Local Blogger of the Week: Chris Unitt of Created in Birmingham

Our local blogger of the week this week writes for a blog that focuses on the more creative side of things.

Chris Unitt is the editor of Created in Birmingham, a great-looking blog whose small team of writers tackles the important task of linking up the artistic and creative communities of Birmingham. It was joint-winner of the Media Guardian Innovation Awards 2008 in the Independent Blog category.

Welcome Chris.

How long have you been writing Created in Birmingham?

I took over at the end of April 2008. The blog was started by Pete Ashton in December 2006.

How did you first get involved?

Honestly? I’m not really sure why I was handed the reins. Pete found himself too busy and I think I was in the right place at the right time – an outsider to the city’s arts scene but interested in getting involved and with time enough to take the job on. With the sheer volume of things to stay abreast of it is very time-consuming and it was daunting to take on a MediaGuardian award-winning blog but I’ve loved doing it.

What do you most enjoy blogging about?

The unexpected finds are the most fun. John Garghan is a recent example – he photographs burnt-out cars close up and captures some amazing, abstract-looking pictures.

I also love doing the ‘collective memories’ – trawling around online and collating as many reviews, photos and videos to bring together people’s reflections on the larger events like the Supersonic Festival, Artsfest and the Birmingham Opera Company’s productions.

What are your favourite things about Birmingham and its creative scene?

I like that it isn’t particularly exclusive or pretentious. I’m proof that an ‘outsider’ can start turning up to the events and get to know people quite easily. I don’t think enough people realise how open the scene is.

In a perverse kind of way I also like that, to a large extent, the independent creative scene seems to have been neglected and ignored by officialdom in the city. I think that makes it easier to treasure.

Has blogging changed your relationship with your local community? How?

It’s got me more involved with it, certainly. I know a lot more people around the city than I used to, and that’s simply by writing about them and linking to them via the blog.

I’m also starting to see the gaps in the community – the sorts of events that aren’t happening but should be and the arts organisations that could be using the internet more effectively to let people know about themselves and their events.

Are there any other local bloggers you’d recommend?

Birmingham has a really strong community of bloggers which is great. It’s unfair to pick a few but… there’s Pete Ashton of course, Jon Bounds at Birmingham: It’s Not Shit is becoming a local institution, Joanna Geary has attracted international attention with how she’s pushing online journalism, Steve Gerrard is an amazing photographer who blogs around his work excellently. Then there are the local design firms who blog their daily inspirations and add colour to my RSS reader – Boxer Beyond, Surely and Supercool’s Know Design blog

Do you have any tips for writing a local blog?

Post often, link often and be friendly are my tips for blogging generally. As far as local blogs go, if you want to become part of the community you’re writing about then real world links matter as much, if not more, than virtual ones so get out there and meet people.

What’s been the best thing so far about running Created in Birmingham?

Picking one thing’s tricky but I suppose I’ve learnt more about Birmingham since May than I have in all the years I’ve lived here. For the most part I like what I’ve learnt too.

Can you recommend 3 up-and-coming Birmingham-based musicians, artists, designers or writers we should look out for?

Well, at 63 years old, Gaynor Arnold has just had her debut novel longlisted for the Booker Prize so she looks like one to watch. That’s been published by the local Tindal Street Press.

I’m also fascinated to see what Frankie Ward ends up doing. She’s a drama student at Birmingham Uni but she’s also a radio presenter, blogger, videoblogger, music reviewer… the list goes on. In the past 6 months she’s sung onstage with the Mystery Jets and worked with the BBC, MySpace and 4Talent.

As far as music is concerned, there are quite a few bands pushing through at the moment. I’ll pick The Destroyers – a 15-piece group who play turbo-charged, Eastern European folk music with a ranting, Irish poet for a front man. I saw them at the Moseley Folk Festival recently and they left a field of absolute converts. Genius.

Thanks for taking part, Chris. It’s great to hear about so much good stuff going on in Birmingham. All the best to you and the team. Keep up the good work!

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To find out more about what’s going on in Birmingham, visit the Created in Birmingham blog or the Localmouth guide to Birmingham.

(photo CC by ahisgett)