10 April 2011
Posted in
Books and Poetry
Norman Samuda Smith explains how he came to set up the Panther Newsletter
I was born and raised in Birmingham, England to Jamaican parents who came to the UK in the early 1950s. My formative years were spent in the Small Heath area of the city, living and growing up above my mother’s hair boutique.
I started writing at the age of 10. At school I entertained my friends with fictional stories about a Birmingham-based black football team, the Caribbean Stars who played in the old First Division. I produced a comic based on these stories, which was circulated amongst my friends.
I completed my novel Bad Friday at the age of 17. It was published in 1982 by Trinity Arts Birmingham; was short-listed for the Young Observer Fiction Prize that year, and republished in 1985 by New Beacon Books. During the 1980s, I was a founder member of Ebony Arts Theatre Group. I acted with them and was commissioned to write their plays. We toured nationally for five years and performed in front of packed audiences.
For a number of years I was encouraged by my writer friends to set up a website. When I thought about it I asked myself if I wanted to set up a website that was all about me and my publications; what workshops I’ve done or about to do - writing a daily journal while I wait for my next gig? The answer was no. I wanted my website to be different, a little something about me, but interactive, informative, organic and, most of all, engaging.
The original idea of Panther Newsletter was to provide a platform for local writers in and around the West Midlands area to be featured and talk about and promote their work, websites, etc. through an interview with me, and to encourage other budding writers and artists.
When I initially sent out invitations to some local artists inviting them to be featured in the Newsletter, the initial response was slow. Of course, with anything new, it was understandable. My children then introduced me to Facebook. Once my profile had been set up, I soon made friends around the globe.
I posted my newsletter to them each month and the response was mind-blowing. Readers and artists from the United States, South America, West Indies, Africa and across Europe and Asia commented that my newsletter was a breath of fresh air. Following that, artists mainly from the United States have asked to be featured and a few, to date, have done so. They saw it as an advantage to be featured in Panther Newsletter.
Panther Newsletter, 'the monthly online cultural review which is thought provoking, creative and fun' does exactly what it says on the tin. It focuses on news and topics at home and abroad that doesn’t get covered in the mainstream press. It announces community events, from music to Belly Dance classes. It enables writers to showcase their talents to a wide audience.
It informs us of our cultural history, the discourse, the inventions and the impact our ancestors have made on the world that has inspired and enhanced our lives. Since its launch in November 2009, Panther Newsletter has recorded 18,000 hits and those figures are rising each day. It is my hobby and my passion to share information - my gift, as well as other people's.
Not only has Panther Newsletter helped the artists promote themselves, it has encouraged me to write prolifically and has also given me the confidence to pursue my dream, which is to self-publish my future projects through my publishing company that I am setting up: Samuda-Smith Publications.
Currently I’m working on two projects. Jamerican; a hybrid biography of my dad and me, of his travels from Jamaica to the United States, England and Canada, and the influence my family and friends have played in nurturing me the writer.
The other is Baby Father, Single Woman, a collection of short stories which follows the lives of two individuals who fear they will never find 'the relationship'. I’m also planning to write a one-man show in the future which looks at my experiences of being the first generation of black British born children in the UK.
I just want to keep on doing what I’m doing, and encourage others to do the same.
