Torrevieja´s Writers Meet Again!

Writing the Blog has been quite interesting and I will be doing it for another couple of weeks but then someone else must take over as I´m going away for a bit. It actually isn´t too much of a chore at all and I don´t feel about it like either of the articles in the picture. So come on, somebody - have a go!!!

A beautiful morning at the Olympia Bar saw yet another meeting of the Torrevieja Writers´Circle. This time (29/4) saw 20 members raring to go. Sadly some will be leaving for the UK until the autumn but there are enough left in Spain to make life interesting every Wednesday.

We kicked off with a discussion about the proposed workshop and in short order, after checking first with the Olympia´s staff, it was decided that it would be held on Wednesday 24 June from 10 am till 5 pm. Nik will be leading it and Jen is sewing a pair of leather jackboots for him so that we will be kept in order. We have yet to decide exactly what form the day will take but we can be assured that it will NOT involve lounging around the pool and drinking Sangria.
( Do I hear cries of Boo! Shame! ?)

Today´s meeting was relaxed and pleasant, as usual. Glyn suggested a possible summer outing to watch eagles over Crevillente way and then to have a meal and visit a Moroccan Tea Tent (!) The suggestion was well received and details will follow later.

Today´s topic was Artistic or Literary License.

Brian wrote a thought- provoking piece on this.
Does Artistic License lead to Mendacity? Do writers lead their readers to Self Delusion by creating a world which is unreal and expectations which are unattainable for them?
Ibsen spoke of creating Castles in the Air - is that what a writer is doing and is it right or wrong?

Chris wrote on the same subject but hers was about a post-Credit Crunch world where licenses have to be obtained for those wishing to pursue careers which are not directly useful and productive. Shades of Big Brother!

The rest of the group produced a range of pieces not on the day´s topic.

Christina´s was a tweaked piece about a girl in an isolation room. Most assumed it was some kind of war or torture situation but it turned out to be a test in a TV Reality show! Gripping!

Douglas´s piece was not about a paid killer, as we thought, but about a male stripper! Cheeky!

TJ laid into us with 3 poems of ever-increasing depression. Then he went and left at half-time!
The first one, The Kitchen Blues, was the most easily accessible, about a lady whose family had grown up and left home and she now cooked to compensate for her loneliness.
The other two, Equilibrium Interrupted and Plaster Cast Profanities, were difficult to get a grip on and would require careful reading to begin to understand and appreciate them. However, there were some wonderful lines in them. Reality is boxed and put away was one I loved. Another was Contrition brings its own reward. Brian suggested that since TJ is an artist, perhaps his poems need to be seen and read, not listened to. Could be.

Glyn gave us a further chapter in his Army tale.He warned the faint-hearted that ripe language was imminent. We were not disappointed! Another very funny rendering and the blokes who´d been in the services attested to how true-to-life it was.

Ian gave us an interesting account of how he began to write. He´s only been going since coming to Spain 3 years ago! Incredible!

Maureen read her piece from last week about a trip to Brazil. She´d taken aboard advice offerred on how to make it more personal and less like a travel piece. There are still a few bits she wants to work on so will come back with it again.

Jane read a highly charged critical poem about travelling on Ryanair. Very funny and painfully true.

At this point, Nik declared time was up and another pleasant Wednesday morning had come to a close.

If Ann Flynn reads this, we all wish you well in your quest to become bionic woman. Hope the hip op ( or should it be Hip Hop?) is successful and relatively painless!

See you all next week
Chris J