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Imprint Comes of Age at the FCC
By Julia Besnard
On 9 March, our community came together to celebrate the launch of the 21st issue of Imprint, WiPS’ annual anthology. Held in the gorgeous Hughes Room of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, the evening was part of the Hong Kong Literary Festival. Picture this: a large group of women (and one man!) finally gathered in person after three years of virtual events to celebrate the written word, hear some inspiring read-alouds, enjoy a glass (or two), mingle, and even try their luck at a Lit Quiz. The room was full of energy, laughter, and uplifting camaraderie. Gillian Kew and Rinkoo Ramchandani were our hosts for the evening; they eventually did away with the microphones and opted for the natural energy of their voices to keep us on track with the entertainment of the night.
We were all enthralled by Sadie Kaye’s hilarious reading of “Bake Fail” (an account of her disastrous Covid attempts at baking with her children) and moved by Susan Lavender’s outstanding performance of her poem “Concrete Cloud”, depicting the solitude of modern urban life. We travelled to India and back as Ritu Hemnani read an excerpt from her energetic piece, “Rickshaw”. Deborah Mannas recited “Cry”, an emotional poem about the stoic strength of people with relatives battling mental health problems.
Lesley Hobbs and Andy Lowe made us laugh and think with their performance of a skit about the absurd contradictions of ChatGPT and what it means for contemporary literature.
We were captivated by “Positive!”, a piece by Connie Lee Hamelin about the complex logistical and administrative realities of a Covid-stricken family in Hong Kong, which was adapted as a short play in a dynamic duo with Susan Lavender. The challenging years of Covid restrictions that have only just been lifted have undoubtedly left a mark among us all. However, Shiksha Bansal’s reading of her piece, “The Spirit of Hong Kong”, was a poignant reminder of the unique beauty of the city we call home.
Jennifer Eagleton’s challenging literary quiz had us searching our minds for memories of the classics we once read. The three English teachers who teamed up and won the grand prize together – nothing less than a bottle of Peninsula Champagne! – showed us how literature and community are intricately connected.
None of this would have been possible without the tremendous work of Carol Dyer, the editor of Imprint, who supported all the contributors throughout the year leading to the publication of the book.
WiPS Newsletter: January 2023
Dear Members!
Happy New Year of the Water Rabbit to all our WiPS Members, and welcome to our first newsletter of 2023. We hope you will enjoy reading it and will be encouraged to join in our upcoming events and activities. If you have any comments or ideas, do let us know – we love to hear from you and look forward to meeting you all, online and in-person, in the following months!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Save the date: Launch of Imprint 21!
We’re excited to announce that we will launch Imprint 21 as a part of the Hong Kong Literary Festival, which takes place from 6-12 March 2023. Imprint 21 will be launched on Thursday, 9 March 2023 at the FCC. Please save the date in your diary. Details to follow.
Book Club
Each month we read the book previously chosen by our group members and then discuss it on our scheduled “Book Club” afternoon, a friendly session lasting around an hour. Whether we love, hate, or are just, “meh” about the book, our discussions are lively, interesting, and fun. This year we hope to hold more author events as we continue our exploration of the literary genres. The book club is free for WiPS Members and HK$80 for guests – a bargain!
Writing Workshop
The writing workshop sails into 2023 with a committed group of regular participants. After running it for nine months, it was mutual that the current format is working well, though we’re exploring enhancements such as adopting themes and permitting the occasional submission of longer pieces. We meet over Zoom on the first Friday of each month and spend anywhere from two to three hours sharing feedback, debating plots and yes, reminding speakers to unmute their lines. We review all genres except poetry, so if you’re interested in a trial session, do join us by registering through our website. The next workshop takes place on 3 February 2023 at 3pm Hong Kong time.
PAST EVENTS
WiPS Members Socialise in Style
After many long months of Zoom meetings and solitary evenings, WiPS was finally able to offer our members a chance to gather, in person, for a casual evening of drinks and snacks at the Dada Lounge in Tsim Sha Tsui. Although we were a small group, Dada did not disappoint! Their extended happy hour meant that we all enjoyed two-for-one drinks until 9pm, along with lively, interesting conversation, anecdotes, and laughter. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), the Dada deep fat fryer was out of commission, so food choices were limited. But we thoroughly enjoyed their excellent pizza and prawn and feta crispy treats!
As the evening wore on, our wide ranging discussions included books (of course), the British Royal Family, Art courses, and ideas for future WiPS events. Our upcoming Imprint launch created quite a buzz! It was a lovely evening of new and renewed friendships, and everyone agreed that we should do it again!
Author Event: Bibliotherapy with Ella Berthoud
On 22 November 2022, a group of avid readers joined our author event: An Introduction to Bibliotherapy by Ella Berthoud, author of The Novel Cure, amongst other titles. Ella and WiPS member, Bhakti Mathur, a newly minted bibliotherapist herself, shared a history of the ancient discipline, “prescriptions” for common ailments, and answered our many questions. Two of the attendees commented:
“REALLY enjoyed that session! Well-led and facilitated!” – Penny Van Niel (non-member)
“The conversation between Ella and Bhakti was illuminating…Indeed, there are people who find themselves at a loss when it comes to choosing a read to fit in their lives at a particular point. Congratulations on the vast knowledge of a variety of books…!” – Luisa Ternau (WiPS member).
