Writing About Food

Our writing workshop met this morning and I suggested we do a writing exercise before getting on with our critiquing. I chose an exercise from one of my favourite and well-used books, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. She recommends a short session (we did five minutes) of brainstorm/freeflow writing followed by a further session to edit some or all of the material produced and then to share the pieces out loud. 

I had chosen food for our writing exercise, anything to do with food. I guessed that each of us would produce something totally different and I was right. We heard about the bulk cooking of pizzas for a family gathering and the way that food can touch the memory like no other sensation can. We were taken into a French kitchen with its rich atmosphere and pungent aromas. We mused at the way in which a trip to the market to buy cherries turned into memories of an aunt and her hat-purchasing fetish and we had a mouthwatering account of all the foods that we have, over the years, brought along to our monthly lunch gatherings. (Yes, we are ladies who lunch as well as ladies who write!)

Although most of us are fiction writers, every piece of writing was based on true events, most of them long-ago memories. This was also true of the piece I'd written, except it isn't a long ago memory. It happened yesterday. I wrote it in short poetry-style lines. It's not meant to read as a poem. It was just the way it fell from my pen:

I love cheese,

creamy yellow cheese, 

crunchy mature cheese, 

soft runny French cheese, 

the kind that stinks out your fridge,

cheese wrapped in nettle leaves,

even blue-veined cheese,

but yesterday I wanted cheese scones for lunch.

We called at the bakers.

They only had cheese straws.

We popped into the deli

But baclava doesn't do it for me.

We had soup for lunch instead

and I disappeared off to write,

trying to ignore the noises from the kitchen.

Clunk, whir, click.

Teatime.

He brought me a steaming mug of tea 

and a plate of tiny, round,

perfectly formed,

cheese scones.

They dissolved on my tongue.

From a man of few words 

They spoke a million.

Only one left. Proof of the pudding...

Wickedness

There’s a new book out that’s really wicked. *sigh* [That’s the sound of someone who’s feeling old.] I’d like to know how the word ‘wicked’ first came to mean cool and, while I’m on the subject, where did the term ‘cool’ come from? Everyone’s using it these days, except for me. Apparently it embarrasses my kids.

“You’re too old to say ‘cool’, Mum!” Charming! In my day it was ‘swinging’, ‘groovy’ or even ‘hip’. You knew where you were with terms like that. I wonder if it’s better to be cool than hot and how can wicked be both good and bad? What word do you use to describe something that’s really good?

...which brings me back to the book. I’ve mentioned before about our writing critique group. We’re all children’s authors and we meet twice a month, once to crit each other’s work and once to have lunch and discuss novels written by other children’s authors. [ok, ok, so it’s mostly to have lunch!!] One of our group, Deborah White, was recently signed up to a two book deal with Templar. The first book is now out. It’s called Wickedness and, like I say, it’s wicked. It’s about two flame-haired girls, both fourteen, both living in London, but four hundred years apart. It’s a full-on adventure story that includes history, fantasy and romance... something for everyone!

Seeing Deborah’s book emerge into the real world is a bit like watching a friend’s baby grow. We saw it develop and mature. We know both flame-haired girls as if they were our nieces. I can’t wait for you all to read it so we can discuss the story. It’s cool... sorry, I mean wicked.

Wickedness by Deborah White ISBN 9781848775312 It’s out in paperback at £6.99 [but if you scoot over to Amazon now you can pick up a copy for £3.91 – how do they do that?]

~~~~~

There are only 12 days until our virtual 

Macmillan's World's Biggest Coffee Morning. 

From Friday 30^th September to Sunday 2^nd October we’ll be having cakes, drinks and fun right here on this blog and there’ll be lots of awards to be won... but most importantly, we’ll be asking for donations to Macmillan Cancer Support at JustGiving in memory of our Mum who died five months ago from cancer. We miss her very much. 

[This event has been registered with the Macmillan Cancer Support Charity and every penny of your donation goes to the Macmillan charity. Thank you.]

~~~~~

Inspired - The word of the day

With thanks to Sheelagh Gallagher: Lapidus chair and host

An entire day spent with Lapidus members is inspiring. I want to share the buzz but I fear it won’t translate. You’ll have to seek out your local Lapidus group if you want to be so inspired.

Wendy French began the day with promises that this year Lapidus would be focussing on support for local groups.

So what do local Lapidus groups do?

There was a common theme coming from each group representative.

We support each other

The sessions are enjoyable

We share news and feedback on current projects

We are inspired

London and the South East:

Wendy French talked about their meetings in the Poetry Cafe, Covent Garden. How can you fail to be inspired in such a location? Each session starts with news and the sharing of experiences and then it's down to the important things like coffee and writing. Up to 20 members go along and any writing can be contributed to a joint creative journal.

