"Be A Renegade", by Alistair Houghton, first appeared in the Hull Daily Mail's
"What's On" section, on Friday July 11th, 2003.

It is reproduced in full here, with pictures:

You might be used to reading about theatres, opera houses, or even open-air concerts on these pages.
But some renegades think people's front rooms can be venues of note - Renegade Writers, that is.
The year-old group, which wants to give a voice to writers who feel out of place at other writing circles, has already staged two public spoken word performances where its members have read their writings.
But their activities don't stop there. They meet every two weeks in members' houses to read out their writings and share their thoughts.
And now the Renegades are set to produce their own book to spread their word.

Founder member Nick Boldock, 27, is a trainee accountant and former Hymers pupil.
"This is a group of modern writers and poets who don't feel they would fit in with any other writing groups," he said. "We didn't want to sit around writing about clouds and flowers.
"We decided the only way we could do what we wanted was to form our own group.
"People who come to our meetings have the freedom to write what they want."

Nick and friend Lee Cassanell officially formed the group in late July last year and soon roped in mates Trevor Edge and Kevin Cross.
After their first few writing groups they realised they wanted to have a presence at the Humber Mouth Literature Festival, in the November.
So they quickly produced their first publication, Remedy, a small pamphlet for which the writers contributed poetry and prose.
Remedy made its way to the festival bookstall, though Nick attended some Humber Mouth events and found the audience was not right for the Renegades.
"There were some good poets there, but it was not our way of thinking," he said.
"We wanted a bit of a knees-up with a party atmosphere."
So Remedy Live was born.
One Thursday night in March more than 100 people crammed into the George pub, in The Land of Green Ginger, to hear the group's nine members read their work.
The readings were interspersed with live music from the band Cracktown.

Another event was held on Friday, June 13, and luckily for the Renegades there was another good turnout despite the competition of Hull's less cerebral Friday night attractions.
The group want to do another event for the next Humber Mouth, but for now they are concentrating on producing a "marketable" 150-page book.
They haven't decided on the theme yet - a topic sure to generate lots of Renegade talk - but are hopeful their book will be a local smash.
Nick said: "We want to be moving up."

The Renegade Writers range from 19 to 37 years old. Fellow founder Lee, 24, is a purchase clerk originally from Bilton Grange, but now living in the Avenues.
"We were just sitting around one night with a couple of drinks and we thought we'd start a writing group," he said.
Lee said he started writing five years ago, but only put together bits and pieces before the writing group started.
He went to another Hull writing circle but says he found it stale and it did not provide what he was looking for.
Don't expect Lee to come up with sweet little tales about life in the garden.
"I'm a bit political. My work is not really for children," he said, laughing.
"The writing group has helped us. It gives us more people to bounce different ideas about with.
"We've tried to make it more rock 'n' roll than your usual writing group, offering a relaxed atmosphere. We're all friends now and all know each other. We don't want to put people under pressure."

Now Lee is looking forward to seeing his work published by the Renegade Writers.
He said: "The first pamphlet went down really well, though it didn't sell very many.
"But from small acorns grow big trees.
"The book is a very exciting prospect. It really could make a name for us.
"Hull has a tradition of art and poetry going back a long way. We want to continue that."
Lee also feels his group could help bring out some of the untapped literary potential in the city.
He said: "There are many people in Hull who are very creative."

Alistair Houghton
"Be A Renegade"

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