Archive for 2017

And now, the end is here...

With regret, we announce the end of WGWG.

It's been an amazing twenty four years and I would like to thank each and every person who attended, you've been amazing  - well, most of you!  ;-)

There's nothing much to add really, other than please don't forget to keep writing...

So long, and thanks for all the fish...
Anne
xxx

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Tonight's WGWG cancelled

Apologies for the late notice but unfortunately we've had to cancel tonight's session. We do hope you will return with us for the next one on May the 4th.

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This and That

So, Tom came back which was good, and we are looking forward to hearing his work next time ( no pressure, but he did promise!) and Daniel read out another of his stream of consciousness poems.  We hope to have copies of his work for the next reading as it's frustrating for him - and for us - to try and catch the meaning without seeing the poems written down...

Clare read out a revised start to her latest story which made everyone want to know where it was leading - there are a couple of strong characters and her protagonist is not in a good place, whilst her father is lost in Antarctica.  A bit of tinkering with the timelines and we will be flying with this story, I can't wait!

 Marsha read a new piece that led to a very interesting discussion, especially as Rachel Dolezal is still featuring in the headlines.  Will we all be white in 200 years or will everyone want to be black?  Who knows, there is a very strong story here, and I wonder where it is going to end. Marsha has gone off to have a think...

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Statement

There were hundreds of us at the group this week, hundreds*.
Everything read out was Pulitzer prize material**.  Everything.  I'm not even kidding.
This is the best writers' group in the world and we should build a wall around it to keep it safe***.
We will do that.  Build a wall around it.
You weren't there? Sad.****

*This may be a slight exaggeration.
** This may be an 'alternative truth'.
***Might not happen
**** This is true.

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Bomb Alert

Well, five of us braved the bomb!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/02/two-schools-evacuated-army-called-unexploded-world-war-two-bomb/

We had a new person who read a poem, Daniel read two poems and we learned that Dolgo crossed the Vauxhall Road, and in the background there lurked a real life actual bomb!

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Nothing to report

So, I waited until 6:25 and took an executive decision and went home.
Honorable mention to Marsha, who was just about to set out when I texted her, so at least she didn't have a wasted journey.

I hope no one else turned up after 6:25 (it's your own fault for being late if you did!)

Better luck in March :-)

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Tom Waits - Chocolate Jesus

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Questions, questions

'That was good wasn't it?'  said Clare as we were leaving wgwg last night.  And you know what - it was good.

Marsha arrived before the end of the group - hurrah (!) so we were treated to her very funny account of a man from Trinidad ( or was it Barbados?) and his plan to get away from his wife for a few days. It was a brilliant piece, but I can't help being very pleased I'm not married to this scheming trickster!

Daniel has reworked his poem from last week and it has become much more understandable but as Marsha pointed out, he needs to work out if it is a piece of poetry or a stream of consciousness ( or is it both?)

Judith's Dolgo has now made his way into Westminster Cathedral and is waiting to receive the Host, because he is hungry, why else.  But is it the Host, or is it a piece of Vanilla cheesecake he receives?  And do chocolate Jesus's exist for sale in the gift shop or not - we need to know!

David is starting a new course and bought us his homework to peruse.  It was an allegory set on an island where something untoward is definitely going on.  But we all thought that maybe Starbucks was ripe for a bit of allegory action as well.  He has to hand it in today, so I'm not sure he will have time to carry out our suggestions and add a bit of Starbucks, but was a very well written piece which we enjoyed hearing.

Clare's piece continued with her protagonist on a plane annoying the stewardess by reading via her laptop.  But an angry stewardess is the least of her problems.  I'm not sure yet about who will actually turn out to be the real villain in this piece. Is it the father who is the villain, or is it actually the daughter?  Hmm, time will tell...

Oh and for those still wondering about the chocolate Jesus - Tom Waits certainly thinks they exist...


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Cold Night, Warm Words

Oooh it was cold last night, proper brass monkey weather.  No one is going to turn out in this I figured, but how I misjudged you wgwg'ers.  Six other brave souls arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed for more literary high jinks.

First off was Judith with more tales of the amazing Dogo.  He has now left Victoria station and is staggering towards Westminster Cathedral, catching a couple of cockroaches engaging in a little cannibalistic activity on the way. Urgh.  I love hearing about his adventures but I sure wouldn't want to be him. I know I've said it before, but what a truly wonderful one off character Judith has produced in Dolgo.

Next up was David who wrote a lovely piece concerning memory. It was a sort of before and after affair with a slightly melancholy air.  Beautifully written, I hope that his writing course liked it as much as we did.

Then newby Daniel ( he came back!) read his poem.  We were at a disadvantage because he had no copies, but we managed to go ahead without them.  I don't think we caught all the nuances of his poem as we couldn't see it, but he has a lively style and he promises us copies next time.  It was a sort of companion piece to his last reading, with this one set in the cold.  Such a sense of cold and freezing he produced!  I really hope he does bring copies next time because his work is interesting but it's difficult to catch hold of on one hearing, thus making feedback difficult. His is a very dense rhyming style that puts me in mind of Malory.

Clare has a new story that is coming along well.  Families are always difficult and I sense that the father/daughter relationship in this story is not going anywhere good. Brilliant writing as always.

Ibra was reading for the first time.  His native language is French and he has had to translate the poems into English with a little help from Sita.  The poems sparked much debate about language and translation.  They are quite dense and I don't pretend to understand some of them, but I hope he brings more of them along!

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Quality not quantity

First group of 2017! How apt then, to have only one first timer, who had something to read, and two regular facilitators who didn't*. We waited a bit for more people then  embarked on Daniel's lyrical traipse through the forest. It must be pretty intense to be subjected to the full concentrated force of only two critque-ers but he handled it really well. We didn't scare him off we hope! He did say he'll come back.

See you all at the next one on the 19th.

*Why break the habit, eh?

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