Midlands:

The Midlands group usually meet in Nottingham. Sheelagh Gallagher described a recent meeting which involved a story teller and the chance to transform your life story into a fairy tale. Can I compete on the inspirational scale with a Leicester based meeting in the Spring?

South West:

Sue Sims spoke of their bi-monthly meetings in the Pierian Centre in Bristol, another inspiring location. In January Sue ran a successful workshop on free-fall writing and they too are creating a joint journal. They have plans to set up a project working with the homeless.

Wales:

Four people from Wales were so inspired by one of Victoria Field’s courses that they are now setting up a Lapidus Cymru group. Christina Evans described how they were brimming with ideas including an event at the Hay Festival and work in conjunction with the University of Glamorgan.

Scotland:

Lapidus in Scotland is the epitome of inspiration. Larry Butler told us how it began, pre-Lapidus days, with a Poetry Healing Project. Many successful projects, later they are now planning ‘Writing Your Self’ with special guest John Killick. They also have local group meetings which sometimes involve singing and singer/songwriters. Larry is a firm believer in the importance of song.

Hints to local groups

• Larry’s message is to ‘act local’. Meet round a kitchen table every few weeks, write, tell stories, drink, eat, be inspired.
• Sue’s advice is to avoid burn out, rotate the chair and share out responsibilities.

And then came lunch

Larry Butler led an after lunch session that began with candle-lit meditation, a communal song, an active game, and then a stream-of-consciousness writing entitled ‘What inspires us.’ The feedback contained as many answers as there were people in the room.

Please remember to send your inspiring thoughts to Sheelagh for the next Lapidus Journal

PLUS

Anyone who is reading this please feel free to share your thoughts on ‘what inspires you’ in the Comments below.

In an adjoining room Steve Dearden was running a workshop on funding for projects. Jane Reece attended this session and told me a little bit about it.

"Steve's workshop allowed us to talk about our ideas for projects and how we might approach funders and make effective applications," she said. "He reminded us to take control of our work by really identifying what our dreams were and aiming towards seeking support for them rather than tailoring our dreams to what we anticipate the funder might fund."

Yet another inspiring workshop. Why couldn't I attend both sessions... at the same time?

Kate Thompson ended the day with a cautionary session on looking after ourselves when working with groups or individuals. She talked of using the Journal Writing Technique for self-supervision. There are three stages:

• Writing/cathartic
• Reflecting
• Reading back and noticing what has been said

A well tried method is to write an unsent letter (one that is never ever sent).

After reading it through, respond to the following:

• When I read this I notice...
• I feel...
• I am surprised...

We finished Kate's session with a metaphorical Black Box. What is left in the Black Box when the day’s programme is over? My Black Box contains a pledge to plan a meeting in Leicester for the Midlands local group... and I hope it will be inspirational. Any interested readers please contact me.

A date for Lapidus/prospective members:

AGM April 17th at the Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden.

Please send creative writing ideas for the day’s programme to Wendy French

Submissions for Lapidus Journal

Please send proposals to Sheelagh Gallagher

What is Lapidus?

There have been studies to show that it can boost the immune system. It has helped soldiers in war zones. It has eased the mental pain for refugees and abused partners. It has helped sufferers to cope with the symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. There are no side-effects and it’s cheap and widely available. All you need is a pencil and paper. I’m talking about therapeutic writing.

Lapidus is an association that promotes the therapeutic benefits of both writing and reading. It provides valuable support not only to practitioners but also to writers, librarians, social workers, in fact any interested person.

I asked some Lapidus members what the association meant to them and thank them all for the following quotes:

“Lapidus for me is like Indra's net - the members are like jewels connected by the threads of language and every jewel reflects every other one.” Victoria Field

“...A community of people who believe in the transformational use of writing for a better self and world, creating inspirational spaces and ways in which to do that.” Jane Reece

“...A supportive group of people in sincere and joyous enquiry into an exciting fast developing field.” Gillie Bolton

“...The place where I find other people who believe in the therapeutic power of writing, where I meet my peer group of practitioners.” Kate Thompson

Lapidus has not only increased my enjoyment of writing and changed the direction of my career, it has also provided me with a lot of good friends. In fact, friendship is the common theme in all the quotes above, a warm community, a supportive group, jewels connected by a thread of language.

