MINUTES OF WOKING WRITERS CIRCLE MEETING of 17 August 2017 at STROLLERS 

Present: Catherine, Liz, Sarah SH, Sarah DD, Amanda, Heather, Hilary, Ramzan (chair), Alan, Shaun, Simon, Peter (minutes).

Apologies: Dermot, Greg

Dermot is unwell and in St Peter’s hospital.  We will send him good wishes (post-meeting note, Dermot’s back home).

Alan is now checking his publisher’s first proofs of his forthcoming novel.

Shaun has, this week, published his seventh novel in the drug cartel series, The Carli Cartel.  He is working on the next one and brought a script for its tag line for us to review.  He received enthusiastic comments and helpful suggestions.

Hilary is bracing herself for the NAWG gala dinner on 2 September when she will find out where her story is ranked among the four shortlisted.

Readings

Sarah SH gave us a snappy (or should I say snacky?) little ditty, Fun with Food.  This had a clever change of pace and a poignant lack of walnut in the whip that enabled us to see irony in food marketing.  Thank goodness she stayed off Toblerone!

Sarah DD read a piece about the objects we own and the various levels of sentimentality but after watching a TV programme where people are bullied into decluttering and the emotional strain this causes, the conclusion was reached that it’s OK to hold on to items that are tied to memories.

Cathy tried the homework topic – a memory in less than 400 words.  We shared her adolescent memories and had life put into perspective when the sun went out in 1999.  The mundane and the astrological sensitively juxtaposed to make an enjoyable story.

Heather is very pragmatic and has managed difficult phases in her life with humour, preferring to see the brighter side of her challenges.  Her account of her mother’s pernicious put-downs of haughty officials endeared us to a troublesome old lady just fighting her corner.  We didn’t really learn what Heather’s relationship with her mother was but we did discover that she was happy to play second fiddle to John Betjeman.

Peter brought a secondhand memory of his father getting caught up in war and left behind at Dunkirk, again, within 400 words.  This was simply written but seemed to grab the attention of the group who made satisfying responses to a poignant chapter in our, and his family, history.

Shaun brought the tag line for his next book, We Are Being Lied To: The War on Drugs and the group enjoyed helping him to develop it.  Lots of good ideas were offered and a discussion on how to present such a difficult and divisive topic followed.  Shaun is courageous in tackling one of today’s most challenging issues and we expect his book to draw more of us into the debate: an issue for society and not just for governments and activists.

Hilary tackled the Memory Lane challenge set last month.  All the senses used, with smells taking us into that hardware shop of half a century ago.  A sensitive piece that evoked similar memories in the audience.

Ramzan is putting together a collection of the short stories we have enjoyed so much.  He shared the prologue he has written.  This reminded us Ramzan’s enthusiasm for tapping into adult material with good nature, and skilfully showing it to be the everyday experience we pretend does not occur to us.  His engaging use of a vernacular accumulated from his rich life experience illuminates his writing.

Amanda delighted our lady members with wedding dress talk.  The appeal of her piece broadened as the dress became a metaphor for a an independently minded girl’s own special way of navigating to adulthood and adjusting family relationships, seemingly to the satisfaction of all.  At the end comes the realisation that our children do not become the people we want them to be – but something much more.

Alan also tacked Memory Lane.  Childhood memories were educed by Alan’s recalled visit to the fair with its generators and noises.  The rebel in Alan who flattened the hurdles on sports day awoke the dissident in all of us and a bit of Macmillan, Beeching and the Boat Race reinforced this journey down memory lane.

Carla and another wedding!  But this one in verse and in two languages.  A nicely assembled poem that felt like a classic and we felt sure will replace, ”May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back …” as a favourite blessing.  This stimulated a short discussion about the translation of phrases and ideas between languages – you can’t and you have two related but different pieces.

Liz had a thing about ties this month.  Not such the things men put around their necks or those emotional strings we prefer to avoid but the word, “Ties” which she just enjoyed exploring.  An interesting exercise in wordplay that illustrated the interaction of words and thought.

