Matthew Byrne | Writer, Founder, Digital Marketer

Written by Camilla Bell-Davies

A Growing Collective

Winter 2018 saw Spittoon’s circle of membership and events expand significantly — new faces at poetry nights, slam workshops, book clubs, fiction nights, and Spittunes performances. The collective was showing no signs of slowing down.

Spittoon Fiction Finds a New Home

January 2019 brought a new home for Spittoon Fiction — Camera Stylo on Dongsi Shiyi Tiao, a hutong venue combining old school cinema, bar, and performance space. Part cosy cocoon, part storytelling stage, it became the perfect setting for fiction nights that drew on the power of an author’s spoken voice.

Dew Drops Partnership and January Donations

Spittoon raised 3,000 RMB in donations in January for its new charity partner Dew Drops Little Flower, which provides intensive nursing care, education, and play for children from disadvantaged or abandoned backgrounds. Spittoon founder Matthew Byrne, Events Coordinator Sara F. Costa, and Dew Drops Project Manager Rebekah Bodden marked the partnership’s beginning.

Lijia Zhang at Spittoon Book Club

Camera Stylo also hosted a book talk with Beijing journalist and author Lijia Zhang on her debut novel Lotus — set in 1990s Shenzhen and following a rural migrant worker who ends up working as a prostitute in a massage parlour. Book Club organiser Deva Eveland and Sara F. Costa interviewed Zhang on 19th January. Born in Nanjing, Zhang began work at 16 in a rocket factory while teaching herself English, writing Lotus in her second language to treat sensitive subjects without censorship constraint

Radio Beijing International

Managing Web Editor David Huntington and Book Club Manager Deva Eveland appeared on Radio Beijing International’s Touch Beijing show, discussing Spittoon’s events, magazine, translation work, and plans for the year ahead.

Duke-Kunshan University

Spittoon Literary Magazine Editor-in-Chief Simon Shieh presented at Duke-Kunshan University on 10th and 11th January, running two workshops — How to Build a Literary Community and Poetry Slam: What is Performance Poetry — aimed at inspiring young writers to get their work out into the world.

Spittunes at DDC

January’s Spittunes at DDC featured four new collaborations. Liane Halton’s guitar moved with Anthony Tao’s poetry. Rainbow Machine provided an aggressive sound canvas for Oliver Torres. The Great Buffalo Blues backed Zuo Fei’s soulful poetry. And David Bond and Matthew Byrne provided a spiky, jazzy rock backdrop to Jaime Santirso’s spontaneous prose delivered in Spanish.

Hangzhou Writers Association

Spittoon announced a new affiliation with the Hangzhou Writers Association — the beginning of an exchange between Beijing and one of China’s most celebrated lake cities.

Art Battle Beijing

Spittoon announced its collaboration with Art Battle International for a live painting competition at Yue Space on Sunday 24th February — 12 artists competing across three rounds of 20 minutes, with the audience voting on winners via WeChat. Co-organised with Madness, with Pebeo as official supplier.

Bookworm Literary Festival

Spittoon announced it had been invited to create three special events for the Bookworm Literary Festival in March 2019 — one of Beijing’s most prestigious annual literary programmes.

Spittunes Chengdu

Spittoon Chengdu hosted their first Spittunes event since the Literary Tour in September 2017 — another testament to the power and diversity that musician and poet partnerships can create.

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Originally published on the Spittoon WeChat channel, Winter 2018. Written by Camilla Bell-Davies.

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