In January, the Saturday Seminars focused on retelling, a key theme running through both the Wael Shawky and Chapman Brothers exhibitions.
Session 1: Talk: Strategies of retelling: translation, myth, appropriation, transcription
(short break)
Session 2: Reading Workshop: Retelling, rewriting
Novelists Natasha Soobramanien and Luke Williams led a series of interlinked events exploring the power and appeal of rewriting. From appropriation, to transcription, to translation; from the use of classic myths in contemporary storytelling to the phenomenon of fan fiction, Soobramanien and Williams considered the range of intertextual strategies available to writers willing to expand their conception of the term ‘original’.
The first and second events, a talk and reading workshop, considered these strategies in relation to the work of some key writers, including Helen DeWitt, Lydia Davis and Georges Perec.
Listen to an audio recording of this talk
The final session, a writing workshop held on 25 January, gave participants the opportunity to try out some of these approaches in a fun and friendly environment.
Natasha Soobramanien is the author of a novel, Genie and Paul (Myriad Editions, 2012), a Guardian book of the year.
Luke Williams is the author of The Echo Chamber (Hamish Hamilton, 2011), winner of The 2011 Saltire Award for Best First Novel. Both live in London, and are currently collaborating on a novel about the island of Diego Garcia.
