Welcome to Almost An Island

Almost an Island is a writing project exploring the Greenwich Peninsula in London through words, sounds and stories.

Writers in residence, Sarah Butler and Aoife Mannix, will be blogging about the project. They will record their own responses to the Peninsula and the people they meet. The blog will be a showcase for new writing Sarah and Aoife create over the course of the project, and for the writing and words of workshop participants.

Sarah and Aoife will be creating a soundscape that will represent the lives and stories of those connected with the Greenwich Peninsula. They are running a series of workshops and activities to support this - check under 'events' for more details.

The soundscape will be presented at a public event in November 2008. Keep an eye on the blog for details

Almost an Island is a collaboration between UrbanWords and Spread the Word, in association with Art on the Greenwich Peninsula. The project is funded by Awards For All.

Thursday 16 October 2008

A personal map of the peninsula

Circular surgery with sculpture on display. Clean lines and no smell of death. Familiar faces welcoming and warm. A warren of rooms holding things in secret places. Memories of illness held in check, until, until. Blood tests, files, scales and prescriptions. Sharps boxes yellow to be disposed of. Magazines and faces wondering what’s behind them in waiting rooms.

Football at David Beckhams. Smelling of wet grass and fierce ambition, honed on tiny legs, striving, dreaming, playing, scoring. Images of stars framed in boxes and boots with names embroidered on in girly, touching variety. Shirts stained 7, with ambition signed, ‘to the kids at the academy’


School children. Woody frames and low rise building


Sainsburys, food, pharmacy, the pharmacist from France dispensing advice and support with an expert twist. Cold blank fridges full of things buy and buy again.


Cinema weekends and glimpses of other places. Mirrored hallways and badges declaring ‘favourite film: what’s yours?’ what’s mine? Popcorn smell and noisy eaters. Adverts and trailers connecting childhood memories of parents with memories being created for their children. Pearl and Dean : Ba ba ba ba baaaaar…

Alison, 01.10.08


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