Autobiography (iPhone 6s) By Amity Doyle, 11 (Katonah, NY) & published in the September 2021 Issue of Stone Soup A note from Caleb Classes We were so excited to see all of your faces last weekend—new and returning—for our first round of fall session classes! If you haven’t yet signed up and fear you’ve missed your chance, don’t be discouraged; we are still taking new students in all four of our classes (writing workshop with William, writing workshop with Conner, filmmaking with Isidore, and Book Club with Laura), though Isidore’s class will close after the fifth session. And if you’re worried about catching up for missed time, this won’t be a problem as each class in the session is a standalone lesson—plus, you’ll receive a video of each class you missed at a reduced price! Also, beginning today, and retroactively through the spring/summer session 2021, we will be releasing full videos of the readings from both William and Conner’s writing workshops, in which you can see yourselves reading your delightful writing aloud, and relive William and Conner’s exultant feedback. These videos will be available on our weekly Writing Workshop write-ups published on the blog as well as our YouTube channel. Tristan Hui’s The Other Realm As Emma did last week, I’d encourage you all to watch William’s lovely video celebrating the September 1 publication of Tristan’s novel The Other Realm. In other exciting news, we’ve launched a brand new book page featuring precocious Stone Soup contributor Lena Aloise’s interview of Tristan, which you can watch above. Keep visiting the page for other news—reviews, awards, events—regarding Tristan and The Other Realm. If after watching Tristan’s interview you find yourself hungry for more, there is a longer, more exclusive look inside Tristan’s experience writing The Other Realm on our author interview section on the blog. While you’re there, you might rediscover some of our other fantastic interviews with authors such as Abhi Sukhdial, Ariana Kralicek, and Lena Aloise. Write and Publish a Multimedia E-book! Dr. Jiang Pu, a member of the Stone Soup family, is offering a series of ten classes on publishing a multimedia e-book on Asian/Pacific Islander American heroes in conjunction with published authors Oliver Chin and David Siller! Students will have their multimedia e-books published in the world’s first student-made AAPI online library and present at SCCL Young Author Talk Forum and lunar new year event! This is a class for highly motivated young writers who want to practice research skills, media literacy and critical thinking, multimedia creative design, and more. As we all have different learning capabilities as well as varying schedules, Dr. Pu has split the class into three different start times: every Wednesday at 4 pm PDT starting September 29 for children grades 4–7, every Friday at 4 pm PDT starting October 1 for children grades 4–7, and every Monday at 4:15 pm PDT starting October 4 for children grades 8–11. Stone Soup subscribers get $100 off with coupon “Soup100″! Refugee Project Fundraiser Thank you to all who have contributed thus far! The fundraiser will continue to run until September 30th. Tell your friends! Weekend Project When I was first perusing the September issue of Stone Soup, I was immediately drawn to the title “Autobiography” located inside the art section. Why was a word like that—a word typically reserved for the written arts—describing a piece of visual art? And then I clicked on it. Now my question, though still fundamentally the same, had switched from “Why use this word to describe a work of art?” to “Why use this word to describe this work of art?” I could say that the photograph creates a juxtaposition between what is real and what is reflection, the subject’s “real” foot being more three-dimensional and distinguished than its counterpart. I could say that the dynamic curvature suggestive of dance that exists in the “real” foot is lost in its reflection, a blurrier, straighter image filtered through the barrier of the floor, which in this case takes on the appearance of water, perhaps a symbol for the subconscious. And I could try and cobble these observations together into a cohesive thesis, stating that this photograph questions the nature of the form of autobiography—what is gained, what is lost through its filter? And while I could not give a concrete answer, I could suggest that the relationship between autobiography and the subconscious is that when we sit down to write about ourselves, we can never be objective. Lines are blurred, curves are straightened by our own biased perception. But since I am not the brilliant artist behind this photograph, none of this I can say for sure. However, what I can say for certain is that the title of this photograph elevates it from a beautiful picture to a masterpiece. While Sim Ling Thee’s poem “Words of Snow” doesn’t offer the same insight on titles and the nature of autobiography, I found myself drawn to it the same way I was to Amity’s photograph. What I love most about this poem is its rendering of white space, the delightful suggestiveness of the colon. Is the poem the poem, or is it the space left after the colon, the time spent lingering in the mind of the reader as they can’t help but fill the space with their own imagination? This is a concept frequently explored within the realm of visual art, perhaps most notably in the works of Kazimir Malevich and, later, Mark Rothko. But Sim Ling, in just seven lines, takes something more typically reserved for the visual arts and applies it, effortlessly, to the written word. So, with their respective pieces both Amity and Sim Ling have borrowed from art forms outside of their own in order to elevate their art. Therefore, this weekend I’d like you to either borrow elements of visual art within any of its forms (dance, theater, painting, etc.), or elements of writing within any of its forms (autobiography, fiction, screenwriting, etc.), and meld them into one cohesive form as Amity and Sim Ling did. Then, once you’ve completed this project, I want you to think of a title that does more than describe your art. The title should enhance the experience of your art and complicate its meaning. As always, if you are happy with
