Meet John Munro All the Way from Glasgow
John Munro founded the Gorbals Writing Group, which has collaborated with illustrators and writers from Greece, Australia, France, the USA, and the United Kingdom to publish about twenty-five books since November of 2019.
Currently hailing from Glasgow, John is looking forward to SWF2024.
John ready for work as a Ceremony Office - conducting Citizenship ceremonies as well as weddings
He has also participated enthusiastically in the SWF2023 First Five Pages Prize, with multiple entries and has used the experience to really push his writing to the next level.
In his spare time, John also volunteers for the LCK Charity (Long Covid Kids), where he promotes creative writing and illustration among children affected by Long Covid. He plans to self-publish a book featuring the children’s work on March 15th, 2024, to commemorate Long Covid Awareness Day.
You can connect with John on Facebook at the Gorbals Writing Group page or Writing Visionaries page.
You launched the Gorbals Writing Group in Glasgow - what was the motivation behind starting this group, and what lessons were learned along the way?
In 2016, I was undergoing surgery that would prevent me from being mobile ( and off work ) for a long time, so I knew I had to keep my mind active whilst undergoing physiotherapy. There was no creative writing group to join so I set one up.
Can you tell us a little about your volunteer work with the Long Covid Kids Charity and the book you’ll be publishing in support of LCK?
I have been in touch with the CEO of LCK since April 2023. I made the suggestion that the children might enjoy some creativity in their lives, so I set about liaising with Sarah from LCK and Pattie the artist/illustrator from the USA that I collaborate with to help children via Zoom meetings in order to create a book, and of course my partner in crime Sam. Sam has been a mainstay of our group and is the brains of GWG while I’m the enthusiastic one.
The book is hopefully going to be moving to its proofreading stage as of January 22nd in time for a launch in mid to late February in time for the International Long Covid month in March 2024 and the Long Covid Awareness Day on March 15th ( hence my idea of the 15 WORDS of encouragement, hope and inspiration )
How can our readers lend support to the LCK Charity? (Do you need our readers to send 15 words?)
The 15 WORDS you sent me on behalf of the SWF Board of Directors are in the book. I will let the CEO of LCK know about your kind offer and possibly they can be used in the marketing of the book and be on their website and Facebook pages.
Editors Note: Sarah Priest from LCK has indicated that the LCK Charity would love all the help the SWF Community can provide - whether it’s sharing about the LCK Charity on Social Media (Follow, Like, Share) or Donations and volunteering. You can also provide 15 WORDS of support via their website at: https://www.longcovidkids.org/contact-9
What were the best 15 words you’ve received so far in relation to this project?
Nicola Sturgeon (former First Minister of Scotland) together with John Munro
Sadly, I can’t release any yet, but I did like the submissions from the First Minister of Scotland, The London Zoo, The Loch Ness Information Centre and obviously yourself on behalf of the Stockholm Writers Festival Board of Directors.
We understand you also help run the Writing Visionaries page on Facebook with over 1,100 members, can you tell us a little bit about the purpose of the page?
Years ago, I was interviewed by a lovely lady called Kirstie Close and somehow we agreed to set up a Facebook page to encourage creativity. We provide prompts so people can submit their ideas. We are a very friendly, fun group who support Writing Visionaries from across the globe (e.g. we have contributors from the UK, USA, Australia, South Africa, Northern Ireland and Greece) we would love others to join in the fun.(Hint!)
You’ve already booked your flight and hotel in order to come to SWF2024, how did you first learn of the Stockholm Writers Festival, and what convinced you that SWF would be worth the trip from Glasgow?
I followed SWF2023 via Facebook and just decided I’m going in 2024. Nothing beats meeting creatives who love what they do, plus I get to meet smarter people than me which will help me to be a lot more creative in the future.
A fairly common thread in the Stockholm Writers Festival community is that many of us have dreamed of writing for years before we ever had the time, resources, or ability to sit down and actually do it. We got the sense that this is something that resonates with you too. When did you first decide writing was something that you wanted to actively pursue, and then how long was it before you started writing seriously?
Apparently, I won a competition as a child in primary school and as I travelled extensively as a child I grew up with books and no TV. I left home at 15 and have always written for the past 45+ years. I always knew I’d write, but I had to find my route from procrastination to publication. Setting up a writing group was the first step and I’ve never regretted it.
You took part in the SWF2023 First 5 Pages Prize, how has that experience impacted your writing?
Having not been selected for any of my SWF2023 First 5 Pages, I used it as motivation to become a wee bit better, resulting in me completing my children’s book Unluckiest Unicorn in the Universe and getting it illustrated, and that has led to the start of 5 other adventures (in Scotland, Ireland, USA, Australia and Lapland) as well as the creation of a children’s activitiy book.
Work on 4 of my other SWF23 submissions, MacGrackle and Unity are ongoing and research continues on Previous (set in Sweden) and Vintage (set in Cuba and other countries.)
What are you looking forward to most at SWF2024?
This year, I am very keen to know more about the publishing and marketing of books, as using KDP and Amazon / Kindle has been my go to.
Can you tell us a little about a piece you’ve written in the past that you are particularly proud of, published or not — just something that still moves you every time you revisit it?
The Gift is the one that I’m very proud of as it was recognized by others as something worthy of performing on a stage in London in 2018. The performing actor has starred in a films with Mel Gibson and Sean Penn!
The Gift
Mark looked at his tattooed arm
The Regimental crest, his good luck charm
His children’s names, he gave a stroke
What happened to that army bloke?
He washed himself from head to toe
He had to be quick, so no one would know
He used various toilets, for the disabled
People like him, were quickly labelled
Dossers, Tossers, homeless scum
Vagrants, Tramps and even a bum
He’d served his country with courage and pride
No one knew, how he felt inside
For two years, he’d slept beneath the sky
As angry people, passed him by,
Pointing, shouting, hurling abuse
All his baggy clothing, hanging loose
His muscles, were almost worn away
Though he tried to exercise, each day
But people mocked and moved him on
Street living’s no fun, down in London
That Christmas Eve, he hunkered down
In his alley he saw the McDonalds clown
Cardboard boxes ‘neath his clothes
Above him snow, was landing on his nose
His balaclava, covered his face
But in his eyes, he had disgrace
How, had he succumbed to PTSD
Was this “Gods” way of testing me?
He felt himself, drift into sleep
The snow now lying, inches deep
The tremors, ran throughout his skin
This happens, when you’re really thin
He heard a crunch, upon the snow
And a voice “I’ve got one here to go”
He felt himself, rise from the floor
There was five figures, maybe more
He felt himself, move into light“
So” he thought, “I die tonight”
Voices swirled, inside his head
Something about “ Big Red”
Hours later, he awoke
He was in a bed, “is this a joke!”
A room so warm and clean
This was different, from his normal routine
He slowly raised his body up
Saw a kettle, coffee and a cup
An envelope with MARK was plain to see
Who, was sending mail to me?
He opened it up and read it fast
And then again, to make it last
“We are the Secret Santa Society,
Who’ve all suffered pain and PTSD”
“You’re in a hotel, for the week,
Reception will call us, if you want to speak
You are under no obligation
To speak to us, about your situation”
“We’d love to help, as others helped us,
You probably don’t want to cause a fuss
We can help you, but it’s up to you,
So what, would you like to do?”
Mark started crying, tears hit the page
He felt like he’d been released, from a cage
Time to get back on my feet
Time not to wallow in defeat
He looked out the window, the world was all white
The world had turned to day, from night
Today was a new start, he knew what to do
The phone was answered with “How can I help you?”
