In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we’re producing a new digital programme called Stories in Isolation to support local artists and our Blast! Creative Network. As part of the programme, new work is shared weekly, with photography, poetry and film that responds to the current situation.

Join us for the launch event, with talks from photographers Emma Case and Catherine Turner, and a poetry reading from Naush Sabah followed by the chance to ask questions about their projects.

This talk is taking place via zoom. An email with the link to join the zoom meeting will be sent out to attendees prior to the time.

Emma Case has an honest affinity for the glorious everyday... the extraordinary in the ordinary. With her background in Acting and also being fluent in British Sign Language, Emma has found her curiosity and deep desire to explore and share stories has influenced her professional journey. She also has a long term personal project RED - An archive of personal stories and images of Liverpool supporters. Recently, Emma and her husband Pete have founded the IDo Community, a space where members of the online community can give their time and skills to raise funds and create awareness for various charities and non-profits. Emma has also set up Deaf Refugees UK organising a trip to the Calais Jungle to offer hearing aids and communication support for Deaf refugees.

Catherine Turner is a photographer and designer based in Rowley Regis, West Midlands. With a focus on street and documentary photography, Catherine’s work captures poignant snapshots of daily life and family stories in the Black Country and beyond. She is currently part of Blast! Creative Network. For her Stories in Isolation project she is presenting Oldbury Rep, a series of photographs from 2019, where she spent the year documenting the theatre's performers and back stage team. She'll present the works alongside interviews she's conducted with the people in the photographs, asking them what Oldbury Rep means to them, what effects the closure of the theatre is having on them, and what hopes they have for the future when they re-open the doors.

Naush Sabah is a writer and editor based in the West Midlands. She recently completed an MA in Creative Writing, with Distinction. Her short play, Coins, was staged at The Rep and longlisted for the Pint Sized Plays competition (2019). She is Co-founder and Editor of Poetry Birmingham and Assistant Editor of Short Fiction Journal. Her recent work has been rooted in ekphrasis, and in putting historical art in conversation with contemporary experiences. She's currently working on a sequence of poems based on sketches by Sir Edward Burne-Jones held at the collection in BMAG. The poems take ancient Greek goddesses The Fates and draw them into the story of two lovers in Birmingham today. She's interested in the themes of doubleness and types of loss, whether language, culture, religion, death, time, childhood.