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Some lucky people
There were some lucky people who shared an experience last Friday night. (The whole County shared the experience of the windstorm, so I’m not talking about that.)
I’m talking about the group of people who, over the course of a two-hour period, got to deliver and hear short presentations from local writers; ranging from the screenplay for a short horror movie set in Allisonville— something about two overcurious teenaged girls being turned into zombies—to a musing comparing the start of a journey through palliative care to the welcome aboard the Love Boat.
The event was the monthly meeting of the Wellington Open Floor, a friendly forum established by local writer Roz Bound that is now in its 19th year. Bound got the idea for the Open Floor when she was taking a Master’s degree in Fine Arts at the University of Vermont, and was struck by the enthusiasm for daily public readings on the campus. She was looking to engage with the Wellington area writing community, so she put an ad in the Times and waited to see how many people would show up. Three people came to the first meeting, then six to the next meeting. The idea took off. A typical meeting now attracts 10 or more. There were 16 of us last Friday.
The format is simple. You sit in a circle and take turns reading (if you are so inclined; listeners are equally welcome) for up to about 10 minutes. Your work can be old or new, polished or rough. You will receive gentle commentary from the rest of the group; Bound makes sure that the discussion does not stray into judgment or criticism. The idea is to provide a forum in which people can share their creative output, and receive the feedback that gives them the confidence to continue. What makes it succeed is the trust that you will have a sympathetic reception if you give of yourself by sharing your writing.
That sense of trust was evident last Friday night. One reader presented an essay about the recent pedestrian deaths in north Toronto that invoked memories of her son, who was buried nearby. Another writer, who had been coming to the sessions for years but whom I had never heard read her own work, overcame her reluctance at the last minute and read from her journal. A first-timer shared her poems about self-affirmation, not knowing what the reaction would be.
The writing runs the gamut, says Bound, from poetry to prose, journals, plays and song. This night, there was much poetry on offer—poetry about getting comfortable with silence, and about magical experiences sitting in waves in the dark; poetry that in brief flashes of wit observed how fitfully we experience the change of seasons; poetry written to enhance the experience of a work of visual art; and poetry celebrating multi-gender inclusiveness. We also heard a memoir of the exhilaration of first experiencing Montreal during a snowstorm; and a reading from an inspirational book on the challenge of taking “The Heroine’s Journey.”
All in all, it was a typical evening, filled, as Bound puts it, with “lively discussion, laughter and sometimes tears.” Speaking of laughter, I would be remiss if I did not observe that the Open Floor was a favourite venue for the late, great John Kennedy, the creator of the Jake Hooker character that still haunts these pages. John was notorious for his contagious doubling over with laughter while reading from his Tales of Sloveville column. I go myself and read from my columns or columns-to-be, although I find that neither I nor my listeners experience any doubling over effect.
Bound says she finds the Open Floor “constantly reinforces for me the strength of the human spirit, as well as the necessity for like-minded community.”
To join in an Open Floor meeting, just come to the Wellington Library at 7 p.m. on the first Friday of any month, midsummer excepted. There is no charge. Anyone is welcome—to read or to listen. We can’t know exactly what lies in store for us; but we can count on feeling lucky to have been able to attend—windstorm or no windstorm.
For more information, contact Bound at rozwriter@hotmail.com.
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