Young Writers Society

Welcome to Squills, the official news bulletin of the Young Writers Society!
What will you find here? Tons of interesting news about YWS, including but not limited to: articles about writing, art, and the world of humanities; interviews with YWS members; shameless plugs; link round-ups; and opinionated columns.
And where will all of this come from? Take a look at our fantastic creative staff!




Of course, our content can’t come only from our staff. We also depend on you to help keep Squills successful. You’re all a part of a writing community, after all. If you’re interested in submitting to Squills, pop on over to the Reader’s Corner to find out how you can get involved by contributing an article or participating in other Squills activities.

Well, that’s all I have for now. So, what are you waiting for? Enjoy!

1. REVIEW DAY REPORT
2. SPORTS WITHOUT SCORES: A SCOTTISH FAN ON ENGLISH FOOTBALL
3. CAMP NAPO
4. A POETRY MOMENT: EMILY DICKENSON 983
5. SHAMELESS PLUGS
6. SUBSCRIBERS

REVIEW DAY REPORT

written by alliyah < PM: >

The weekend of July 28 - July 29 YWS had their July Review Day! It was the battle of the sweets with Team Ice Cream led by @shaniac and The Blueberry Muffins led by @TheWeirdoFromBeyond. The Review Day went back and forth with each team taking a narrow lead for periods of time, but in the end the Blueberry Muffins squeaked out a few more points ending with 6079 (compared to Ice Cream's 5840 points) making them the champions! Worth noting, is that The Blueberry Muffins actually had 3 less reviews than their competition but still ended up with more points, proving that those longer green room reviews do sometimes make the difference on Review Day!

Another highlight of this Review Day was that we were able meet the site's goal of completing over 150 reviews, which made quite a dent in the Green Room as well. In total there were 33 users who participated on the Review Teams, but this review day there was another huge factor in enabling us to meet the site goal. This was the factor of Reviewers who worked independent of Review Teams, but nevertheless made it possible for us to hit that end goal. Of the 153 reviews completed over review day, 46 came from outside the two assigned teams. A few even made the leaderboard including @BlueAfrica who did 25 reviews over the course of the competition, who completed the most reviews during Review Day.

Another sweet factor of this Review Day, in addition to the team names, were the messages of positivity and encouragement along the people tab and in the club walls. All around it was truly a successful Review Day! Well that's all the coverage we have for Review Day, congratulations to all the participants for helping reach our site-goal!

To read more about the official results and statistics, read more at this link: Review Day Review .

SPORTS WITHOUT SCORES: A SCOTTISH FAN ON ENGLISH FOOTBALLwritten by BiscuitsLeGuin < PM: >

Hey Squills readers, this is the first article in my new column 'Sports Without Scores', in which I do not allow myself to mention a single number. As a writer, I follow sport for the characters, the human interest. So instead of quoting dry statistics I'm going to talk about the narratives that develop in sport, and sometimes the wider impact they have on the world.

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If you spent any time talking to me in the days after England got put out of the World Cup (football/soccer), you will have noticed that I was crushed. If you have spent any time talking to me in the years I've been on here before that, you will know that I am Scottish. As Scottish tennis star Andy Murray's infamous quip in a Wimbledon interview attests to, this is an unusual mix. The usual explanation is that if England win the World Cup, it will be all over the British media for at least a month, which I still maintain will be insufferable.

And normally, it's perfectly easy to root against the English football team. Footballers as a species have a habit of seeming arrogant, and the English team has always fitted handily into that box. They expect to win, but lack the team spirit needed for an international level. And I could happily go the rest of my life without seeing Sam Allardyce scream his lungs out from the sidelines ever again.

This year, however, the doubts started early. The earlies sign that something might be different was manager Gareth Southgate's reaction to Harry Kane's late header to edge them into the lead in their victory over Tunisia. He springs from his chair, all his quiet dignity evaporating as he fanboys to the max, wrapping his team in tight, happy hugs. This is a man who has no desire to look cool. Now that I can get behind.

And it kept coming from him. I found out that in his youth he was told off for being too nice when he shook the opposition's hands at a match he lost. As manager he constantly stayed in touch with one of his players who was dealing with depression. He thinks having a diverse team (ethnically, I think, is the implication) is a reflection of modern England and that he has a chance to affect something bigger than sport. He is brave and jokey with a media who hounded him after he missed that penalty the last time England reached the latter stages of a major international. When he somehow dislocated his shoulder while out jogging, his reaction to the press was that it was better him than a player.

The best part about this, it seems to be rubbing off. Not just on the players, who seem to have come into this tournament already a lot less cliquey than can sometimes be the case, and were photographed in a swimming pool racing on giant inflatable unicorns . They all collapse on top of each other in a massive pile-up as their goal celebrations , similarly unafraid to show their emotions.

It's also rubbing off on England. Don't take this as me saying that England is in more need of kindness than Scotland, in fact honestly I'd switch most Scottish footballers for a Gareth Southgate any day, and several politicians too. But the politicians England has to look up to at the moment are the brash Boris Johnson, the smugly self-satisfied Jacob Rees-Mogg. If Southgate was a politician, the right wing would be accusing him of being a vapid liberal obsessed with avocado toast. But he's not. He's a football manager who got them closer to their dreams than they'd been in years, and they love him for it.

