GCS writing initiative nurtures emerging local talent

Gibraltar Cultural Services is highlighting its writing initiative in a celebration of literature during the Gibraltar Literary Festival. Earlier this year Sheridan Povedano was selected for the GCS Writing Initiative and Mentorship Programme. The programme, part of GCS’ development drive, aims to cultivate talent within the literary field, providing young writers with invaluable opportunities and a supportive environment to develop their craft. Chronicle Reporter Eyleen Gomez spoke to Ms Povedano about her work.

Sheridan Povedano has been working throughout the year honing her craft after
having been selected for the Gibraltar Cultural Services writing initiative.
In her final proposal she has written over 60 poems and has enjoying being mentored
during the process.
She had previously pitched essays based on Main Street, but through the initiative she
has found a love for poetry.

“A writer performs the act of habitual writing, and takes on the role by constructing themselves this way. I identify with the noun ‘writer’ because it collects my constancy and effort through writing,” she told the Chronicle.

“Poetry, for me; personally speaking is about experience, repetition and line break.”

“These three elements in poetry make the form more accessible and, by doing so, I turn to learn about myself and reflect on that of which I call ‘turbulence’, structurally as well as thematically.”

She added that poetry is where she feels most at home, as it is something she has enjoyed experimenting with since she was 14 years old.

In the past, she has written in essay format as well as prose, and presently she is “leaning more into the experimental and domestic realm of the form to provide for me a challenge.”

“I am enjoying this new and unmarked territory of novelistic/short story-type prose, but yes, still working on it.”

“In relation to essays, they are what I often enjoy reading most and exploring, however, it is a starting point and it takes me to where I am today.”

Gibraltar’s culture, history, and language (including Llanito) play a part in her creative process.

She said that, even though at first reading there may be a sense of space between Gibraltar and her work, the Rock is inherently tied to her creative process.

“Mostly, I think about setting in Gibraltar and start writing from there; my favourite places to go, places that I will always remember and even places that I have forgotten about,” she said.

“I relive that through my memory while making sure that the material I am presenting and engaging with reflects local identity in a contribution to Gibraltar’s literary scene.”

She added that, as a writer, she wants to experiment.

“We are all voices of experience; coming together to present our view of the world and where we sit with it currently,” she said.

“That is all that I can do, present myself in the way that I am, but also as the author of my collection of work that wants to experiment, improve, and tell a story.”

Another aspect of the writing initiative is to help her break away from set conclusions and signposting.

She said that her mentor for the initiative, as well as those taking the project forward with her, have never been limiting or have never put her in a box.

In fact, it has been the opposite.

“I have always had free reign on my authorial voice and I want my reader to have this opportunity as well,” she said.

“It would be harder to be prescriptive because we all do things in our way, just as readers will interpret texts in different ways.”

The writing initiative has given her a space for her voice to be heard and recognised, she said.

“To the literary world I am a new and young writer therefore, with my contribution to literature in Gibraltar, I hope to inspire more young authors.”

“No matter the form that they write in, I will encourage them to publish and carry on writing because they must start somewhere.”

“I hope that the youth keep creating by reflecting to society how it is for them, to further understand the life of adolescence and young adulthood while keeping a timestamp of their emergence and development as writers.”

With the Gibraltar Literary Festival just around the corner featuring an array of international and local artists, panel discussions, readings, book launches and community outreach, she does not believe that there is just one way to view the literature featuring in the festival.

“Everyone will have their vision, with the literary festival fostering so many forms of creativity that come together to create a space of expression and a vehicle for connection with others,” she said.
“Hence all forms can transform the way we view literature.”

CLARIFICATION: This post was updated to reflect a change in style in Ms Povedano’s work. Although initially she began the initiative writing essays, she has since turned her hand to poems.