In January 2021 NUE and The Social* presents; WORD UP TAMWORTH – A Spoken Word Project. We are collecting and publishing the thoughts, observations and feelings of the people of Tamworth living through the Covid-19 pandemic. This project will run throughout January and February 2021. Word Up Tamworth is a non-profit community interest project. The legacy of this project shall be all the content captured and archived for historic reference for future generations. What is spoken word? Spoken word is written on a page but performed for an audience. Although this project will all be conducted via voice and video recordings. Spoken word relies on a heavy use of rhythm, improvisation, rhymes, word play, and slang. Some examples of spoken word you might be familiar with are stories, poems, monologues, slam poetry, rap and even stand-up comedy. Who can I get involved in this project and what experience of spoken word do I need? It is open to anyone who lives or works in Tamworth to express their feelings regarding the current times we are living in with Covid-19. It does not require any experience what so ever and is 100% for amateurs. It’s not a competition. All anyone needs is the ability to message us their audio or video account of their experiences, feelings and thoughts of this time we are all living through. You don’t need professional equipment, you can record it on your smart phone. What should. you talk about? Entrants can write what they like about the subject. We are looking to capture the reality of Covid-19 in Tamworth but we do welcome a wide variety of expressions; funny, emotional, dramatic, angry, critical or even surreal. HOW TO PARTICIPATE What is the entry format? Entries can be submitted by directly recording using the  the link or Facebook DM to NUE

Anyone under the age of 16 should have their entry submitted by their legal parent or guardian. Entries to be written , audio or video recordings that are no longer than 3 mins long, . It must be; Clear and audible video or audio with minimal background noise, no music or echo. Submitted with a copy of the words also (as this may also be published later). Please include your full name, age and where we can contact you. We will not publish the surnames of anyone under the age of 18, only the first name and age. If you wish to remain anonymous tell us and we will not publish your name, only your age. Where will the entries appear initially? New Urban Era FB Pages and Website (All entries appropriate for families) The Social* Tamworth Pages (All entries). How is media involved? Tamworth Herald will print a selection. Ankerside will display a selection as part of the NUE community arts project NUE will select some of the pieces to be incorporated into future artwork Radio Tamworth will also play some of the audio entries CONDITIONS OF ENTRY All entries submitted to NUE by direct message to the FB page. All entries must be accompanied with a text copy of words/lyrics. Please do not include any music in your recordings as this is a voice or words only project. Please only use your own words, please do not recite or copy any published or copywrite material. You can be realistic about your experiences and feelings, but please nothing intended to divide or be hateful, abusive or likely to cause any kind of offence to anyone in our community or elsewhere. Anything lyrically or visually racist, sexist, ageist, homophobic or otherwise hateful will cannot be used. We don’t want to limit your expression but we do recommend that the entries are not purposefully explicit either lyrically or visually as this will limit where they can be published later. By submitting you give NUE and The Social* along with the partners aforementioned the right to publish your entry for any non-profit activities.