Next meeting on Thursday 21 September:

Chair – Heather

Minutes – Trisha

Biscuits and milk – Carla

Wine – Shaun

Ramzan set the topic for September – Deadline.

WOKING WRITERS CIRCLE MEETING AT STROLLERS ON 20 JULY 2017

Present: Peter, Hilary, Heather, Alan, Ramzan, Tricia

Apologies: Greg, Cathy, Sarah SH, Sarah DD

News:

Hilary has had a story shortlisted in the National Association of Writers’ Groups (NAWG) competition. She will be attending a gala dinner in September at which the winner will be announced. Woking Writers Circle will be mentioned on the website. (Alan previously won second prize in a NAWG 250-word competition.)

Jane has been taken on by a literary agent which is a considerable achievement. Unfortunately for WWC, she has now moved out of the area.

Readings:

Hilary – ‘Take Me Please’ – a short story based on the homework theme. This was an extremely poignant and involving work which had the effect of making listeners feel they were present in the room as the drama unfolds. The story concerns Sadie, a drug addict with a baby. Social services and other officials are filling the room and it is clear that they are there to take the child away. All the elements leading up to this are subtly conveyed, such as the social worker checking the fridge contents and the fact she starts every sentence by addressing Sadie by name. All agreed it was a very powerful and beautifully written story and there was lively discussion on the issues raised.

Tricia – ‘Babs’ – a play featuring Barbara Windsor and Roger Moore. Trish had previously been set the assignment of writing a play about famous people and all agreed the dialogue flowed easily and convincingly. The characterisation came across persuasively from the dialogue, with warmth and humour cleverly conveyed. The actors in this rendition felt they had been born to play the roles, of course!

Heather – ‘Shoes’ – a poem. The inspiration for this poem had been a long wait in Outpatients when accompanying a partner who was having a fairly unpleasant procedure. The shoes belong to a very smug and powerful employee and her confidence is at odds with the vulnerability and anxiety of those sitting in the waiting room. Although the form was structured in terms of rhythm and rhyming scheme – one listener kindly used the doggerel word, but redeemed the situation by lobbing in a hasty reference to John Betjeman – it was generally felt that it worked.

Peter – ‘Take Me Please’ – a poem based on childhood memories. A wonderfully rich piece of work with no words wasted and somehow conveying every sense without actually using the words, ‘saw, heard, etc’. The memories are incredibly vivid and the poem flows beautifully with just the appropriate amount of crafting to give it structure without diminishing its freshness. A beautiful poem.

Ramzan – ‘Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!’ – a short story. This was a very well-wrought story which made maximum use of listeners’ eager appreciation of innuendo. The cock in question has been brought home by the husband to be slaughtered and made halal, but his wife is keen to go to the cinema. The cock cannot be left behind, so the husband hides it under his coat. This makes for an interesting trip, culminating in the child complaining that a cock is eating popcorn. The humour of the situation and of the writing was greatly enjoyed!

Alan – ‘Gallery of Fear’ – a short story based on the homework theme. An intense and powerful story inspired by the denial of education to women in some cultures. The imagery is vivid, conveying heat, dust and the claustrophobic nature of being trapped. Saida has a gift for drawing and uses this to communicate as she has not been taught to write. The progress towards her escape and the use of the drawings is described compellingly and with a lightness of touch, as is the pride and love felt by Saida’s father. Alan kindly circulated this story afterwards as listeners felt they wanted more time to savour its richness.

Next meeting: Thursday 17 August

Chair: Ramzan

Minutes: TBC

Wine: Tricia

Milk and biscuits: Heather

Homework theme: A memory – in 400 words. This is a regular feature in The Oldie magazine.

MINUTES OF WOKING WRITERS CIRCLE MEETING, 16 JUNE 2017

Present: Cathy, Liz, Sarah SH, Sarah DD (chair), Amanda, Heather, Ramzan, Alan, Peter (minutes).