William Rubel
Saturday Newsletter: July 24, 2021
Spring, by Myra Nicolaou, 8 (Cyprus), and published in the May/June 1985 Issue of Stone Soup A note from William Hello again! I haven’t written our Saturday Newsletter for some months, as I have been writing a book about the history of bread. Thank you to my colleagues who have taken over during this time. I turn 68 on Thursday, which also brings us into the 49th year of Stone Soup. In 1972, I gathered a few fellow students at my college, and we set to work to teach ourselves how to be publishers. The first issue of Stone Soup was published in May, 1973. I must say, between the magazine, our blogs, and the work coming out of our writing classes, Stone Soup is publishing more creative work than it ever has—and this is attracting ever more brilliant young writers and artists. I am a writer. I write every day. I am in awe of the work Stone Soup is publishing. I encourage all of you to subscribe to the magazine so you can get copies of our important literary magazine, and gain access to our vast catalogue of writing on the Stone Soup website. Stone Soup Classes Our classes resume on September 18th. The fall session runs until December 3rd, with class readings scheduled for December 11th. Registration will open early August with my writing class, Conner Bassett’s, and a new class taught by Isidore Bethel, a French-American filmmaker who will teach students how to tell stories through film. All of our teachers practice what they teach. Both Conner and I are published authors. Isidore is a well respected filmmaker. Please check out his Wikipedia entry. We are in school expansion mode! We will be adding more classes as we find appropriate teachers. We will also be expanding the types of classes. Poetry, photography, long-form fiction, and book illustration are examples of classes that we are hoping to add to our listings. We also hope to offer classes to students in Asia. Refugee project Please check out our new Refugee Project web pages. A gift you can give to these young artists is to simply read their work and speak their names. We will be fundraising for this program in September, so check back then for more information. Right now, you can help by looking at the current material. COVID-19 broke the momentum that Laura Moran, who runs this program, had built. Our Refugee Project web pages have all been approved by the agencies currently featured. Laura put in a ton of work on getting approvals and managing requested revisions. Thank you, Laura. Weekend Project The magnificent painting from Cyprus was part of a group of paintings given to us in 1977 by the Cypriot embassy, in Washington, D.C. For me, this work captures the exuberance of spring. Art and writing projects based on seasons are often one of the dullest of school projects. I want you to put all uninspiring back to school projects out of your head. One of the most famous musical pieces of all time is a set of four violin concertos by the Baroque composer Vivaldi, which he published in 1725 under the name, Le quattro stagioni, or “The Four Seasons” in English. Here is a link to a YouTube recording of the spring concerto. The many sunflowers paintings by the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh are representations of summer. Most of his sunflower paintings—and he made a lot of them!—are of sunflowers in a vase. These can be thought of as summer brought into the house. A vase filled with hollies with their red berries would be a comparable image for winter. The painting he made of a sunflower growing in a communal garden in July, 1887 is another approach to memorializing a season. This painting could only be made in the summer, when sunflowers bloom. Depending on where you live, thunderstorms might also suggest summer. As we are at the height of summer, I want you to think of something that screams “Summer!” where you live, and then capture that idea in a drawing, painting, photograph, or in a story or poem. If you are currently working on a piece of fiction, then if appropriate, you could work something in that might anchor your story in the summer. As always, if you like what you produce and think that our Editor, Emma Wood, would be interested in publishing it in Stone Soup, please go to our website and submit it. Thank you. Lastly, please read the poem, “The Memorial Tree,” by Amber Zhao, which was published in the February 2021 Issue of Stone Soup. This is an unusual, evocative, and complex poem. Congratulations, Amber! As COVID-19 surges again, please, please, please stay safe. Until next time, Book Contest 2021 For information on submitting to the Stone Soup Book Contest 2021, please click here. To submit your manuscript, please visit our submittable site. Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Emily Collins, 12, wrote a staggering, evocative story about desire for change in the face of the ongoing aftermath of COVID-19. Jaslyn Kwan, 12, wrote a personal narrative about her return to competitive ballet in the YAGP (Youth America Grand Prix). Make sure to read Pragnya’s (12) review of Laurie R. King’s 1994 novel, The Beekeepers Apprentice, the first novel in her Mary Russell series. Meleah Goldman, 10, wrote a lyrical and inspirational work, “The Roots of Our Peace.” April, 13, reviewed Jenna Evans Welch’s sweet, debut novel, Love and Gelato. Calling all 9-14-year-olds to Virtual Summer Camp! It’s not too late to join our summer classes with Young Inklings–we have a few spaces left in all our July classes. Each interactive writing camp runs for two hours per day, Monday through Thursday, with plenty of prompts and activities for you to take away and use outside class, too. Have fun writing and learning with us this month! July 26-29 – learn from two generations who have started journals before
