2/13/2013 6 Comments WRITER'S GROUP, MADRIDWe provide the mic, you provide the words I recently set sail (boarded a plane) from Sydney, Australia for Spanish shores to start a life, or at least, to continue speculating what I want to do with my life. And now I'm officially a Madrid resident. In brief, my Spanish is especially elementary at the moment, and I'm also becoming socially restless. I'm certain that the two are interrelated. So in an attempt to foster some kind of social interaction distinct from my broken (massacred) Spanish with the local fruit & veg man ('me tomato want, good day yes, por favor'), and the microcosm of five male housemates that is my share-house, I enthusiastically signed up to any and almost every expat meet-up group that google.es has to offer. One group in particular, 'Read, Write and Toast!!' is a fortnightly meet-up group for writers run by writers, founded by the talented and bashful Ryan Day. Excited to have access to the English language as well as some potential new BFFs, last night I cabbed it to a quaint American-style cafe called 'Toast', the assigned venue for the literary shindig. It was a cosy setting, with a mic and table set up at the front of a small room dimly lit by low-hanging lightbulbs. As an Australian, the interior was definitely reminiscent of a trendy hole-in-the-wall number you so often see in Melbourne. Writers of various backgrounds (amidst the group were Americans, South Americans, Australians and some Madrid locals) read aloud self-devised short stories, poetry and travel recounts. Overall, it was a diverse presentation of ideas and subject matter, ranging from the POV of a turtle named Octavia, social commentary of junkies in Athens, an homage to Capote, something in Spanish, and the philosophy of dichotomy and distance. I've been inspired to write a short fictional story that I intend to read aloud at the next meet-up, 12 days from now. I've also been inspired by a local beer-drinking Spaniard named Gorge, who will (unknowingly) star as the protagonist in this to-be written story. If you're a writer, or a story-teller, I'd appreciate any tips on short story writing, as well as examples of your work and/or blog! I'm somewhat new to creative writing but being, an imaginative embellisher (as all stella bullshitters would say: never let the truth get in the way of a good story), I feel confident and excited about this new activity. I'll post the story once it's done (and dusted) on the Aesthesis site. Thanks for tuning in, thirsty Gorge and I will see you soon.. Image source: www.newyorker.com
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