Winter haiku
Roaring fire blazing through the night
Bleak moonlight eclipsed by darkness.
. . . . . .
Shadow man
hiding flowers
unsung heroes.
Dancing toes,
clapping hands,
falling girls.
Dancing toes,
splashing raindrops,
loving kiss,
heavy heart.
Into the shadows
go fawning faces,
hidden from the
darkness.
.............
More Cube
not less
Journalist: Rosie Newton
“Young people are being blamed for almost everything that is wrong in society today, yet they have very few opportunities to respond and comment on the world around them. Cube allows young people to voice their joys, hopes and concerns.”
Benjamin Zephaniah
Poet, write and campaigner
What is Mr. Zephaniah talking about? Cube Magazine of course! Cube has been supporting your people to express themselves in Sheffield for the past five years and just recently, the main parts of the project have devastatingly come to a halt. On the surface of things, Cube may appear to be just a cool little free mag we’re used to picking up around Sheffield, but as Benjamin Zephaniah and anyone else who really knows what Cube does will tell you, it’s so much more.
The media paint a pretty grey picture of the ‘youth of toady’. We occupy ourselves with vandalism, smoking, underage drinking and of course the bandwagon favourites, knife and gun crime. Purely because of age we are the sort of people who scare pensioners and hurl abuse at everyone. But what channels do we have to express a different reality? Not many.
As part of the ‘youth of toady’, what I think we really need is simply to be heard. For many young people the option to express ourselves and feel proud of that expression is not widely available. Take graffiti for example. If we’re to believe the media, it’s all vandalism. Look again and we see that some graffiti artists are being paid good money to create beautiful work. It just proves that some of that ‘petty scrawling’ is in fact art, is in fact expression. I wish I didn’t know who ‘waz ere’ in 2007, but my point is, young people aren’t being offered enough outlets of support, so of course they want to make their mark however they can. Scratching names in tables is sadly all part of that need.
I chose to write. My form of expression is through poetry, pros and of course articles. Words engage and excite me. I have a strong desire to use them to be heard. To say ‘I’m here’ and ‘Listen to what I want you to hear’. As a young person living in a world controlled by adults, this is often over looked. Fortunately, and not a moment too soon, I found my outlets in the form of Sheffield Young Writers (SYW) and Cube Magazine. SYW has been supporting young people from all over Sheffield through a writing group that encourages us to develop our maturity as writers, and as a young people.
SYW has worked in close harmony with the Cube project for 3 years and last year, Cube’s Coordinator, Vicky Morris, became a writing mentor for SYW. Vicky offers support and a caring ear to any and every young writer. She has done so for me on many occasions. It’s surely no fun dealing with a stressed out teenager complaining because she can’t structure a magazine article, but Vicky really enjoys it. She told me, “I’ve always loved English, but at school it was very stifling. There was nothing like SYW or Cube. Had there been, I believe I may have perused writing earlier in my career and been a better writer because of it”.
I know what Vicky means. One Cube journalist described it simplify as “It’s you get heard”. For me, the biggest thing Cube and SYW allowed me to do, is to fulfil one of my dreams. In Cube Issue 14 in 2007, my first piece of pros was published. My feelings when Vicky told me it was good enough for print were too amazing to honestly put into words. Anyone else who’s had their work published, particularly at a young age as a dream come true, will understand and I’m sure that Cube has sparkled these emotions in hundreds of young people across Sheffield.
Not only does Cube offer young people a chance to get published, it provides real and valuably work experience placements; something desperately needed by anyone wanting to pursue a writing or media career. It also offers radio work, real opportunities in the creative industries and sometimes film, photography and graphic design projects. Cube placements have always ran through secondary school work experience but Vicky understands there’s a strong need for it to be more accessible. Not only is she trying to get new funding, she also wants to see Cube encourage even more young people to reach for the stars and so do I.
‘The magazine and all the aspects of the concept are truly inspiring’ says Benjamin Zephaniah and I agree with him. Cube’s website allows young people from everywhere to share their writing and get support. The wide distribution of the printed magazine allows the thoughts of those who are brave enough to write openly, to educate peers on important issues such as self harm, manic depression and (choose R?:) The possibilities Cube offers give us the chance to take control of the media, rather than merely being controlled and viewed by it. By using our voice to express ourselves we can ultimately break the mould and change the way we view ourselves. Cube shows we are not the hoody wearing hoodlums we are perceived to be. We are who we want to be and given a chance we can explore who that is through great ideas like Cube. Writer, painter, artist or editor, although these are just titles, what really matters is self confidence and self belief.
I hope, if anyone who’s reading this can support the entire good Cube has done and would continue to do for the youth of our fair city of Sheffield, that they do it and fast! If we as a society cannot provide crucially needed outlets like Cube, do we really care about the futures of the ‘youth of today’? I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiments of Benjamin Zephaniah who said, “In times like these we need more Cube, not less”.
By Rosie Newton
Young and like writing? Visit Cube online to share your writing and register your interest in being part of the project in the future.
www.cubeweb.org.uk