New season, new inspiration
It has been an intense September so far. Joyfully, though, it has been a writing and literature intense September.
As I type this morning, I can hear my printer chugging out a couple of pages of poetry. This is my preparation - aside from a couple of practise read-throughs at my cats, always willing if rather lazy listeners, - for a poetry recital and fund raising event later this month. I will post more about the event next week. It’s always good to have the chance to introduce your work to others, even if in oral format; you can’t hide from reactions then, your fragile writer’s ego is in the open, out of its shell and comfort zone, vulnerable. I prefer to listen than recite and how others memorise their poetry and perform it is beyond me, but stepping outside of my usual routine will do me good, I tell myself. In any case, the event is being organised to raise money for charity and if a few minutes of discomfort in the spotlight helps a good cause, then so be it. I shall grin and bear it and give it my best effort. It’s just a matter of deciding which poems to present.
Then there’s Native Tongues next week, at the Musician’s Association of Gibraltar venue. It’s an open mic session with spoken word poets, story tellers and rappers performing their pieces. I missed the launch event last month, but want to attend this next gig. Partly I want to support local creatives who are using language as their art, words as their tools for communicating. Partly, as I said before, I am so in awe of poetry performers, and I am most comfortable as an audience member, listening in, learning.
The highlight of this month for me already has been the Third Gibraltar International Conference of Gibraltarian Literature that took place at the University of Basel at the start of the month. I was invited to attend and I spent several days immersed in language, learning from linguists, researchers, professors and students of literature, and from my fellow Gibraltarian writers and poets who also attended. It was illuminating to learn that the Gibraltarian language, Llanito, which I have spoken since first learning to speak, my mother tongue, like other minority languages, is the subject of intense study. That it is in danger of disappearing as its use among younger generations diminishes is concerning and compares to the fate of other minority languages around the world. And if a language disappears, so does a cultural identity. This makes the continuing use of Llanito and its application to produce works of local literature vital to the survival of the Gibraltarian identity as distinct from a chosen British nationality. Plenty of topics for discussion right there, as we found out in seminars and coffee breaks and over dinner.
For me personally, besides finding my mind is still a sponge that delights to absorb knowledge, it was interaction with the other Gibraltarian writers that was deeply inspirational. Their love of writing, their compulsion to express themselves using poetry or lyricism or fiction writing, their passion for literature and language as their art was infectious. We were humbled and inspired by the work of Romansh poets and academics. We learned from the sociolinguists and other linguistics experts how language is used, evolves and subtly expresses socio-political change, their research instrumental now to our own work to support Gibraltarian literature and expand its body of work. I’ve added some images of an evening of indulgence in GibLit: Jonathan Teuma in the flow, Rebecca Calderon’s play The Civil Garrison being performed for the first time by the University Drama Society (a quick aside: that was a lump in the throat moment for this play about seminal events in the evolution of Gibraltarian identity to have it’s first airing so far away from its homeland) and Gabriel Moreno serenading us with his wonderful songs. Oh, and there’s me trying to work out how to take a half-decent selfie outside Basel Munster (there’s little poetic about that!).
This fresh fire in our bellies has meant a return with new enthusiasm to our current projects and a boost in writing energy. I has also meant that the rest of the month will be as intense as its start…and that is a good thing.
