We
are currently preparing the second session of Readings in the Garden, which will take
place on September the 26th. This time we are lucky enough not only to have the valuable cooperation of the
international artist's residence Jiwar, but also the support of the Olokuti-shop
and --excellent news!-- of the Escola d'Escriptura de l'Ateneu, one of the more
important creative-writing-schools in the world. Don't hesitate! Send us a fragment of
the novel you are currently writing, either in Spanish, Catalan or English (3.000
words approximately) in order to participate in our next
session. But beforehand, to let you see what it is all about,
here the description of the very first session in a nutshell.
We feel very satisfied by the results of this inaugural session, that took place last 20th of June. The level of the texts was as high as enriching was the discussion afterwards, until the point that it was already dark as the public left the garden. We had phone exchanges and the promise of future meetings.
We feel very satisfied by the results of this inaugural session, that took place last 20th of June. The level of the texts was as high as enriching was the discussion afterwards, until the point that it was already dark as the public left the garden. We had phone exchanges and the promise of future meetings.
The first to read was Rosa Sala Rose. She chose a fragment from Ngomo, a historical novel with different
scenarios, starting in Vienna in the 18. century. Rosa's fragment was very
well chosen, because it was a chapter closed in itself, with a clear beginning and ending.
During the later discussion, the public asked the author, better known as a non-fiction writer, about the historical veracity of her story, how she found out about the episodes that inspired
the plot and and also about her research methods in order to get access to the original sources. That got us to talk, among other things, about her
trips to the archives in Paris or about how she came to hold the original skull of her main character in her own hands, literally speaking! We also
talked about the difficulties of moving from the accuracy of non-fiction-books towards the total freedom of a novel.
The second reader was Miranda Train, who read a fragment of her novel Wind in English. During her reading we could already feel wthat she later confirmed: Something very usual in the process of writing (the parallelisms between the life of the author and the story he/she is writing) had in her case a very peculiar effect, since, due to a certain kind of magic that even she is unable to understand, it was her own life that at the end became similar to the biography of her main character. So writing came first! We also discover that Miranda is a very adventurous person, a bit like the characters of her book, and that her many stages at various artist residences became for her a sort of existential journey.
The last reader was Helena Cuesta, who choosed a fragment of her novel Emma. If Rosa's text could be defined as highly literary and Miranda's fragment has the virtue of catching the reader through words (since her writing is as involving as the rain-forest she described!) maybe the main feature of Helena's text was its sharp sense of irony. The public laughed a lot with her description of a meditation session. Her experience as a professional storyteller became very evident to all of us, both for the closed structure of fragment she choosed as for the dramatization of her reading. That's why the public asked her if the fragment was a sort of a tale caught inside the novel and if all of her novel is going to follow this structure. Somebody also asked her if the meditation session that she described so skillfully and with such a great sense of humor really took place or was just an invention.
The second reader was Miranda Train, who read a fragment of her novel Wind in English. During her reading we could already feel wthat she later confirmed: Something very usual in the process of writing (the parallelisms between the life of the author and the story he/she is writing) had in her case a very peculiar effect, since, due to a certain kind of magic that even she is unable to understand, it was her own life that at the end became similar to the biography of her main character. So writing came first! We also discover that Miranda is a very adventurous person, a bit like the characters of her book, and that her many stages at various artist residences became for her a sort of existential journey.
The last reader was Helena Cuesta, who choosed a fragment of her novel Emma. If Rosa's text could be defined as highly literary and Miranda's fragment has the virtue of catching the reader through words (since her writing is as involving as the rain-forest she described!) maybe the main feature of Helena's text was its sharp sense of irony. The public laughed a lot with her description of a meditation session. Her experience as a professional storyteller became very evident to all of us, both for the closed structure of fragment she choosed as for the dramatization of her reading. That's why the public asked her if the fragment was a sort of a tale caught inside the novel and if all of her novel is going to follow this structure. Somebody also asked her if the meditation session that she described so skillfully and with such a great sense of humor really took place or was just an invention.
The
results of the first session exceeded all expectations: the authors were able to see the
potential reception of their work at a time when they are still involved in
the process of writing. And the public had the opportunity to ask all that stuff we so often would like to know from the author when reading a
book.
No comments:
Post a Comment