Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Do you like adventure? Want to do a reading this summer?

Dear writers of Hamline,

Whether you are a fiction writer, essayist, poet, or CNF writer.  I am in the midst of organizing a summer reading series that will take place in as many different locations throughout the twin cities as possible. My plan is to put people into little groups of 4 and 5 where each group will perform a reading in either a local library, coffee shop, or generally any place that will welcome our art into their establishment. My goal is to make this fun and easy for all participants.

If you are interested in being a reader for this event then e-mail your name and e-mail address to me at sjayaraj01@hamlineuniversity.edu. I will later send everyone a survey that asks for more specific information so that I can sort people into groups and areas that will make this an overall convenient and enjoyable event series.

Satish Jayaraj
Hamline MFA Graduate 2009
Current Hamline MALS student

4 comments:

satish said...

Update
The series is going to be called The Cracked Walnut Reading Series. Feel free to speculate as to why :)

We currently have over 50 people who are interested in reading for us which I am ecstatic about.

Because of this, I am happy to say that we will probably have 7+ people performing for each reading, making each installment that much more exciting.

Here are a couple examples of survey questions I'll be asking just to give you a better idea of this series.

What is your genre?

(It would be more fun I think to have a mix of genres in each group.)

Where do you live?
(So that you're not biking from Roseville to
Downtown Minneapolis.)
Who would you like to read with?

(So that you and friends can make
a buddy day of it.)

I'll be moving on to phase 2 as soon as the Hamline semester ends so do e-mail me by the end of this week if you can as I'll be sending out the survey shortly after.



Satish Jayaraj

satish said...

Dear writers and readers,
We have a name

The Cracked Walnut Reading Series.

It will now be 7+ people for each reading. We have plenty of people and I am excited to see how this project branches out.

I have just sent out the survey.
If you haven't gotten it then I either do not have your e-mail address or I have an incorrect one. E-mail me at sjayaraj01@hamline.edu so that I can send it to you.

Kimberly said...

I have to ask: why cracked walnut?

satish said...

There were a couple simple reasons as to why it became the Cracked Walnut before better reasons fell into place.

The Walnut is an ancient nut that has for some people symbolic qualities.
For example, (according to spiritual writer Ted Andrews from his book Animal Speak) It is said that the Walnut helps to 'ease transitions for those following a unique path.' Two of my ideas for this series were to encourage intelligent thoughtful people to step up and be heard, and to let each reading go its own way. So far it seems like that is what it is doing. I'm still waiting for more survey results, (if you haven't got a survey link - email me for one), but it looks like unique paths might be on the verge. One person is looking to do a reading at an Ice Skating rink, and another is finding out about doing one at a mortuary. Neither of these places are where one would typically go for literary enlightenment.

For the 'Cracked' part,(to each their own image), I was envisioning just a tiny crack in the shell. A hint of the wisdom that readers/writers have is going to be witnessed when they read.

And what's wrong with a little crack, nobody's perfect. I'm privileged to know a lot of good writers, many of which are not (yet) published. For something as casual as the Cracked Walnut reading series, I didn't want it to be reserved strictly for writers who have been published. We are all writers in progress and the imperfections in our craft, I.E. cracks, shouldn't deter us from celebrating the good that does come from our writing practice.