Writing Workshop #44: Dystopian Fiction
An update from our forty-fourth Writing Workshop A summary of the workshop held on Saturday June 12, plus some of the output published below This week, since William is on vacation, we had two special guests leading the workshop. Maddie, who is a part of William’s workshop, and Liam, who now attends Conner’s workshop, led the workshop on the topic of dystopian stories. The two young writers delved into a thorough definition of Dystopian Fiction, plus several recent popular examples of the genre. Many people reading contemporary fiction are likely familiar with this genre, as high-profile series like The Hunger Games and Divergent are bestselling examples. Maddie and Liam went through several examples, and challenged the writers present at this workshop to create their own story in the same vein. The Challenge: Write a story set in a dystopian world or modify an existing story of yours to include dystopian elements. The Participants: Sage, Chelsea, Lena A, Madeline, Helen, Margaret, Peri, Julia, Pranjoli, Nami, Angela, Jonathan, Audrey, Gia, Jaya, Peter, Sierra, Arishka, Grace, Tilly, Mahika, Mia, Iago, Charlotte, Rachael, Lina. Peri Gordon, 11Sherman Oaks, CA Picture Day Peri Gordon, 11 “I don’t think you understand,” sighed the principal. “If a child misses Picture Day, there will be no makeup date. And Picture Day is not optional.” The principal shook his head at the parent’s ignorance, although he knew that there was no way that she could be better informed. He himself did not know exactly why Picture Day was so essential, but he knew that it must happen every year and could only happen on one day of the year. The mother protested. “If I drive Robbie to Picture Day, then neither of us will be home to take care of his little sister, and the daycare is not open on Picture Day, as you know.” “That’s alright, the little girl can come along, too,” the principal said. “The younger a child gets their first picture taken, the better.” His own words intrigued and somewhat confused him, but that was alright; he was not in the government, so he had no right to know why these things were, just to know these things. The principal could tell that the little girl, lingering behind her mother’s back with the slightly older boy, was not yet in school. But her picture would be taken nevertheless. *** On Picture Day, the brother and sister, Robbie and Sophie, after some protest, put on their finest clothing for their pictures and headed off to the Picture Dome, a black building with a curved roof that let in no sunlight, which would interfere with the process. Instead, the cool building was awash with electric light. Sophie, new to Picture Day, bit her fingernails, ruining the fancy, polished look they had been forced to take on for this day. The girl declared, “I’m nervous.” Her mother scolded her, pulling Sophie’s nails out of her mouth and hissing, “There is no time for nervousness.” But the woman herself was wondering why Sophie’s picture should be taken already. Not many people knew the answer to the woman’s question. But the president, huddled in the corner with his fellow government members, knew everything. He watched as a fellow leader of his, slightly less important but still in the know, used the machine everyone thought was a camera to scan each child’s mind. Of course, it served as a camera, too, so that people would see the pictures and suspect nothing. But the school’s yearbook was a frivolous thing, a distraction. The president himself had not invented mind scanning, but he had figured out why and how it must be used. Each child’s intellectual ability affected how they must be taught to interact with others and how others must be taught to interact with them. It was all carefully planned by top scientists and politicians, so that no one would know of the well-off government members’ secret. As long as the citizens were not in charge, the president would feel pleasure. As long as the people did not control a thing, the government would control everything. And when, in a few weeks, they performed the experiment the government had planned for centuries—the one involving cloning and killing off the original, cloning the clone and killing off the original, so that scientists could make huge advancements—no one would even be aware until it happened. It was all for the best. Lina Kim, 11Weston, FL Memories in Ruins Lina Kim, 11 I pushed the charred curtain out of the way as I stepped outside. The ground was blackened with the ash of everything that was destroyed. Bones littered the ground. Smoke filled the air. My parents and I were one of the only few lucky families. We had somehow survived. I scanned the barren wasteland for a sign. Maybe there was someone alive out there, stumbling through the rubble for shelter. I went about my usual route. I went sixty steps forward, then went to the right thirty steps. I turned right again and went sixty steps. I repeated that until I got back to where I started. I kept searching along the way. I never allowed myself to go even an inch more than sixty steps away from my home. It was the same thing every day. As mom and dad scoured the earth for food, I looked for people to help. It had only been two weeks since the attack, but I had already fallen into a routine. That took up the entire morning. After that, I would go inside the small hut. It had been hastily rebuilt, but was only a very small fraction of the house it once was. It only had two rooms. I would help my parents serve lunch and we would eat. Halfway through the meal, my parents would go to find more food and search for people twice as far away from the house as I would in the morning. I was supposed to