The evidence for this can be found in the GarethSouthgateWould hashtag on twitter, which I recommend to anyone who needs their day brightened for whatever reason. It is a celebration of his unassuming empathy and kindness, of the sort he showed most poignantly when he consoled the Colombian player who missed their fatal penalty.


(Southgate is on the right)

Southgate was in this exact position a long time ago, and he is clearly still keenly aware of the pain. And yet, he can put aside his intense relief at a debt to his country fulfilled, and for a moment just be there for someone he knows is hurting a lot. Examples of other kind acts he might be expected to perform include knowing what days the bins go out after bank holidays and informing neighbours, as well as politely asking football if it would like to come home, then checking with its parents if that would be alright.

England is not the only country in desperate need of figures who represent positive masculinity. But in their team, and their manager, they really have found some excellent examples. And the longer they win, the longer this idealised version of a truly kind spirit is idolised by even the most testosterone-fuelled football fans. And for that, as far as this Scot is concerned, the British media can ramble away for as long as it likes.

CAMP NAPO

written by alliyah < PM: >

I am very excited to announce that in a few weeks time, a new week-long event is coming to YWS. We will be having Camp NaPo from August 6 - August 12, hosted by Poetry Crew. It will be filled with all sorts of poetry activities crunched into a week's time, celebrating all things poetry.



So what exactly is "Camp NaPo"?

The idea comes from NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month) which happens every year during the month of April where poets decide to spend the month writing 30 poems. NaPo is the poetry version of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) which you may have also heard of before. So Camp NaPo will be like a mini-version of NaPo taking place in one week rather than one month. @LadyBird and I sort of came to this idea after hearing from a few people how much they enjoyed NaPo, but wished that it came at mulitple times during the year, or had a condensed version. We also wanted to throw a few more educational and activity components into it, so Camp NaPo was born.

There will be some differences from NaPoWriMo though! As was already mentioned, Camp NaPo just takes place over a week-long period, which is perfect for people who always wanted to try NaPo, but weren't quite able to commit to writing poetry for the whole month of April. For Camp NaPo you also can do as much or as little of the daily activities as you would like. For instance, you can participate in the workshops and jams, and choose not to write a new poem every day. In fact if you'd rather just spend the week workshopping a single poem, that's completely up to you. We do encourage everyone to make a "Logbook" or club thread post in the Camp NaPo Club though so that you can share your progress with everyone as you work on your poetry. The logbook is where you would post your daily poem if you were choosing to do that as well.

What activities are going on?

So far we've got a lot on the table for the week of Camp NaPo - there'll hopefully be something that every poet can enjoy. Here's a few of the activites you can look for:

* Daily Poem Challenge
Every day there'll be a new "Daily Poem Challenge" posted on the club wall that you can try to write a poem for, or save as a prompt for later. Sometimes during NaPo it's difficult to come up with things to write, so these prompts are designed to give you a little bit of a push to get started while working up different aspects of your poetry writing skills.

* Poetry Exchange
@Aley will be hosting a Poetry Exchange where users sign up to swap poems with a group and then write a review in return for someone reviewing their piece. Sign-up for a spot if you're interested!

* Poetry Workshops
There will be a few different Poetry Workshops hosted throughout the week, with a last poetry workshop on Sunday. These workshops are for begginner and experienced poets alike and a chance to get together and work on one specific poetry skill together. (Also if you are interested in hosting a Poetry Workshop please contact me, because we still have a few spaces available in our schedule and would love for you to get involved).

* Poetry Jams or Poetry Write Ins
You may have seen more and more write-ins popping up around the site recently, which are a great way to write while building community. A "Poetry Jam" is basically a "Write-In" but it might have a theme, prompt, or challenge at the beginning of the writers feed pad that you are welcome to use. Expect to see a few Poetry Jams popping up during Camp NaPo and consider hosting your own as well! (Novelists and Non-Poets are welcome to attend and jam with us as well). Keep your eye on the Poetry Jam Club so that you don't miss any.

* Poetry Contests
Last, but not least, there'll be a few contests running during Camp NaPo. One will be a Reverse Poetry Contest (meaning you submit other users' poems rather than your own) and the other contest will be for poems written during Camp NaPo. Both contests will have point prizes available for the winners.

How do I get involved?

The best way to get involved is to join the Camp NaPo Club and make a Logbook and keep watch for more news and activities as more information becomes available!

A POETRY MOMENT: EMILY DICKENSON 983written by Aley < PM: >

In this poetry moment we examine one of Emily Dickenson's poems which has been labeled 983 in one of the anthologies of her work. The goal is nothing more than to present a poem to you and give you a peaceful moment to contemplate the meaning. For those of you who feel that answers are necessary, I've also included my own interpretation which are by no means the end of potential interpretations. Poetry is what you make it. Make of this what you will.

983
Ideals are the Fairy Oil
With which we help the Wheel
But when the Vital Axle turns
The Eye rejects the Oil.

One basic interpretation of this is that ideas are rejected once they are put into action, like if you asked a painter where their idea for a painting came from, they would say they didn't know, their motivation is lost once the painting is out.

SHAMELESS PLUGS

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SUBSCRIBERS

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