Writers at Work: A Single Metaphor

The writers, up at La Rocca

The Writers at Work

We've reached the half-way point!

For the past few weeks, this writers have been discussing and working on developing an authentic voice.  They have read different pieces selected by Jan, written pieces themselves, and critiqued each others work both as a group and in individual conferences with Jan.  Below, are Dr. Guffin's words about the week and his photos.

 July 25, 2014   The writers have been  busily acquiring a stockpile of resources from the local scenery and the local citizenry.  This week, we made two major treks, one which took us down through New Spoleto to a tiny public park where the neighborhood gathers daily in the evening and where the writers could observe Spoletini of every age socializing together.  Their journal entries from this segment were rich and varied enough that we are planning to read all nine of them at the next Performance Class.  From the park, we ventured on to the Train Station, distinguished by an enormous sculpture by Henri Moore, then to the town’s largest grocery store, not nearly the size of an American Walmart, but large enough to carry household and personal items beyond simple food products.

Part of the group writing at the base of Spoleto.

Our next major venture was to the home of Juan Carlo Menotti, where the students not only visited the studio where he composed much of his music, and where he insisted the window be open in order for his music to move from his studio to the world at large.  From there, the writers climbed 185 steps to the top of La Rocca, which was closed when we arrived, but which didn’t phase the writers.  The theme for this journey was “perspective,” and viewing the world from the Aqueduct and the top of the castle proved to be sufficiently instructive to elicit  some excellent journal responses from the students.

Elizabeth journaling atop La Rocca.

Bee, atop La Rocca.

Victoria and India writing on the aqueduct.

Kas writing on the aqueduct.  La Rocca in the background.

The writers have submitted one finished piece and are now working on their second, a poem, essay or story which is built around a single metaphor.

Tomorrow we will travel to Siena, our second-to-last excursion for the program.