Words of a Feather
România
Bun venit în studioul nostru cu sediul în Oradea, județul Bihor.
Read the story of WOAF & WOAF Romania below!
Despre atelierele noastre:
Atelierele de scriere creativă din Oradea (în viitor și online, pe platforma Zoom) se vor desfășura, începând cu Februarie 2024, în compania Liviei Creț. Puteți afla mai multe despre Livia aici, sau să citiți unele din lucrările sale aici.
Ce vom face?
În timpul atelierelor ne propunem să scriem texte de ficțiune, poezii și eseuri pornind de la practica unor autori, poeți, mișcări literare, și stimuli (vizuali, auditivi, tactili.)
În fiecare săptămână vom scrie pe baza unui alt stimul/exercițiu, care poate fi inspirat din operele unor autori precum Han Kang, Georges Perec, Rebecca Watson, Jennifer Egan și mulți alții.
Uneori vom scrie pornind de la stimuli vizuali (imagini, videoclipuri), alteori de la sunet, alteori ne vom împleti textele cu citate și idei de la alți scriitori, artiști vizuali sau cântăreți.
Vom avea în jur de 30 de minute de scris, după care cine dorește poate să citească și să primească feedback de la Livia și de la ceilalți participanți.
La finalul atelierelor participanții vor primi un exercițiu creativ pe care îl pot realiza în timpul lor liber și pe care îl putem discuta la următoarea întâlnire. (Exercițiile nu sunt temă de casă, așa că alegerea de a le face vă revine în întregime!) Exercițiile de scriere vor fi inspirate din activitatea unor grupuri literare precum The Oulipo Movement, Letterist International și Situationist International.
Viziunea noastră...
În cadrul atelierelor WOAF ne dorim să închegăm o comunitate de scriitori și oameni creativi din toate domeniile, fără discriminări. Departe de noi gândul de a forma un grup elitist și rigid. Din contră, apreciem insightul fiecărui participant și individualitatea. Fiecare om are o traiectorie diferită în viață, însă prin dedicarea unei ore pe săptămână părții noastre creative ne strângem toți sub umbrela comună a curiozității.
Un exemplu memorabil este cazul lui Sayaka Murata, autoare care a publicat prima sa carte - Femeia minimarket (Convenience Store Woman în limba engleză) - după 18 ani petrecuți lucrând în diverse minimarketuri. Cartea a propulsat-o într-o carieră înfloritoare, permițându-i să devină o scriitoare full-time. De atunci, ea publică în continuu și este apreciată de fani din toată lumea.
Asta nu înseamnă că trebuie să scriem întotdeauna în vederea publicării. Mai întâi și mai întâi scriem pentru plăcerea pe care ne-o procurăm din actul creator. Este cu totul emoționantă legătura cu scrisul atunci când scriem pentru a ne autoexamina gândurile, pentru a aprofunda întrebări sau pentru a dezmorți trăiri.
Cum să vă alăturați:
Exprimă-ți interesul pentru ateliere completând formularul acesta și te vom informa pe mail când încep înscrierile.
Urmăriți-ne pagina de Facebook și Instagram pentru a fi la curent cu informațiile despre ateliere, oportunități de publicare, premii literare, recomandări și multe altele.
Contactați-ne:
Pentru mai multe detalii sau pentru a vă răspunde la întrebări, contactați-o pe Livia la adresa: livia@wordsofafeather.co
How did we come to have studios in Australia and Romania?
Each time we mention that we are connected to a studio on the other side of the world, people ask us how we came to work together. So here it is! The story of Words of a Feather (WOAF), founded by Amy Han, and WOAF Romania, led by Livia Creț.
We decided to share the story from both of our perspectives. We hope you enjoy them as much as we have enjoyed bringing our dream studios to life, together from across the globe.
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Amy Han, Founder of Words of a Feather
Livia and I met at a Le Phare Collectif writing workshop in Paris in 2022. We stayed connected on Instagram over the next year, as Livia completed her Masters in Creative Writing, and I moved back and forth between Paris and Melbourne, sharing updates about my own writing and creative writing studio along the way.
In September 2023, I returned to Paris, and for the first time in over a decade, put my whole business on pause. We’d never quite found our footing again in this post-2020 world; I was burnt out and needed space to reassess everything. Who and what were we now? What did we have to offer, that was needed in this time? What kind of world did we want to help create for young and emerging writers? Who did I need to help make this happen?
Livia and I met up a few times, at art and book-filled, hole-in-the-wall cafes, and one of the many lively spoken word events around the city. We talked and talked. For two people who hadn’t really spoken before, conversation came easily. We were both at an in-between moment in life. We were enlivened by similar dreams - to use our skills and passion for creative writing for good - and the belief that a way existed for us to spin these dreams into reality. As we encouraged each other, it became clear that we were also encouraging ourselves.
