Fas Autumn XI.3 - Teensy bit of Eliot

What should have been a second session at The Society Club; essential repairs had us relocate to a cafe nearby.

Attendees: FB, JH, HR, JO, SH (new member!)

Read: The Sparrow (FB short story); Dogged (HR short story)

I brought the opening section, un-looked at, untouched, of a collection of short stories I've been writing, all themed around birds. The Sparrow is the story of Eduard, a shy, retiring kind of man, and Maria, and how they meet and form a clandestine relationship (of sorts). She keeps a pet sparrow. He lets it free. But for Fas, just the beginning of the story - a rather forced, stylised sort of thing, but effective in its own way, I hope. I wanted to put myself a little out of my comfort zone, both in my writing and in Fas, and let people give me feedback on something I was perhaps less attached to. Of course it still mattered to me what people thought, and it was interesting to see where the discussion went. There was a pleasant recognition of the jarring effect dialogue can have if used at the wrong time, or indeed, the right time, and we talked a little about where the story could go, and how stylised it could (or should) be. Another buoying moment for my writing. When is Fas not? And hopefully I'll bring another thing or two from the collection before November is out. 

Dogged is Hannah's nearly autobiographical take on a trip to the park and a child in her car being viciously, dangerously, nay, life-threateningly mauled by a dog. The story was best summed up by John, in that in fact the park, the children and indeed the canine incident all serve as a springboard for the real purpose and wit of the piece: the narrator's reflections on the split life she leads as nanny by day and free spirit at night. There is still some polish missing from the story, but there's also a whole load of potential, and a lot of humour, and we look forward to seeing the next draft. A bold first short story effort from Hannah. Thank you!

We also talked a little about John's trilogy of films - though he'd shy away from referring to them as such - and Suse's translation of a Spanish play. Hopefully we'll get a look at the former and a read of the latter.