic really impacted this ambitious project, but it would be great if this could be delivered in the very near future. However, it stayed in my mind and, subconsciously, I think this was probably the main driver behind the idea to create an anthology.

My wife and I assisted in serving food donated by supermarkets to a food cycle project at a local church, seeing first-hand the impact  the cost of living crisis was having on our communities. We donated warm clothing to one of the charities that the profits will benefit,  and to food banks. However, I was always saddened to see people still living on the streets in these modern times. I’d seen poverty in the world while serving in the Royal Navy, but we’re meant to be a developed country!

Writing became my passion, and I attended as many creative writing courses and groups as I could manage. I soaked it all up  like a sponge, and was fortunate to have some wonderful writers and poets come into my life. Poems flowed from me like water from a tap, and it was suggested I should self-publish my first collection, A Glimpse Of Life, and to donate the royalties to local charities. This was quickly followed by Expressions Of Life – The Words Break Free and Return, a book written to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day and help local veteran charities.

I had by then started to facilitate a couple of writing groups in North Tyneside and hosted a spoken word evening. Exploring the spoken word scene in the North East has allowed me to get to know many very talented writers and spoken word artists. They’ve given me the confidence to stand up and perform my own work, and I’d like to think I’ve become integrated into the writing culture in North Tyneside. This has enabled me to have the self-confidence to come up with the concept of this latest anthology.

In February, I was sitting in a local hostelry contemplating what direction my writing was heading. I’d had three books published, was featured in numerous local and national anthologies and was thoroughly enjoying creative writing. The idea of creating an anthology to support grassroots homeless charities popped into my head. As the idea developed, I thought about the 40th anniversary of Live Aid this year, and the concept of getting 100 local writers to donate a poem each on the theme of homelessness came alive. I was quite excited and launched the idea onto my social media groups. I was very surprised by the level of response: so many positive comments came in and when the title Words On A NE Street was conceived, all of a sudden it became real.

The donations trickled in for the first 30 poems and then it started gaining some traction. I guested on a couple of local radio stations, which helped spread the word. I then reached out to writing groups located further afield in Northumberland, and that proved fruitful.

Poem numbers were starting to escalate and word-of-mouth increased. Delighted, I was then asked to promote it at writing groups, creative writing events and open mic nights. The offer of support was amazing. Some wonderful people wanted to help get the message into writing magazines and being interviewed for press releases seemed a little surreal. I managed to find a local photographer to donate the front cover and a couple of friends from the writing group, Elaine Gardner and Dawn Wilkinson, to help edit and upload the anthology onto Amazon KDP. Creating an anthology is such a different beast from having one of your poems submitted to a competition or literary magazine. One hundred poets trusting me with their piece of work was stressful at times. I needed to make sure each poem followed the initial brief, while maintaining the individual message around the theme.

An idea conceived four months earlier had arrived at the point where the anthology was ready to go to launch. It happened last July at Wallsend Library and was just a few tickets shy of ‘sold out.’ To say it’s been a whirlwind is an understatement, and there have been points in this journey when I thought I’d bitten off more than I could chew. The first and last thoughts in my mind each day would be the list of activities still to be completed.

Without my support network, the finished piece would have remained a mere idea. One of the contributors, Ingrid Wagner, spoke at a recent open mic night in Staffordshire about the idea of Words On A Birmingham Street, or a Manchester Street, etc. For a retiree like myself, the baton would have to be passed to someone equally passionate about using the written and spoken word to support our fellow humans.

Words On A NE Street won’t in itself end homelessness, but it may help those kind-hearted individuals who go out every night in all weathers to support those who are living rough and to those who are committed to lifting them off our streets and giving them a better life in 2025 and beyond.