Apologies: Trish, Dermot, Amanda, Greg

News

Heather was heard by Hilary and others on Radio 2’s Johnnie Walker show.  Heather read her poem ‘A Carer’s Prayer’ as part of a feature in Carers’ Week.  We heard that Johnnie Walker had a photograph taken of the two of them, for his celebrity album.

Those lucky enough to have seen Goodnight Mr Tom at the Rhoda McGaw theatre reported to those less privileged how excellent Greg had been in the lead role.

Readings

Sarah SH gave us another of what we have come to expect, a well-crafted story.  In this one, a conscientious mother averts the concerns of her son and successfully entertains the young man’s prospective parents-in-law with the help of the unexpected qualities of a souperman (yes, souperman) she found in the garden.  The group found little wrong with the story but did make helpful comments before being cut off savagely by the chair.

Sarah DD continued her quest to find the missing sonnet, the one in which the muse has a life beyond the bard’s imagination.  Moonlight was in its evening gown and all was peaceful in the Strollers.  The sonnet now has a full complement of verses and couplet and contains some pleasing imagery.  However, the muse is still searching for her identity.  We look forward to further development.  Sarah’s second offering of the evening was an amusing and complete poem that forced us to see a discarded dishwasher with some humanity.

Cathy dipped into her adolescence to make her fictitious story of a girl’s crush on a teacher sound authentic.  She did not disappoint and conjured up some original lines.  Several members were taken with: “The country was split 52% Blur, 48% Oasis.”  This story was particularly enjoyed by the ladies present, all of who seemed to have similar memories.  They particularly liked the fact that the crush endured for 20 years before eventual fulfillment.

Heather also drew on experience, in this case made poignant by enabling her to empathise with an elderly couple navigating their last shared moments.  She gave us a beautiful, vividly descriptive poem with a dialogue in which they declare their love, as they have done throughout their marriage, despite declining faculties.

Peter cobbled together a poem on the homework theme, grief.  This had a reasonably good opening and a satisfactory ending but needs pruning and sharpening.  Commentators suggested it was worth working on.

Hilary brought us two pieces: a haiku on grief and a story in which grief is met with pragmatism. Just to remind us, a haiku is a traditional Japanese poetic form, too inscrutable for some but poetically simple, intense and direct for others.  It has three lines and 17 syllables in counts 5/ 7/ 5 and, I understand, should contain images of nature.  However, poets frequently feel free to bend the rules a little. Hilary’s haiku seemed to qualify.  Nature is reflected in a still life.  We wondered whether it should have been “pair” or “pear”.  Either would work. Hilary’s story was part of a longer piece but was satisfying in itself.  It questioned the nature of grief in loss and showed how even a long comfortable, or at least workable, relationship could run its course in such a way that there was no real need for grief.  There was, however, a need for time to allow the departed to leave completely and for the widow to adjust to her new independence.  All very satisfying for our lady writers but, perhaps, left some of the more sensitive men wondering whether they would be missed.

Carla shared her poem ‘Good Friday’.  Is it a sonnet?  Is it free verse? It’s a super poem, with a satisfying rhythm.  In just 14 lines, Carla hints at philosophy of life, theory of religion and the nature of friendship.  Beautiful.

Alan, droll but not dull.  An observer of sibling rivalries resurrected at their mother’s funeral.  Tony is a waster, a professional victim, a sponger.  His sisters are conscientious and successful and have no time for their sponging brother.  Far from admiring their controlled, orderly lives, we are encouraged to see Tony’s optimism as the greater virtue.  It might just come right for Tony in the end? It might not.  Well, that’s life.

Liz, perhaps coming to terms with her recent loss, was unusually pragmatic as she considered the absence of grief in the intensity she might have expected.  She enabled us to see death as a natural conclusion to life and a chance to move on.  More thoughtful than disrespectful.  Liz’s story reminds us how we can so easily ignore the inevitability of death and be met with surprise and shock when it confronts it.  Don’t let Death get away with it, seemed to be Liz’s message.

