Here is one of the introductions to the literary magazine I publish every few years from work that is generated by writing workshops in Parma. I have also published a volume called the Yellow Room with work from writers in Milan and Bologna. All over Italy I have met people, mostly women, mostly working in English, who have a desire to write. It is exciting to be able to help women connect with the imaginative part of their lives. Many Italians too are finding ways to put their existences into lyrical forms. My writers are often amphibians, living between two cultures and two languages.
"Our last year was full of stimuli. By the time we reached our usual publication date, we were running behind. We had not written as much as we had hoped. Even though we are self-published, there was a general admission that we needed the summer to produce more. In a self-generating way, the women in the group worked while the sea and mountains beckoned. We got back together in the fall planning an early start.
Then two planes made their unthinkable turns. We were meeting that very afternoon. During the class, the companion of one of our members arrived, pale, shaken, announcing what he had seen on t.v.. We, too, felt a very grave kind of fear. We thought with numb minds about the awful possibility of a violent response. From the heights of poetry we felt dashed in a few minutes into a terrifying confusion. After our messenger left, we reviewed our options. Those who wished could leave. Otherwise the lesson would go on.
Probably writing always originates from a decision (of varying intensities) not to run away. We finished our lesson."
Excerpt from
New Grains 5 - Parma Writers’ Workshop 2001
– "Forward" pp. 6-7
