WOKING WRITERS CIRCLE MEETING on Zoom March 18 2021

Present: Amanda, Heather, Alan, Greg, Liz, Carla, Alix, Dan, Melanie, Sarah DD, Simon

Apologies: Hilary, Tricia

NEWS

Liz said that the Book Group would be discussing Where the Crawdads Sing on 22 March.

Alan reported that he had had a 100-word piece of flash fiction published in the Australian writing group magazine circulated by Peter.

READINGS

Heather’s poem ‘Madness by Moonlight’ saw “the steady cedar” throw “caution to the mad March winds” in a tableau of garden craziness, with magpies, squirrels, pigeons and badgers all playing their part in the cabaret.  

Greg read a poem called ‘Buzzards’, inspired by seeing them swooping and roller-coasting above his garden in West Byfleet.  

Alix’s piece of flash fiction loosely based on madness was called ‘Crazy in Love’. A fan bunks off university to follow an idol on a world tour. It all ends in tears with an unfortunate encounter at a hotel, and a little gender twist at the end.  

Dan delivered an early chapter of a dystopian crime thriller, which he described as ‘Line of Duty meets 1984’. A girl with a thin white scar across her throat; a café with almond croisssants, but no bacon butties; episodes of flashback in italic.

Liz gave us ‘The poet in Lockdown’, which she described as “the first and only draft”. It included looking down at a thrashing sea from cliffs; wandering in woods; and watching through windows.

Alan’s ‘Cryptic Eloquence’ had a cryptic opening, involving paranoia about an operation, and brain tests. It had a cryptic ending, too.

Carla’s prose-poem was about the body parts of the man. The very poetic language included this description of veins of the neck as “pale rivers meandering inside”.

Melanie read the first draft a writing exercise that involved going for a walk with someone who has just died. It tiptoed around images on the edge of horror, and had an overall air of grief, loss and regret.

Amanda read the second half of her account of a Midlands family funeral held during Covid. There may have been a pink coffin, but the service was austere, with no personalised eulogies or poems, or even a personalised order of service. Yet she took pleasure in the long drive home as a break from lockdown, even the long traffic jam.

Sarah DD gave us two short poems inspired by the Sean Henry statues in Woking. The first one pointed out that they were not on pedestals, were in everyday places, and were not religious, royal, famous, or historical.  Her second poem, ‘Wandering Dust’, was more experimental, one half of it in a dark background.   

Next meeting: Thursday 18 April.

Homework theme: Fool / Emergence.