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Wednesday 20 November 2013

Gibraltar Writers




After a very slow summer as far as writing is concerned, characterised mainly by finding a way to avoiding queuing for hours at the border with Spain.  Did I say border?  It's beginning to feel more like our own Mediterranean Berlin Wall!  As I was saying, after a long, hot summer, I have managed to scrape the nib of a biro onto some paper again and clawed my way into second place in the Gibraltar Autumn Festival Poetry competition with a poem called "Nightwatch".  Second place to an excellent poem by Rebecca Faller, published in The Gibraltar Chronicle.  First verse of "Nightwatch" is printed below. One day, it will form part of an anthology of my poems, but first I have to sharpen up my pencil, fill up my fountain pen, and boot up my lap top and PRACTISE.

Because, if what they say is right, that generally you can expect to scribble out a million words of drivel before you write something worth publishing, I still have a way to go.  Not far, I hope, but still a fair way.  So practise is a must.




Which brings me to Gibraltar Writers.

Writing can be isolated and isolating.  You can only really write something worthwhile when on your own.  Not necessarily physically (above-mentioned poem having been written and honed while surrounded by loving but noisy family), but alone somewhere inside your head, in your own space and your own world that you create paragraph by paragraph.  And the more time you spend writing the less time you spend interacting with real people - social networking only goes a little way to bring you in touch with people, flesh and blood human beings with all their oddities and quirks.  And since books and stories are populated by people, writers just have to go out into the throngs even if only to glean ideas with which to draw their characters.

Gibraltar East Side (because it's different to the West)

And one way to feel a lot less isolated and much more supported and surrounded by others with the same interest in writing as you, is to join a writers group.  Gibraltar Writers meets monthly at the Sir John Mackintosh Hall, on the first Tuesday of each  month at 7.15.  It's a space and place in the month where we can put the lap top to sleep, leave the family to fend for itself and indulge in the company of others who simply can't resist the urge to write down their thoughts, weave wonderful tales, paint visions with words and want to share this with others.  We'll be sharing tips, ideas, testing out our own writing on each other, improving our craft by having others share their opinions on our work and generally supporting each other through the minefield of creating, writing, drafting, revising, editing and publishing.

Whoever you are, whatever age, whether English is or is not your first language, if you like to write, you need to come to Gibraltar Writers on 3rd December.  And if you are thinking about it but are unsure, email me for more info and so I can convince you to join us there!  jackiegirl@hotmail.co.uk  or find me on Facebook, or Google+ or Twitter (Gibtalk).

Sir John Mackintosh Hall, Gibraltar

See you on 3rd Dec with notebook and pen, or tablet, or wax and stigil or whatever you prefer to use to write!


4 comments:

  1. Hi Jackie,
    We are a small book publishing company in Canada that does about two books a year for our own local poets and writers. Definitely not a money making adventure. We do it to make enough to publish the next author. This year we may not be doing a book, so our writer friends asked if we would do another contest, similar to one we ran in 2008. So here we are.
    We are holding a poetry contest to celebrate National Poetry Month in Canada (April). I decided that I wanted to contact more than just our Canadian and American writing friends and decided to get in touch with as many English speaking writing groups as I could find. Hence, this reach out to you in Gibraltar.
    The contest has 3 categories; Free Verse, Traditional Verse & Haiku. We are awarding 3 prizes in each (in Canadian Dollars) $50, $25 & $10. Entry fees are 1 poem for $5, 3 for $10, and 5 for $15.
    The complete details are on our website
    Thank you for spreading the word.
    Dave

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Dave, happy to spread the word and support your venture. Can you send the link to your website and I am happy to promote among fellow writers here. Best regards, Jackie

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  2. Hi! I work as a freelance layout designer based in Estepona. I'd like to send you my fares in order to design any of your books and covers. How can I get your email adress?

    laprimeraimpresion@hotmail.com

    Thank you!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've been working as a freelance designer more than 20 years. So I'm looking forward to hearing more about you.

    Thanks again!!

    ReplyDelete