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author reading

The Winter/Spring Writing Workshop Showcase

An appreciation of those who participated in our Winter/Spring Writing Workshop Session On April 3, 2021, we held our second official end of term reading, a showcase wherein our authors read aloud their best work in front of an audience. While not all of our authors decided to share their work, the formal reading still served as a way of honoring all those who attended the Writing Workshop, whose sharing of work and space over the course of the session strengthened the writing of everyone involved. So, thank you Madeline K, Sophie, Lena, Hera, Julia, Ava, Sierra, Anya, Margaret, Peri, Grace, Liam, Enni, Nami, Anna, Lucy, Maggie, Lina, Sadie, Reese, Samantha, Katie, Tilly, Nova, Iago, Leo, Georgia, Eve, Simran, Ismini, Jonathan, Yasmine, Analise, Charlotte M, Elbert, Emi, Angela, Emma, Noa, Katie P, Pranjoli, Alice, Tegan, Rachael, Olivia Z, Kaidyn, Lucy, Sage, Olivia G, Olivia S, Ruhi, and Madeline S for your continued participation throughout the course of this session, and for inspiring each other to take your writing to greater heights. We are all so proud of all of you! A summary of those who read and their work, in order of appearance “Eclipse,” a short story by Nova Macknik-Conde, 9, written in Writing Workshop #34: Magical Realism. “Book Zero,” an excerpt by Leo Michelman, 11, refined in Writing Workshop #32: Intro to Invented Words and Artlang “Heart and Brain,” a short story by Peri Gordon, 11, written in Writing Workshop #34: Magical Realism “The Girl’s Revenge,” a short story by Lindsay Gao, 9, written in Writing Workshop #33: Larger Than Life Characters “Memory Loss,” a short story by Hannah Nami Gajcowski, 10, written in Writing Workshop #34: Magical Realism “Nothing but Black,” a short story by Lena Aloise, 11, written in Writing Workshop #35: Emerging From “Sunset,” a poem by Iago Macknik-Conde, 14, written in Writing Workshop #35: Emerging From “Fox Girl,” a short story by Sierra Elman, 11, written in Writing Workshop #33: Larger Than Life Characters “Pedestrians,” a short story by Liam Hancock, 13, written in Writing Workshop #36: Veering “No Way to Escape,” a short story by Rachael Lippe, 10, written in Writing Workshop #31: Chance Operations for Fun, Challenge, & a Different Kind of Expression “Shadow Wolf,” a short story by Lina Kim, 10, written in Writing Workshop #34: Magical Realism “The Finish Line,” a short story by Enni Harlan, 14, written in Writing Workshop #37: Antiheroes “What And Is,” a poem by Anya Geist, 14, written in Writing Workshop #31: Chance Operations for Fun, Challenge, & a Different Kind of Expression

Weekly Writing Workshop #9, Friday May 29, 2020: Reading Aloud!

For the ninth workshop in our first ever season of Stone Soup Writing Workshops, we decided to devote the whole session to readings by our participants. Everyone chose their favourite pieces written during the workshops held over the past 2 months. We had a wonderful session, hearing the authors’ work in their own voices, and remembering the different themes and writing challenges we had faced together over the previous weeks. Thank you to all our great writers–and talented readers aloud! We have loved creating these workshops, meeting with you every Friday, and hearing and reading the incredible work you make, and can’t wait for the summer season to start so we can keep on doing it. From next week, the time of the Workshop will change, so that young people in Europe will be able to join it as well. It will start at 09:00 PST, and all the details will be included in the Daily Creativity emails. And remember, some of the work produced in the workshops is published on our website. You can read it for yourselves–and we highly recommend that you do–by reading the posts reporting on each Workshop. Just type “writing workshop” in the search box, of click on the tag at the bottom of this post, and all of them will come up.

A Brief History of a Fictional Virus, poem and video reading by Abhyudoy Basu, 13

A Brief History of a Fictional Virus Abhyudoy Basu, 13 A poem, and video reading by the author (3:45 min) One New Year’s Eve, many summers ago, A man in China started to cough and other symptoms began to show. His wife and son took him to the doctor for a test, The doctor said not to worry and prescribed him just rest. “It looks like a virus,” he said, “but a harmless one for sure.” The man went home satisfied, that the fever wouldn’t shorten his tenure. He went to work the next day, his symptoms having receded, But soon it became clear that a second opinion was needed. The man felt very tired, and his temperature did increase, And as for his cough, it became drier and did not cease. He decided to go to a specialist, so he went to Beijing, And the virus test results did not make him sing. It seemed that the virus was not as harmless as he had thought, And that his chances of recovering were very close to naught. After a week however, he recovered and his symptoms ceased, But that didn’t mean that that was the end of the disease. Soon after, his wife felt sick, and the symptoms were the same, And it transpired that the virus was all but tame. It had multiplied ruthlessly, infecting everyone, The man’s employees, workers, also his wife and son. The man’s wife’s condition began to grow worse, The man had to take her to the hospital and leave her with a nurse. After two days the virus had her by the throat, She suffocated, and to the unknown realms did float. Soon many people, across that district, especially that particular town, Reported a fever and then did the doctors frown. “A contagious virus,” they thought, “has spread in some way or the other. “If it is left untreated, it could turn out to be a bother.” They thought it would be wise to call a specialist from abroad, And so they hired a specialist of Italy, and he was awed. “It’s a virus which affects the lungs,” he surmised, “If it is left to fate, it could lead to worldwide demise.” The specialist took a sample and took it back home, He had to study and show it to his fellow doctors in Rome. But little did he know the virus was in him now, Slowly it was spreading to Spain and Macau. People started to fall ill and die, In the States, Iran, even Dubai. Word came out that even on a ship at the dock, The deadly virus had come to deliver a knock. Soon the virus began to spread everywhere, Step out of the door? Oh! Don’t you dare. No more cars, no buses or trains, The killer virus had infected the world’s veins. The roads were deadly quiet, the rail-lines rusted in peace, Everybody in their homes, even the police. Mother Nature was happy, the birds began to sing, The animals reclaimed their land, even as the world died with its offspring. Millions died across the globe, their bodies rotting in the streets, The world’s best technology and hospitals, all rendered obsolete. But slowly and surely, the world did climb back, Everybody rallied together and got back on track. So this is a good time, to reflect and turn the page, Or else, my friends, it’s back to Stone Age. Abhyudoy Basu, 13Bolpur, West Bengal, India