Kate

Did the listening exercise this morning. Not ideal as I couldn’t hear very well – the tables were too far apart. So it’s not dialogue, just snippets. But, for what it’s worth, here are some of my eavesdroppings!

…completely messed up my belly button…
He obviously thinks they’re after something else.
I was pulling roots up and at the end I…[Read more]

Oh gosh, that would be interesting / traumatic!! It would be a really revealing exploration of memory though, and how much detail we still retain beneath the conscious ‘main’ memory. Much like hypnosis is supposed to draw out those deeper memories, i wonder whether this could do similar.

Yeah I write down snippets in my notebook as I hear them. Pretending to be staring thoughtfully into space. Child is horrified at me and says I am ‘Infringing people’s right to privacy’!

And thank you. I adored my grandad. He moved to the UK as an old man and never stopped missing India – his stories were a very treasured part of my childhood,…[Read more]

@kazg yep will do that. I get home from hol tmrw so won’t be till then (and will have to wait till snakey is fed and cats are apologised to!).

I believe there’s a chemical released in your brain during traumatic (or very happy) events that fixes the memory. Probably some sort of survival learning mechanism I would guess. But this does mean our I Remember pieces are like to be tear jerkers. I had a go yesterday and was reduced to sniffling. I’m going to a conference on UK GAAP this…[Read more]

So poignant, Hil. He sounded like a lovely person.

All the I remembers so far seem to have been a release of sorts. What happens when you focus on one and break it down further?

So sad, Hil, and so tender. I remember my dad’s smile, too.

I’ve read the chapters for both books. (The gorgeous passages got declaimed loudly in the library in my lunch break – had a lot of fun with the Twain dialect.) Not started on the exercises yet but I might manage some I remembers tomorrow 😁

This is wonderful! I love the way your I Remembers become a narrative – I was completely there with poor younger you, and what a shero Glenn’s mum was! Banana and custard is all kinds of slimy wrong.

Yes excellent dialogue harvesting, Raine. You’re a quick getter-downer.

And that I Remember is drenched in memory and emotion and sensualness. Just beautiful.’Old hands cradling nothing…’ x

Fabulous, Sea! So many childhood moments conjured up there. Really lovely.

Thank you, Kaz.

I’m very happy to be on this journey with all you amazing writers, as well. What a privilege! I understand your reaction perfectly @hilary.

I’ve read the Le Guin chapter (again – luckily I already had that book but haven’t properly done the exercises, so hooray for this course) but I’m still waiting for my Burroway book to arrive. Can I get…[Read more]

oh Hilary, that is just brimming with grief and love and is so, so evocative and sad. Beautiful, too. It made me cry for his loss, you made him so alive on the page xx

Andrew Wille sends his regards to the group and says if we have any questions please ask. I think he’s posting bit of additional stuff soon on his website.

Thanks, Raine.

Love the dialogue, Raine. Did you do that as you listened?

The I Remember is highly evocative! It’s turned into a piece about your Grandad, hasn’t it?

Oh my darling, that is so sad and beautiful, and I can almost see him in my mind’s eye. What a tender elegy, difficult to read, yes, but also utterly lovely.
I hope the eavesdropping and the time with the grandson have both been cheering. If nothing else, noting down the way small children talk is always a blast, I think.

Thanks, Bella. Tomorrow I’m spending some time in a coffee shop with my six-week-old grandson and a notebook and pencil. I’m hoping for some lightness and humour in my eavesdropping!