The Writhing Society: A Salon for Constrained Writing Techniques
This event has been cancelled.
The Writhing Society meets to practice and discuss the techniques of constrained writing. We practice the methods invented by ourselves and by other writers, artists, musicians, and mathematicians. Today's exercise: Pi(e) day & Tarot
Pi is the endless stretch of numbers (“that continue infinitely without repetition or pattern”) that begins 3.14 and that describes the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. Pilish is a style of constrained writing in which the lengths of consecutive words match the digits of the number π (pi). Calvino: “Leave me like this. I have come full circle and I understand. The world must be read backward. All is clear,” says the Hanged Man in The Castle of Crossed Destinies. Calvino composed this short novel by using tarot cards–which also have an endless number of combinations–to tell the stories of a disparate group of travellers gathered in a castle who have lost the ability to speak. Shall we try this, too? Speaking allowed. We will have decks of tarot cards on hand but please feel free to bring your own.
Leaders: C. Fuerst, M. Skoble
The Writhing Society combines a class with a salon. In a two-hour session, you can expect a few minutes of introductions and explanations, an hour plus of silent writing, and a half-hour or so in which we will read our work aloud. Then, if there's a little time left for questions and discussion, we'll do that. If you know nothing about writing with constraints, if you do not think of yourself as knowing much about writing, come anyway. No prior knowledge required. This is nothing like your ordinary writing workshop. We work in a relaxed, supportive, playful atmosphere, and we welcome new members.
What are constraints? Constraints are rules, specific and arbitrary, that drive you to say what you hadn’t expected to say in ways you never would have chosen to say it. Constrained writing always involves a collaboration of languages: yours and someone else’s. It allows you to take directions from something outside yourself. In a world where forms of expression thought to be “free” in fact come ready-made from the discourses of powerful groups, composing with constraints becomes a disciplined practice for escape, from these or from oneself, and a source of fresh ideas.
The Writhing Society meets to practice and discuss the techniques of constrained writing. We practice the methods invented by ourselves and by other writers, artists, musicians, and mathematicians. Today's exercise: Pi(e) day & Tarot
Pi is the endless stretch of numbers (“that continue infinitely without repetition or pattern”) that begins 3.14 and that describes the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. Pilish is a style of constrained writing in which the lengths of consecutive words match the digits of the number π (pi). Calvino: “Leave me like this. I have come full circle and I understand. The world must be read backward. All is clear,” says the Hanged Man in The Castle of Crossed Destinies. Calvino composed this short novel by using tarot cards–which also have an endless number of combinations–to tell the stories of a disparate group of travellers gathered in a castle who have lost the ability to speak. Shall we try this, too? Speaking allowed. We will have decks of tarot cards on hand but please feel free to bring your own.
Leaders: C. Fuerst, M. Skoble
The Writhing Society combines a class with a salon. In a two-hour session, you can expect a few minutes of introductions and explanations, an hour plus of silent writing, and a half-hour or so in which we will read our work aloud. Then, if there's a little time left for questions and discussion, we'll do that. If you know nothing about writing with constraints, if you do not think of yourself as knowing much about writing, come anyway. No prior knowledge required. This is nothing like your ordinary writing workshop. We work in a relaxed, supportive, playful atmosphere, and we welcome new members.
What are constraints? Constraints are rules, specific and arbitrary, that drive you to say what you hadn’t expected to say in ways you never would have chosen to say it. Constrained writing always involves a collaboration of languages: yours and someone else’s. It allows you to take directions from something outside yourself. In a world where forms of expression thought to be “free” in fact come ready-made from the discourses of powerful groups, composing with constraints becomes a disciplined practice for escape, from these or from oneself, and a source of fresh ideas.
Brooklyn Public Library - Central Library, Info Commons, Room 7 MM/DD/YYYY 60