Book Club & Writing Workshop Yacht Club Dinner
After meeting virtually for eight months, participants of the book club and writing workshop finally came together for a dinner at the Hong Kong Yacht Club on 9 November 2022. Although many of us were meeting in person for the first time, it was an evening of lovely conversation with new friends who already felt familiar. After trading books, backgrounds and confessions of a sweet tooth, the group agreed to turn this into an annual celebration of the two groups. Thanks to Lesley Hobbs for facilitating the event and being such a gracious host. Next dinner: November 2023!
Additional Benefits of Being Our Member
We’re happy to announce a new benefit we’re offering our members in 2023: we will help promote your products on our social media sites so long as they’re publishing-related and meet our criteria. So, whether you’re offering a writing course, poetry workshop or promoting a new book, let us know and we can share your post across all our platforms. Enquire with wipshk@gmail.com for further details.
Membership Renewal
For our members who have yet to renew, now is the time! We have an exciting year planned for you with the launch of Imprint 21, author events, workshops, book club and more, including “members only” events. We understand that life sometimes gets in the way, so we have extended the deadline for renewal until 31 January 2023. So, if you just haven’t had a chance to renew your WiPS membership yet, please do so now.
Personalise Your WiPS Directory Entry
A picture is worth a thousand words. If you haven’t added your photo to the WiPS directory, you can do so now by logging into your account. It’s as easy as saying “cheese”!
With our best wishes
Your WiPS Committee
WiPS Members Socialise in Style
After many long months of Zoom meetings and solitary evenings, WiPS was finally able to offer our members a chance to gather, in person, for a casual evening of drinks and snacks at the Dada Lounge in Tsim Sha Tsui. Although we were a small group, Dada did not disappoint! Their extended happy hour meant that we all enjoyed two-for-one drinks until 9pm, along with lively, interesting conversation, anecdotes, and laughter. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), the Dada deep fat fryer was out of commission, so food choices were limited. But we thoroughly enjoyed their excellent pizza and prawn and feta crispy treats!
As the evening wore on, our wide ranging discussions included books (of course), the British Royal Family, Art courses, and ideas for future WiPS events. Our upcoming Imprint launch created quite a buzz! It was a lovely evening of new and renewed friendships, and everyone agreed that we should do it again!
The Transformative Power of Fiction
By Andy Lowe
Fiction can be a powerful healer, and on 22 November 2022 twenty members and friends of WiPS joined an interview with our international guest, bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud who co-authored The Novel Cure, and moderator, Bhakti Mathur, to learn what bibliotherapy is and how fiction can help us cure life’s ailments.
Neuroscientists suggest that reading for six minutes a day is as beneficial as one hour of meditation. During reading our heart rate stills and our brain waves change and, in short, we de-stress. By implication then, bibliotherapy can play an important role in mental health. We heard fascinating examples of this, such as the WW2 doctors who recommended Jane Austin to soldiers suffering from shellshock. Since good, well-written, fiction can be immersive it offers its reader an opportunity for catharsis, reflection, perspective-taking, or escape – all of which can be healing.
Bibliotherapists work to understand their client’s reading preferences and life circumstances then write “prescriptions” recommending three of four specific books for them to read. Prescriptions are dependent on the unique needs, tastes and preferred choices of each client, and writing them is an evolving, artful and intuitive process. Having said that, three common ailments that Ella encounters and her related recommended reads are: Motherhood (becoming a mother for the first time): The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt; Retirement: The Enigma of Arrival by V.S. Naipaul; and Bereavement: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion.
Ella finished her talk by offering recommendations on how to increase reading, which included listening to audio books (while multi-tasking); creating a “reading nook”; reading aloud with someone you live with (i.e. adult to adult); creating a reading-aloud reading group; and joining a book club. Although bibliotherapy sessions are typically one-on-one, Ella advised that group sessions are also gaining in popularity in social services settings.
WiPS Newsletter: October 2022
As we approach the end of 2022, WiPS can look back on a successful year’s programme of events, following the experimental and highly enjoyable Imprint launch. Since then, at least two WiPS gatherings have been offered each month (five involving overseas authors/speakers), albeit that we were obliged to hold them by Zoom. But even that, we hope, we will shortly be able to change. We thank members for their support in what, despite the growing optimism, has been a difficult year in Hong Kong.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Readers and Writers Unite!
Our Book Club and Writing Workshops both kicked off in the Spring of 2022 and their members have been meeting diligently over Zoom every month since. However, many of our regular attendees haven’t yet met each other in person. That will now change with our first combined dinner for both groups taking place at the Hong Kong Yacht Club on November 9, 2022. Spots are limited so if you belong to one of these groups, RSVP on the WhatsApp chat to either Gillian or Rinkoo. We can’t wait to meet you all beyond our computer screens!
Can Fiction Help Us Heal?
