stop the stories being told
take away their pages
and let them read Kindles.
But Jeremy Hunt quakes in the knowledge
that so much art is born out of a recession.
so many garrets warmed by the friction
of lead on paper
and acrylic on wood.
so many frustrated hands
don’t hold 9k fees
but belong to minds
that burn with inspiration.
Even if they’re not at your job centres
filling in your forms
there’s just not enough time
when even the cost of pen ink is soaring
and the theatre on the corner just lost its funding
and the pub that runs the open mic night just ran dry.
Every school’s classed as independent.
someone’s got to fill the void
when Michael Gove’s rewriting the National Curriculum,
swapping Drama classes for Classical Greek
and Art for Health and Social Care.
Smuggle scripts through underground caves
sell Shakespeare on the black market
override the airways
with Billy Bragg and Bob Dylan
just don’t let Cameron’s kids turn to stone.

© Jess Green

Gove takes control of the curriculum

------------------------------------------------------------------
Jess Green is a 22 year old poet facing full time unemployment but performing on every stage possible, held back only by bus fare.

A bit off the top?

Snip, snip, snip.



More off the side?

Cut, cut, cut.



The back's a bit raggy.

Chop, chop, chop.



Your head's a bit flabby

Hack, hack, hack.

Now... anything for the weekend?

Bill Dawson

Where the cuts will hit the arts

-------------------------------

www.bill-storyteller.co.uk
www.writinginlecreuse.co.uk

As Davey and Will did their thuggery
And George sat and smirked in his smuggery,
The Office for Art
Did its humble wee part,
And cut British culture to buggery.

© Philip Challinor

Arts Council funding decision day: as it happened
------------------------------------------------------------
Weblog: The Curmudgeon - You'll come for the curses. You'll stay for the mudgeonry.
Books: Philip Challinor's Books