“In writing down these memories of him I will use his methods; I too will leave the text exposed, like an excavated street, and it will be up to the readers, wherever it pleases them, to lay over the trench, full of fast- flowing, tossed-off sentences and words, a plank or makeshift gangway to carry them to the other side . . . Dichtung und Wahrheit. Poetry and truth.”

– Bohumil Hrabal, Prologue to The Gentle Barbarian

Czechoslovak author Bohumil Hrabal described his literary genre as “Dichtung und Wahrheit, poetry and truth.” In quoting this line from Goethe, Hrabal tilled the soil of tradition to locate his cheeky, effervescent, “palavering” fiction.  During this generative workshop, we will wander through a few of Hrabal’s dreamlands of family and friendship, and  study the “chemical reaction” that makes a piece of writing “effervesce” and begin to “ferment.” With the help of “found phrases” and street art, we shall palaver our own memories into the ferment of fiction. 

Prior reading (optional and available upon request):

• “A Journal Written At Night” by Bohumil Hrabal (trans. by Paul Wilson)

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November 15, 11 am - 1 pm CST or 12 pm - 2 pm EST
Register online through the Conscious Writers Collective