Ramzan, in just a single page of prose, reminded us how profoundly life has changed in one lifetime.  Perhaps it was simpler and easier to cope with when schoolboys were beaten for their own good and teachers took a little revenge for their unhappy lot.  We were taught that hard work and ascetic discipline would get us virtuously through a life of toil.  Ramzan enabled us to see beyond mere existence and behold the beauty of life, just life – when the sun comes up and the birds sing.

Next time:

Chair – Peter

Minutes – Heather

Biscuits and milk – Ramzan

Wine – Cathy

Sarah DD set the topic for this month – Take Me Please.

Minutes of Woking Writers Circle meeting on Thursday 18 May 2017

Present: Liz, Greg, Dermot, Amanda, Ramzan, Peter, Sarah DD, Cathy, Simon, Hilary (chairman) Alan (minutes)

Apologies: Sarah SH, Tricia, Heather, Carla

News: Greg announced, to great admiration, that he is to take the lead role in Send Amateur Dramatics performance of Goodnight, Mister Tom. See details below. Amanda will be circulating an email regarding booking to see this.

Greg recommended the Woking Write Out Loud poetry event at the New Inn, Send, on 12 June.

Liz reminded us that June sees Jane Austen’s 200th anniversary, while recommending the Dancing at Tilney Hall, details of which may be Googled.

The book group read Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys and everyone enjoyed it. Greg recommended her autobiography, of which he has a copy.

Liz also brought the Ambassadors Cinema guide referred to below.

Hilary saw and thoroughly enjoyed Jude Law In Session.

Dermot reviewed Funny Girl, then he and Greg were informed, after Greg published the review on the WWC website, that it was embargoed by the Ambassadors Press Office, until the following day. All was resolved.

Peter recounted a fascinating conversation on the relationship between painting and literature that he had with a fellow admirer of Turner’s “The Fighting Temeraire” at the National Gallery.

Dermot reviewed Thoroughly Modern Milly, with Joanne Clifton, which he thought was a wonderful show. Carla’s prizewinning co-authored poetry translations from the Italian are now online.

Peter invited comments about the recent exchanges with an Australian writing circle, and undertook to summarise future communications with them.

He also reviewed the status of the Woking-themed stories and articles for which he recently appealed, concluding that all contributions would be gratefully received.

Alan announced that his first novel had been accepted for publication. Further details follow, in step with the associated publicity machine. He also receive a payment for a letter about the first episode of Decline & Fall, that was published in What’s On TV. A glance at the relevant spreadsheet reveals that the payment was £10, not £5 as reported!

On the table:

Greg brought the flyer for the forthcoming (7–10 June) Send Amateur Dramatics performance of Goodnight, Mister Tom, at the Rhoda McGaw theatre, Woking.

Liz bought the Ambassadors Cinemas Woking Film Guide. Full details and prices are available at www.atgtickets.com/cinema or from the box office, on 0844 8717643

Dermot brought a copy of the NAWG “Link” magazine. http://www.nawg.co.uk/

Readings: The homework was “There’s One Thing I’d Like To Forget.”

Dermot read Something To Forget, about a member of a magician’s audience being asked to tell a joke, as a fill-in act. His joke, painfully recalled after an initial period of blank-minded, terror- induced memory loss, falls flat. He still longs to forget the humiliation. We all enjoyed this brief, humorous piece.

Ramzan read How Can I Live With This? This was a reflective and wide-ranging treatise on the psychological effect of bad news on the recipient. The philosophical treatment of Ramzan’s spiritual and practical search for positive influences gave rise to a corresponding level of appreciative reflection among his listeners. Margaret Thatcher, quoted by Ramzan with exquisite, gossamer-light irony, once cited the Islamic poet Alama Iqbal as saying “For the individual, to belong to a society is a blessing. It is in the community that his work is perfected.” Ramzan concluded by acknowledging the central role of humour in his life.

Greg read a review written for Write Out Loud, of the Stanley Spencer poetry competition anthology reading. The piece was a delightful commentary on the relationship between painting and poetry, focusing on work deriving its theme or title from Spencer’s output. We learned that ekphrastic poems are those inspired by paintings. Greg succinctly and effectively explored several related ideas, in this skilfully crafted model of brevity and eclecticism.