We have lined up an exciting event as a finale to 2022! Joining us from the UK on November 22, Ella Berthoud, co-author of The Novel Cure will be speaking to WiPS member (and newly certified bibliotherapist) Bhakti Mathur about how books can heal us. Described as “the art of prescribing fiction for life’s ailments”, bibliotherapy is an ancient discipline steeped in the belief that reading the right book at the right time can change your life. Join us as we learn more about bibliotherapy and its use for anything from abandonment to zestlessness. Event details to be mailed out soon! For more information on bibliotherapy, please see Ella’s website: http://www.ellaberthoud.com/bibliotherapy/.
Welcoming in the New Year!
Our first event of 2023 will be an in-person social gathering for members on Thursday, January 12, ahead of the Lunar New Year, in Dada Lounge + Bar, Tsim Sha Tsui. This is the venue where WiPS held its last in-person gathering in December 2021 and all who attended will vouch for it being an interesting, elegant and convivial spot for networking and catching up. Exact details will be announced later. Following this, we are planning a speaker event for February, while an Imprint launch at the FCC is scheduled for March. Social distancing rules will dictate what form these two events take.
RECENT EVENTS
Book Club by Gillian Kew
WiPS Book Club continues to be an enjoyable, monthly event where we all get together to discuss our chosen book and decide whether it passes muster. Great literature is a bonus, as is a stonking good read, but effective prose, variety, something new, and perhaps a little excitement, are all part and parcel of an acceptable read.
Our September book, China Blonde by Nicole Webb, presented the unusual challenge of focusing on a subject that many of us thought we knew, and one that some members were tempted to dismiss. However, free copies for some and Nicole’s agreement to join our session as our first author guest tempted members to take part and to be surprised. Nicole was open to our questions and comments, answering fully and with good grace. Our lively and fun-filled discussion helped us all to a greater appreciation of the book and the many challenges first-time authors face. It was a worthwhile experience, emboldening us to ask more authors to join us in the future. We do hope that you will, too!
Writing Workshops by Rinkoo Ramchandani
The writing workshop will enter its eighth month in November, during which period we’ve experienced both lightning rounds of feedback to nine writers in two hours, and we’ve also spent the same amount of time poring over just three stories. Regardless of the number of monthly submissions, the feedback is consistently incisive and supportive. And our committed workshoppers have agreed not to break for the holidays, so whether you’re a first-timer or a published writer, feel free to join us for a trial session on our upcoming dates: November 4 or December 2, 2022 from 3-5pm HK time.
Creative Writing Masterclasses
WiPS had the great good fortune in September and October to welcome back Dr Sherryl Clark to Hong Kong, this time by Zoom. Sherryl had run popular workshops several years ago in Hong Kong for WiPS with a colleague from Victoria University in Melbourne where they both taught. Now as the renowned, award-winning author of more than 70 titles in a range of genres, Sherryl offered us masterclasses in fiction on “Creating Deeper Characters” and “Using Story Structure for Stronger Novels”. Both two-hour sessions were very well attended, made easier by being recorded and available to follow in any time zone for seven days, and were extremely well received. We look forward to having Sherryl offer us more masterclasses in 2023.
AND FINALLY…
Membership renewal
We would like to advise members that membership renewal notices for 2023 will be sent out in mid-November. We hope you will all wish to continue to support WiPS by remaining in and contributing to the group. Subscription fees will stay the same and are due by the end of December 2022.
Going high tech
The public can now send any enquiries to WiPS via WhatsApp: +852 9231 1724.
Imprint issue 20
Stuck for a gift for those last-minute casual Christmas invitations? Copies of Imprint 20 can make the ideal present. Discounted for members. Contact Polly at wipshk@gmail.com for details.
With our best wishes
Your WiPS Committee
Creative Writing Masterclasses II
Using Story Structure for Stronger Novels
By Lesley Hobbs
I am at first-draft stage of my debut novel and have recently been feeling dissatisfied as to the course of my protagonist’s journey. I have lost the proverbial plot so to speak! I was therefore hoping that Sherryl Clark’s two-hour Masterclass on “Using story structure for stronger novels” would get my thinking and writing back on track. I wasn’t disappointed.
Sherryl’s key message was that a story is about movement. The writer’s job is to get from point A to point B (through all the various highs, lows, pitfalls, fortune reversals of the protagonist(s) etc.) whilst keeping the reader interested/engaged/committed/hooked whatever the outcome/ending. Her point was that without structure, the writer could be left with a lot of words which don’t have flow or direction, i.e. the story may end up/become either rambling or episodic.
Sherryl provided us with a very comprehensive set of slides in which she referenced and highlighted some well-known story structure models including the “Hero’s Journey” and variations on “The Three-Act Structure”. She suggested that we have on hand a copy of the structure diagram which we felt worked best for us. She also listed the textbooks on structure which she used in her classes and/or for her own writing. In addition to reading books on structure, she recommended that we watch films and analyse them.
The main thing she advised us do though was get back to writing the words on the page. As someone who is still at first-draft stage, I appreciated her point that if we felt structure was holding us back then we should save it for our second draft, and just make sure the key points of structure are in the final version!