MINUTES OF WOKING WRITERS CIRCLE MEETING AT ST MARY’S CHURCH HALL, HORSELL ON 19 SEPTEMBER 2019

Present: Peter, Dan, Kate, Amanda, Alan, Liz, Simon, Greg, Carla, Heather

Apologies: Tricia

News

Greg reminded everyone that the regular monthly poetry open-mic meeting of Write Out Loud Woking would take place on Thursday 26 September at 8pm in the cafe at the Lightbox.

Tricia had reviewed the Northern Ballet’s production of Cinderella at the New Victoria theatre in Woking, and you could also read Carla’s review of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours exhibition at the Lightbox on the Woking Writers Circle website, too.

Heather’s poem, ‘The Birthday’ had received a commendation in the Ware poetry competition, and had been published in the competition anthology.

Liz reported that the Book Club had read ‘The Underground Railroad’ by Colson Whitehead and awarded it their highest ever mark of 9 out of 10. The book for the October meeting will be ‘The Secret Life of Bees’.

Liz also advised that the Guildford Book Festival would take place from 6-15 October. There is a packed programme, including various creative writing events.

Introduction

This was Kate’s first meeting and she said she had decided to come along because she felt her writing had ‘ground to a halt’. Kate had written a novel and was looking for feedback and help.

Readings

Peter provided photos rather than words as evidence of feverish construction activity which he said had prevented him from writing. All agreed that the resulting edifice is a thing of beauty and evidence of much hard graft (and not just by Peter!).

Heather read a poem, ‘Tarquin’ which she described as extremely silly.. The poem included the phrase, ‘mad wriggle’ in an effort to fulfil the homework brief. She also read her commended poem, ‘The Birthday’, which was felt to capture the sadness and inevitability of the distancing and loss of a much-loved friend.

Kate read the first chapter of her novel, ‘The Heron Pool’ which concerned the acrimonious break-up of a relationship. All agreed there was a satisfying build-up of tension, but that this could possibly be further enhanced by shortening the first part featuring Lucien’s journey home. There could also be more showing than telling; although when action occurred it was powerfully conveyed and heightened the tension. All agreed it was a powerful piece of writing and there were some extremely vivid details, such as the fragments of the broken vase.

Carla read her poem, ‘Cooking Betrayal’, which has been published in the latest edition of South magazine, and which was greatly admired. Telling use was made of herbs and food items as ingredients to reflect the ambiguity in a relationship in terms of culinary images. There was not a word wasted and the overall effect was lyrical, powerful and memorable.

Dan read the prologue to his novel, ‘Child Night’, which he had written some six months previously. The cult mentality was conveyed most effectively and there were many memorable phrases, such as the air being churned by helicopter blades. All agreed that this was absolutely right for a prologue; it conveyed suspense and mystery and captured attention.

Greg read four poems as a sequence inspired by Sean Henry’s sculptures in Woking: ‘Woman (Being Looked At)’, ‘Standing Man’, ‘The Wanderer’ and ‘Seated Man’. These worked extremely well as examples of poetry derived from, and inspired by, another form of art. There was discussion about contacting the Lightbox and the arts representative at Woking Council, and also putting something on the WWC website.

Liz had attended a Positivity Summit in London and had written about two speakers that she had particularly enjoyed. ‘Boyd the Boxer’ and ‘Murphy the Skater’ had both overcome significant problems in their lives and radiated warmth and positive emotions. It was, however, Liz’s sharp observations about the ‘New Age Guru’ running the event that really evoked interest and it was suggested that she should write about this. Liz felt that this honesty would make the work unsuitable for publication. Further thoughts were that she could feature the characters in a poem or a short story.

Amanda’s poem, ‘After Blackberrying’, was full of powerful and satisfying images conveying how nothing stands still in Nature or in family life. The poem contained some beautiful and memorable lines, including ‘Silent and songbird still,’ ‘A red kite beckoned me back’ and ‘Silence no longer echoed emptiness’. The picture of the common being turned into moonscape before Nature regenerated and provided a habitat for ground nesting birds has stayed with the minute writer, who possibly over-empathised with the homeless foxes and rodents!

Alan sang ‘The Weekend Belongs to Cats’ which was greatly enjoyed by everyone. This wonderful piece was inspired by ‘Tomorrow Belongs to Me’ from the film Cabaret. The words fitted – apparently effortlessly – with the tune and it was the purrfect conclusion to a most enjoyable meeting.

 

Next meeting: Thursday, 17 October 2019 at 7.30pm

Chair: Greg

Minutes: Dan

Wine: Heather

Milk and biscuits: Amanda

Homework: Under the Mask