Hilary read Counting, a piece rewritten from an earlier work. It was written from the viewpoint of an unborn child, addressing its pregnant mother from within her womb. The mother was apparently studying for her maths A-level, judging by the references to the differential calculus. Sharply perceptive descriptions of the insensitive gaucherie of a group of adolescent boys, highlighted their inability to relate emotionally to the protagonist’s condition or feelings, despite their pathetic attempts to feign experience and sophistication. These vignettes were skilfully juxtaposed with vivid descriptions of morning sickness. This beautifully written piece was an experiment with writing in the second person, regarding which Hilary cited Martin Amis, as a skilled exponent of the technique.

Liz read a piece about the first Woking Lightbox literary festival. Greg and Cathy had significant roles in this event, which included a three-hour poetry marathon, in which Amanda read her poem ‘I’m Sorry For Your Loss’. Carla read, too. Liz intends to send some photos of the event to Greg and Cathy, plus author Nicola May,  whom Cathy interviewed during the festival. More on this interview may be found on the WWC website. Liz commended Cathy’s seamless, natural interviewing technique. Cathy was able to give WWC a very enthusiastic plug, while Greg regarded the festival as having been very successful. His only regret was the lack of a break in the three-hour reading marathon, originally motivated by a desire to maximise reading time.

Cathy read a wonderfully evocative piece, (for your amanuensis, among many others present), about her old school, in Ossett, West Yorkshire. Cathy has joined a Facebook page called Ossett Through The Ages, on which the old school song had been reproduced. What followed, in her piece, was a gloriously authentic catalogue of school idiosyncracies of the period; cricket rules amended to encompass Tarmac pitches, tennis balls and the complex Newtonian devilry of catching a ricocheting ball from a high brick wall. Equally authentic was the comparison of the song’s words to an East German coal collective text. Balancing these hilarious, poignant reminiscences were perceptive reflections on the alleged and actual divisiveness of particular educational selection systems of the past. Richly anecdotal, we were left with a question worthy of Poirot; why did the school burn down?

Amanda read the Stuart and Lauren Love Bake Sonnet, celebrating her daughter’s imminent wedding. A baking-themed poem for a similarly focused ceremony, this typically witty and original paean to the happy couple’s nascent professional skills was captivating and original. Voting on three options for a final couplet resulted in an overwhelming endorsement of the first. ‘The Icing on The Cake’ was suggested as an alternative title, to widespread acclaim.

Alan read Toxic Flows The Main, a futuristic account of the trial and sentence meted out to a corrupt official whose dishonesty had rendered him an ecological saboteur. The deliberate mixture of “gothic” legalism and social comment was appreciated.

Next meeting: Reading meeting at Strollers, Goldsworth Park, 7.30 on Thursday June 15

Chairman: Sarah DD

Minutes: Peter

Wine: Ramzan

Milk & Biscuits: Hilary

Homework: Grief

Additional Note: Discussion of the annual summer social commenced. Amanda kindly offered to host the event in August and also agreed, on popular request, to write a murder mystery, for solution in the garden. Amanda will be circulating an email seeking preferred dates and times.

WOKING WRITERS CIRCLE’S MEETING AT STROLLERS ON 20 APRIL 2017

Present:   Cathy, Sarah DD, Sarah SH, Amanda, Heather, Hilary, Greg, Dermot, Shaun, Alan, Liz

Apologies:  Ramzan, Tricia, Simon, Peter

News

The Lightbox’s first literary festival will be from Friday 21 to Sunday 23 April. WWC contributions include the Write Out Loud poetry open mic organised by Greg, and “In conversation with Nicola May”, where author Nicola May will be talking to Cathy about the process of getting published.

Dermot reviewed Fracked at the Yvonne Arnaud theatre for Essential Surrey. It was better than he expected and cleverly acted. Amanda reviewed The Woman in Black at Woking for our website. It was terrifying! Cathy reviewed Million Dollar Quartet at Woking, also for WWC. Although the performances were good there wasn’t a great deal of story and it may have worked better as a straight tribute show.

