 |
Raelee Chapman, our indie correspondent, is seeking
out the vast and varied writing communities across Asia, here she chats with
John Gribble, organiser of Tokyo Writers Workshop.
How long has your group been running?
The group goes back
over thirty-five years. It was originally known as the Tokyo English Literature
Society (TELS). Founded by Tom Ainley in 1977, it has always been a writers’
workshop, but in the early days the group was also active in publishing chapbooks
under the TELS Press imprint, and putting out a magazine, Printed Matter.
Where are Tokyo Writers Workshop meetings held?
For the last few
years we have met in a classroom at Nihon University College of Art in Ekoda,
Nerima Ward, Tokyo. We are fortunate in that we get this site free of charge,
as co-organiser Karen McGee is a faculty member at the school.
Describe a typical meeting for us:
The meeting
actually begins a week or more in advance of the scheduled Sunday afternoon
gathering. Members post pieces of work they want discussed on our Meetup page.
Everyone who plans to attend can then download the work and read it in advance
of the meeting. We limit the number of posters to twelve, and each poster
will get twenty minutes of discussion time - usually we have around twenty
attendees. Each meeting we settle in the classroom for a three-to-four hour
session and midway through we take a ten-minute break.
During the session
proper, we follow a pretty standard format. The work is discussed in order of
posting. Poems are read aloud, but there’s no out-loud reading of the prose
works. During the discussion the writer remains silent, unless there’s
information the group needs in order for the discussion to move forward. At the
end of the allotted twenty minutes, or before, if the discussion winds down
sooner, the writer may ask any questions he or she might have before we move on
to the next piece. They might ask for clarification of some point, or about
some issue which didn’t come up during the discussion. We discourage attempts
to explain the work. Otherwise authors are free to ask about anything.
The discussions are
lightly moderated and depending on the piece, they may look at either global
issues (structure, setting, voice), local ones (grammar, usage, clarity),
or a combination. We suggest people print out copies of the works to be
discussed and write their comments down. At the end of each discussion we pass
these marked-up copies to the writer.
We also stress
respect for the writer and the work under discussion. All subjects and genres are welcome. On the rare occasion someone forgets we are a community of
equals, with common goals, concerns, and struggles, the discussion gets quickly
and firmly redirected by one of the organisers.
Do you ever discuss work in Japanese? Is the group for expats only or a mix of
locals and expats?
All are welcome,
but we only discuss works in English. Most of us are native English speakers.
We are tolerant of non-native English writers and some of us will often spend
time beforehand editing and correcting manuscripts. However, we make it clear
we are not offering English lessons. Recently we added a couple of screening
questions to the Meetup site to discourage people who sign up out of curiosity,
but will never be regular attendees, like those looking to practice their
English, or people outside of Japan.
How can people join?
Since 2009, our main portal is Meetup. If you’re in Japan and can make it
to Tokyo for meetings, you are welcome to join us. Just sign up on the Meetup
site, answer a couple screening questions, and you’re in. Then you can download
the material for the next meeting and post your own work.
What are the future goals and directions of the writers
group?
I see our goals as
modest, but doable: to continue on as we have been, providing an opportunity
for writers to meet, share their work, and help each other along. Other than
adjusting to changing circumstances, I don’t see any major changes or new
directions. We are a friendly, frequently funny bunch, but serious about
writing. We work hard to be supportive, especially of people who are starting
out. But the point is to make the work better. Nothing is automatically
“wonderful” – we don’t do overpraise.
Can you tell us a little about your own writing background? And what are you currently working on?
I’m a poet and
sometimes an essayist. I have been publishing regularly since the early 1990s
and have over a hundred journal and anthology credits. I have a Master of Fine Arts
degree from Warren Wilson College, in the U.S.A. I have published one
full-length poetry collection, Another Wrong Fedora, and several
chapbooks. I currently have three main projects underway. First is a
collaborative translation, with poet and translator Masaya Saito, of the haiku of
Hashi Kanseki (1903-1992). Some of that work recently appeared in the American
magazine Modern Haiku. I am completing a poetry chapbook, Ueno
Mornings, which I plan to publish privately soon. And I have another
full-length collection in the works, My Brother Goes Down to the
Sea. I’m also slowly gathering ideas and materials for a book on
playing five-string banjo. Aside from the Tokyo Writers Workshop, I am involved with an invitation-only poets group. I am also
co-organiser of the annual Japan Writers Conference.