As part of the We are Here project students at Fir Vale School Writing Club have worked with Ruksana Majid and Ingrid Hanson over the last year to produce a creative writing magazine, both in hard copy for the first edition and as an ongoing online magazine. Through fortnightly workshops they have focused on thinking about identity, place and belonging, as well as reflecting on the process of writing, using different creative techniques to express themselves. On 8 November a film of their creative work will be shown at the school, with visitors from the University, marking the next phase of the collaboration, which will be facilitated by undergraduate student volunteers from the School of English.
Here the Fir Vale students offer short poetic posts on the importance of place.
My place
This is my place; home,
Jealous? I know you want to live.
Here. In Sheffield.
It is awesome, and
you
know
it.
Sadiqa
I don’t know
This is my place
where I can be myself
without no help.
Where I smile. Where I cry.
Where I can never
say
Goodbye.
Amani
Doesn’t matter
This is my place,
My headquarters, my base.
It’s what brings a smile to my face,
because although I might not originate near,
I have come to belong here.
Halimah
This isn’t mine
This is my place where I stay.
To play.
Happy
then
Sad.
I don’t want to leave because,
this is my place.
Zahina Khan
My Me
This is my place, with a lot of space.
This is my school with a lot of
fools.
This is my class.
A lot of glass…
And that’s
That.
Me…
This is my place,
It’s a disgrace.
It has lots of space.
It brings a smile to my face.
Ayesha
This is my place
Sheffield is my home.
I treat it with care.
Here I smile and laugh
and I’ll always be there.
Amina
This is my place
This is my place
Here with my friends.
Laughing, chatting, having fun
Not caring about anyone else.
Just being ourselves.
Us.
Jess
My space
My place is empty full
Of nothingness.
It’s white.
Blank. I’m free from the stress.
I’m stuck between my World
the real world.
I like it like that.
Alone.
I can paint and erase memories.
I’m in blackness.
I’m shattered
into a
million
pieces.
By,
Myself
Mubeenah
