Chronicle Spring 2022

17 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Pieces inspired by Rommi’s Workshops Pupils took part in workshops with Rommi as part of their English and History classes. These pieces were written anonymously in creative writing workshops in which pupils were asked to write from the perspectives of the people in the photographs within the exhibition.

Rommi Smith Rommi Smith is an award-winning poet, playwright, theatre-maker, performer and librettist. A three-time BBC writer-in-residence, she is the inaugural British Parliamentary writer-in-residence and inaugural poet-in-residence for Keats House, Hampstead. A Visiting Scholar at City University New York (CUNY), she has presented her research and writing at institutions including: The Segal Theatre, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and City College New York. Rommi’s performance at the Schwerner Writers Series in New York was at the invitation of Tyehimba Jess, Pulitzer Prize winner for Poetry. Rommi is a Doctor of Philosophy in English and Theatre. Her academic writing was first published by New York University Press as part of the groundbreaking book Imagining Queer Methods (2019). She is recipient of a Hedgebrook Fellowship (USA) and is a winner of The Northern Writers’ Prize for Poetry 2019 (chosen by the poet Don Paterson). She was recently awarded a prestigious Cave Canem fellowship in the US. Rommi is a Sphinx30 playwright: Sphinx30 is a prestigious programme of professional mentoring for – and by – contemporary women playwrights, led by legendary company, Sphinx Theatre. Rommi is the inagural writer-in-residence for Topfoto, the UK’s leading photographic archive and a forthcoming poet-in-residence for the Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere. Find out more at www.rommi-smith.co.uk

I have lost my voice I have lost my rings but I have found my feet, I’ve found my voice and I’m ready to sing.

I have polished my boots I have straightened my tie I have salt in my hair still I have methodically creased my trousers down my thigh I have heard every command I have been out to fight I have worked on deck I have worked without seeing sunlight I have trained for these days, and I have travelled the waves. The sound of people chattering in the background, the wind from the sea whispering in her ears, the handkerchief flapping and the sounds of the ships, creaking and grinding together. The wind picks up waves and she can hear them, lapping on the side of the boat. Gently the camera clicks and clicks again. Far away she can hear another ship sounding its horn as it prepares to come in to dock. Footsteps thump around on the hollow floor echoing in the bows of the ship below.

Photo credit: Lizzie Coombes