Tuesday 28th October
Our first major workshop of the session attracted fourteen members. We were also joined by a new, perspective member Linda Marquis and we would be delighted if she made her membership permanent. Welcome, Linda.
Delivering our workshop entitled ‘Memoir and Biography’ was the celebrated author Roger Glass, currently Reader in Creative Writing at the University of Strathclyde. His biography which champions the work of Glaswegian writer and artist Alasdair Gray (for whom he worked as a personal assistant) was awarded winning and he has contributed to many worthy publications. Currently working on a biography of ‘a major British rock band’, he tantalised the club by refusing to name them or any of their albums!
Roger opened up by addressing some of the major questions which club members had posed prior to the workshop. He gave us a short summary of his career - the influences of Alasdair Gray, Michel Faber and his nephew Joshua had on his work and insisted on the importance of ‘compassionate writing’. The afternoon was very cerebral - it made us think and appreciate the concept of memoir in a much deeper manner than the mere recording of anecdote and incident. He answered our questions with honesty and humour and with a depth which caused us to reflect and approach the challenge which he set with a much deeper understanding. A yardstick of his success in delivering the workshop was that time flew by and we were left wanting more.
The challenge which Roge set, allowing us to hesitantly begin, during our meeting was to write about a significant moment either of self or with others. This will form the basis for entries in our next competition, 1500 words (although he is happy to accept 10% either way - very refreshing!) to be with Morag by midnight on 25th November.
Thank you, Roge for a fascinating and insightful afternoon. We look forward to your critiques of our work in the fullness of time.
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