A Decade Of Dead Good Blogs

As birthday celebrations go, the poor old DGB's has been a bit muted this week, even something of an anti-climax, with just one blog (this one) and a quick post on the Dead Good Poets' Facebook page in commemoration. 

I personally thought it was appropriate to mark the occasion. After all, ten years of Dead Good Blogging (and views in excess of a million) is a decent achievement for any online platform, let alone one based in Blackpool and dedicated to poetry and creative writing. I figured it was only right to recognise the initiative that got it all going a decade ago and the bloggers (both regulars and guests) who have kept it rolling - but that appears to be a minority view, which makes me feel a little sad. 😞

Of course the personnel and driving forces have changed over time as is only to be expected. It got off to a rattling start in 2011, based around students and their tutors engaged in English/Creative Writing BAs and MAs at Blackpool College under the auspices of Lancaster University. It was seen as a written word extension to Blackpool's Dead Good Poets' monthly open mic nights, with a team of regular bloggers posting six days a week on a given weekly theme in a variety of styles, exploring topics of interest, examining the creative process, pouring out great posts and some amazing poetry, all with the possibility of it reaching a wide audience because of the immediacy of the internet. Within three years it had racked up 1,000 posts and had won itself an award. Thank you Ashley, Lara, Lindsay, Shaun and Vicky for giving it life and substance.

before online

The DGB hit its first serious bump in the road in 2013/4 over the issue of fracking and the fact that Blackpool college benefitted from fracking company monies. There were fallings out and resignations (all of this before I was part of the collective, so I don't know all the ins and outs but it was a divisive issue). New regular bloggers stepped up as some ex-bloggers even asked to have all their posts deleted, a request that was duly complied with. 

 

In fact none of the founding core members has contributed since 2015. I did invite them to guest blog this week for old time's sake, but there was no great enthusiasm to re-visit an old chapter of their lives. A couple of them were even surprised to learn that the DGB is still a going concern. No matter. As one of them stated back in 2014 at the time of resigning: "I hope the DGP can go from strength to strength now. I'm fairly sure the blog will continue to excel with the excellent writers who currently contribute - and the wonderful ones you'll be able to get in future." And so it has proved.

Over the decade there has been a rolling cast of of eighteen regular bloggers, who for as long as they could manage it (more often than not), have committed to writing on their given day to the weekly theme. For thirteen of the 'retired' regular blogger, their posts can be found under their names in the 'Previous Bloggers' section of the website. All the posts of the still active regular bloggers can be found under their names in the 'Current Bloggers' section, along with blogs written by a very long list of  guest bloggers and all their posts are still accessible on the website. Poignantly, two of those guest poets, Christo Heyworth and David Riley, are no longer of this earth.   

In addition to the DGB, Blackpool Dead Good Poets who morphed into Lancashire Dead Good Poets' Society (not to be confused with Liverpool's excellent Dead Good Poets' Society) have continued to hold monthly open mic nights (for the last year and a half via zoom) and have published a number of themed pamphlets of writers' work (including A Poets' Guide To Blackpool, Pelts To Petticoats, Walking On Wyre and The Big One), though the Dead Good Blog remains by far both the most extensive and impressive collection of prose and poetry and it has been my pleasure to curate and promote it for the last six years, in addition to writing the Saturday Blog.

Despite the proscriptive changes and restrictive algorithms that have been introduced by both Facebook and Google in the last few years, the analytics show that the Dead Good Blog is still on the rise, with around 15,000 'views' per month over the last five years and the million views milestone passed at the end of 2020 - which continues to make it a worthwhile forum and a platform for local writers to air their workings on.

the rise of the Dead Good Blog

My only regret is that more readers of the blogs don't find the inclination or time to leave comments or feedback (less than 1% in fact).

Well okay, that's the last ten years acknowledged, appraised and celebrated. Now it's time to look forward to the next however many and whatever may come. There are currently three (more or less) regular bloggers aiming to post on their appointed day to the allocated theme each week. There are spaces for at least three more. If you think you'd like to give it a go - and believe me, it is a great catalyst/prompt to creative writing - please get in touch and ask for details. If you fancy the idea of writing just an occasional blog to see how it goes, do likewise. The list of weekly topics is available for six months in advance, which gives plenty for thinking/research time. You don't need to do anything except submit your blog in plain text or MS word format and the admin team takes care of the rest. It would be great to have some new creatives and fresh voices adding to the next phase in the DGB's life. If  you are interested, please email: deadgoodpoets@hotmail.co.uk

future proofing

I've no new poem to post this week, and the hour is getting late. If you're desperate to read something, here's a link to the most read Dead Good Blog of all: That Greek Cottage and if that doesn't satisfy you, go to the homepage of the website at www.deadgoodpoets.blogspot.com where you'll find 2,000 Dead Good blogs awaiting you.

 

Thanks for reading. Until next week, S ;-)