An update from the twenty-seventh Writing Workshop with Conner Bassett
A summary of the workshop held on Saturday February 12, plus some of the output published below
This week, Conner chose to focus on the miniature literature of Daniil Kharms and Franz Kafka in the form of parables and paradoxes. The entirety of the workshop was spent on the writing of Kharms and Kafka, beginning with Kharms, a Soviet era Russian avant-gardist and absurdist poet, writer, and dramatist. We began by reading "Man with Red Hair," in which a red-headed man is introduced and subsequently stripped down to non-existence body part by body part until the speaker finally says "So it is probably best not to talk about him anymore." This piece set the tone for what the rest of these parables and paradoxes would do: namely, make us laugh! We also read "A Story," "The Old Woman," and "7 or 8," all by Kharms. From Kafka, we read "A Little Fable," "Give it Up!," and "The Departure."
The Participants: Nova, Amelia, Emma, Josh, Lina, Ellie, Zar, Quinn, Alice, Chelsea
The Challenge: Write a parable or paradox à la Kharms or Kafka.
To watch the rest of the readings from this workshop, like Zar's below, click here.
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