Lapidus runs a series of Networking Days as well as an Annual Conference and it was at one of these Conferences that I heard about a three-day course being run by Victoria Field in Truro in 2007. It was a long way to go. I’m not much of a traveller but I’m so glad I went. I wrote about the course on my website in an article called 'Wearing Two Hats' so I won’t enthuse about that here. Suffice it to say that those three days gave me the confidence to approach Writing School Leicester and launch the successful Leicester Jewish Voices project. I’m so very grateful to Lapidus and Victoria Field for that. I blogged about the Leicester Jewish Voices project last month.

By far the most precious thing that Lapidus has given to me is the skill to open my heart to my notebook. It’s a simple skill but it took a series of workshops to enable me to get the full benefit of this sort of writing. I can now write what I truly feel and I regularly surprise myself with what appears on the page. Who needs Valium?

This Saturday 23^rd January 2010 there is a Networking Day in Nottingham. It’s called ‘Getting it Together’ and there may still be a few tickets left. If you’re interested and would like to go, please click on the Lapidus website for more information. If you’re interested and can’t go then I’ll be writing about the day on my blog next week so please visit me again.

.

.

A Memory Project

In 2008 I was lead facilitator of a Heritage Lottery funded project called Leicester Jewish Voices. The brief was to collect memories of being Jewish in Leicester during the 1940s and 50s and to turn those memories into a book, a website and a touring display. Val Moore, the Head of Writing School Leicester, managed the funding and I set about organising the collection and sorting of the memories. Our original idea was to run a small project. It turned out to be far bigger than either of us had expected.

This was a Writing School Leicester project and so the emphasis was on writing rather than oral work. I decided not to run the writing workshops as I had known these people all my life. I needed someone from outside the community and I knew just the person, Miriam Halahmy, an experienced workshop leader who I was sure that the contributors would love. Together we planned a series of themed workshops which were to form the nucleus of the project. We would be working with people who would not normally call themselves writers, including many elderly with sight and mobility problems. We planned a range of methods to keep things flowing; brain storming with flip chart and brightly coloured marker pens, fluorescent post-its for capturing those special sound-bites and scribes for any contributors who needed help.

My fears that we might encourage people to relive past pains, holocaust memories or wartime losses were soon banished. The project was full of laughter, warmth and friendship. Miriam was brilliant and I was right. The contributors loved her. She led a series of more formal workshops while I organised smaller discussion groups and one-to-one interviews. As non-writers, some contributors were initially reluctant to write but we only had to mention a word like ‘rationing’ or hold up a sepia wedding photograph and there was no stopping them. Our carefully planned themes were soon ignored but this was perfect. We were receiving stories that we could never have planned for because we didn’t know they existed. We were collecting priceless pieces of social history that would otherwise have been lost forever.


I was determined to reach a wider range of contributors than just those who were attending workshops. I used our original plans to develop a distance pack and sent out copies to anyone who expressed an interest. Word spread in a way that would not have been possible pre-Internet and I started to receive memories not only from all over the country but from all over the world too.

By the middle of the year we were working as a team; Miriam and Val with their invaluable writing experience, Glen Tillyard who organised the photography, scanning of old photos and the web design, George Ballentyne who helped with the checking and proof reading, Micky Wright who produced the cartoons and Ian Simons who is still in charge of delivering, setting up and maintaining the touring display. There was also a team of enthusiastic volunteers led by Judy Hastings who kept the whole project alive and buzzing.



The hardest part of the project for me was sorting the memories into a book. It took many weeks of reading, sifting, sorting and re-reading until slowly what had started out as random reminiscences emerged to tell a story of a small, self-contained community and the enormous upheaval it experienced in the 1940s when families of Londoners flooded into Leicester to escape the bombs. No one knows for sure how many Jewish people came to Leicester at that time. Many families spent the war here and then when their men were demobbed they returned to London. I managed to contact a few of these people and so was able to include a little of how being Jewish in Leicester felt for them. A large number of evacuees settled in Leicester, and it was these people, together with refugees from Europe, many of whom had experienced unspeakable atrocities, who helped to create the new, vibrant and diverse Leicester Jewish Community of the 1950s.

I now had the story but not quite the book. My previous writing experiences had ended here, with the typed manuscript being posted to the publishers, but this was different. With Val Moore's invaluable help we planned the pages, chapters, glossary, in fact all the parts of the book that I had previously taken for granted. Time was running short. With only two weeks to get the entire manuscript ready for sending to Think plus Ink, a brilliant team of local book designers, much of the final checking and rechecking was done late into the night. Only when the manuscript was placed into their hands could I breath easily again. Within days they produced A3 proof sheets and for the first time we saw a real book emerging from the typed pages that I had spent so many hours agonising over. With their design eye and expertise we worked together to produce the professional, attractive book Jewish Voices. It was then that I knew that I had achieved my goal. I had a book of memories that would be of interest to more than just the family and friends of the contributors.