Alan had pitched a piece about his mother’s experience with walking frames to Disability Now, only to find they had folded (Disability Now, not the frames). Not to be put off he went on to offer it to Disability Review magazine where he spoke to the editor and they are considering it for publication.

Greg is shortlisted in the Saboteur awards as reviewer of the year. This will be voted on by members of the public and the circle was strongly encouraged to do their democratic duty and vote for whoever their favourite poetry reviewer may be.

Shaun mentioned almost as an aside that he has incorporated a publishing company, Gadfly Press (after Socrates). He intends to continue to publish true crime, as that has been very successful for him so far.

Readings

Greg, ‘Black Gold’

Greg’s poem about his father and his father’s compost heap was full of solid imagery and gave a sense that his father had come through the struggles of his life and “landed”. The poem contained double meanings of compost and mortality and tackled large subjects in a tiny world.

Heather, ‘The Dancer’

Heather’s poem was a bitter-sweet collage of ideas. We felt it was very authentic and powerful. It looked at issues of ageing, dementia, shame and guilt. The reference to the song If You Were The Only Girl in the World was very evocative.

Shaun, blurb for The Cali Cartel

Shaun read the back cover blurb for what will be his eight book, The Cali Cartel. This is to tie in with the new season of Narcos on Netflix. He also had a cover design. The group asked questions and offered suggestions on the blurb, and discussed whether the cover’s similarity to that of Shaun’s previous book was a positive or negative thing.

Hilary, Breath

Hilary’s short story was a very intense look at a grieving mother with the intimate thoughts of a woman just about holding it together. There were references throughout to breath and breathing and some powerful metaphors about the brittleness of a stick and of life.

Sarah DD, Babu

Sarah’s piece about Woking’s Peace Garden used imagery of the symmetry of the garden and the trees planted for the men who had once been buried there to encourage the reader to think about peace. As it stood it could have been either poetry or prose. The circle felt it could be condensed into one or even two poems.

Dermot, Mistaken Identity

Dermot’s short story about helping a young lady in an airport then briefly being mistaken by the press as actor Raymond Burr (of Perry Mason and Ironside fame) was wryly amusing as always. Although he got slightly less than 15 minutes of fame he did get the experience of being papped and wasn’t sure the celebrity life was for him.

Liz, Eggs, flowers and the word ‘wonderful’

Liz’s moving tribute to her mother was read out by the vicar at her mother’s funeral. It was a lovely, powerful and well balanced piece which gave us a strong impression of the woman Liz’s mum was. We felt Liz’s second piece, which focused on eggs and chicken keeping was, while interesting, a very different piece and the graphic descriptions of the slaughter of chickens may not be quite right for the intended audience, the Oldie magazine.

Alan, Mock Humility

This period piece offered numerous opportunities for Alan’s rich descriptions and sense of humour. Brilliantly funny with phrases like “Dripping boscage”, boscage meaning wood (it was clarified to the minute taker).

Sarah SH, Fringe benefits

A continuation of Sarah’s story about a woman and her hairdresser-turned-artist. Sarah was concerned that it was getting confusing with jumps in time and point of view, but the group felt that it would fall together as she wrote. Alan in particular thought that the “crafted confusion” could be a positive and the group noted this was a style employed by Faulkner.

Amanda, ‘I’m sorry for your loss’; ‘Love Letters’

Amanda’s poem, ‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ about commercially aware funeral directors struck a chord with all members who have arranged funerals and been up-sold caskets and other accoutrements of death. Her second poem ‘Love letters’ compared the love letters of the past on Basildon Bond notepaper with today’s culture of immediacy. The construction of the poem underlined the contrast between old and new.

The next meeting will be on 18 May

Jobs:

Minutes: Alan

Chair: Hilary

Milk and biscuits: Dermot

Wine: Cathy or Amanda if Cathy unavailable.

Homework: “There’s one thing I’d like to forget.”