Our Creative Writing Group met on 02 July 2025 to progress the current projects, and to look forward to the demands that will be placed on the group later in the current year.
Some pieces featured fictional locations which don’t appear on Google Maps, whilst others were much closer to home. We had a poem based on a visit to the City of London School for Boys, located on the North Bank of the River Thames. The visit had been made before the construction of the Millennium Bridge! Another location, in a poem, was actually in someone’s home and dealt with the problem of downsizing. With all the drawers and cupboards emptied, what could be taken to the new home and what would be better donated or recycled? This poem certainly struck a chord with the members of the group.
We then travelled across Europe and back in time to hear a story about two violinists who were living in Vienna, but were forced by the authorities to resign from their orchestra. A stroke of luck found them relocated in Bolivia where, step by step, they were able to rebuild their careers and their place in society, despite coping with a foreign language and customs. From Bolivia we travelled to India for a story about the consequences for a life insurance company following the partitioning of India and Pakistan. There were many problems associated with the reorganisation required when the company was faced with the need to partition itself.
On a quieter note, we then arrived at London Zoo for an investigation of reptiles – especially the snakes on view. – with a grandchild. That led to a discussion about the significance of snakes in religion, in ancient myths, and why two snake around a staff – the Caduceus – bear an uncanny resemblance to the double helix of DNA, at the same time as being used in association with the medical profession for many centuries.
We finished with an alternative version of the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party set in the real world, and how an uninvited guest – a young fair haired girl called Alice – had barged her way in, and the consequences that had stemmed from her intrusion!
Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 16 July 2025 at 10:00am.