Days before Livia was set to move back to her hometown in Romania, she asked if there was a way for us to work together. She wanted to do what I do, and I wanted to connect with people who wanted to do what I do. I knew she’d be great at it. She is passionate, a fantastic writer, had teaching experience, and is so engaging to listen to! Her energy sparks off her and makes me want to dive straight in - to writing, to the business of creating spaces for writers, to building a community. So of course I said I’d support her to start up her own branch of Words of a Feather in Romania. I wish I’d had some guidance when I started. I have loved supporting her over these first few months (it feels like much longer!), working together, writing together, dreaming together, and seeing her take WOAF Romania from strength to strength. It is becoming more her own business every day.
I’m so glad we met and have no doubt we’ll find ourselves in the same corner of the world again one day! Till then, the internet is an amazing thing, making the distance barely existent. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for WOAF, WOAF Romania, and all of us. With the right people by your side, anything is possible.
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Livia Creț, Coordinator of Words of a Feather Romania
At the time, I was an MA student in Creative Writing in Paris. It felt like a dream, but there was also a sense of pressure to enjoy and enrich myself with everything the city and its broad legacy of writers had to offer.
I had decided to sign up for the creative writing workshops offered by the writers' associationLe Phare Collectif, which I heard about from Lola, a University of Kent alumna, who was also part of the collective.
In 2022, in the Zig-Zag Café close to the Pantheon, I met Amy, along with other fellow writers.
When she introduced herself, I instantly felt compelled to talk to her more about her business - a creative writing studio for kids in Melbourne. That was partly because I had experience in offering workshops (in philosophy) to kids, and I wanted to compare our approaches. The other reason I wanted to speak to her was the text Amy wrote during that workshop, in which she had to describe a laundromat without using the word itself (an exercise of showing, not telling).
She was seated on my left, and I could pick up her delicate, tiny handwriting. When she read the exercise, I felt mesmerised by her capacity to explain the laundromat so well through sounds (e.g. sneakers kicking the glass door - ba-dump, ba-dump). I remember it perfectly. I was impressed with her writing and hoped I would have a chance to talk to her after the workshop.
Well, the talk didn't happen in the near future, because that was the only workshop I ended up being able to attend. But I searched for Amy on Instagram, and that was it for the time being.
In the summer of 2023, Le Phare Collectif launched its first trilingual anthology, in which one of Amy's texts was featured. I was surprised to see her in the book and eager to read what she'd written. But I didn't expect the story to be so relatable to my experience with shared houses and apartment mates.
I contacted Amy to congratulate her on the piece. After that, we kept in contact on IG and said we would meet when she was back in Paris. And we did. In a little café not far from the one where we first met, where plants were in a frenzy and the owner, such a nice lady, felt like a character in a Ghibli movie.
We sat inside, where mice roamed around, which felt both unsettling and whimsical, like being part of a children's story.
Amy and I discussed our lives, how we ended up in Paris, what we like to write, the publishing industry, and how we could collaborate.
What prompted me to approach Amy, months after our first random shared workshop, was the hope that we could somehow connect and collaborate as writers. I was about to finish my MA and started looking for jobs in the field, but had no luck until that point. Amy told me about her experience in the UK, where she moved after graduation, how it wasn't easy for her either, but how she persevered and listened to her intuition. After moving back to Melbourne, she decided to take things into her own hands, giving up marketing or other types of jobs.
Slowly but steadily, she grew her business, and her story simply inspired me. I admired her for not giving up her passion and wondered how I could do the same.
The second time we met in 2023, at an Open Mic Night at the famous literary joint Culture Rapide, we permitted ourselves to dream about opening a branch of Amy's studio in Romania. Hope bloomed in my heart - I had Amy's support, she understood what I was going through, trying to secure a job, and she was keen to help transform the Romanian branch into reality.
She herself was in a place where she needed a change - Amy wanted to rebrand her studio, add more events to her regular schedule, and open up to an adult audience. There was a lot of work to be done, but she didn't back off. Again, she impressed me with her level of devotion to the craft of writing and her genuine wish to create a community for writers in Melbourne and worldwide.
During our third meeting, we pinned down the important aspects, because I was set to leave Paris in a week and go back to Romania. I wish I had more time to spend with her in Paris, but that wasn't the last I've seen of Amy. We had several online meetings to organise our collaboration, and she was there for me 100%, so kind and patient with me to find my rhythm with the workshops.
It was a lucky happenstance, our meet, as I had only participated in that one Le Phare Collectif workshop. Our paths crossed at the right time and the right place, and that's a memento for "nothing is coincidental".
Who knows what would've happened if I'd been able to continue going to these workshops or if Amy hadn't come to that first workshop? A palette of possibilities extends just as I think of how any little change in our decisions could have led to a different outcome.
Amy is now in Australia, and I'm in Romania, leading the branch we opened. We see each other online during workshops and keep in contact through long voice messages.
It would be hard to express the extent to which I am grateful for having met Amy and for her openness and willingness to help me pursue my passion for creative writing. I have rarely met people who embrace the unknown, the challenges in life, the serendipitous moments lying ahead of us.
May our studios keep growing to encompass as many creatives as possible! I am sure that Amy and I are fated to meet again, face to face, in a ruin pub in Paris, Romania, Australia, or who knows where.