The Writing Beyond Writing Book Club Summer Edition: Writing As Performance
As many of you know, I am fascinated by our perceptions and misperceptions of writing, and one of these that occurred to me as I was in the middle of drafting Writing Beyond Writing is the fact that the invention of printing led us to think of writing more and more as a product and less and less as an act, a verb, a performance.
In many places in the world, writing is still an integral part of a more multi-dimensional performance, and all the more powerful for it. And when I look back in my own history to Chaucer and Shakespeare, it’s clear that the aspect of their work that has survived and come down to us–namely, the written or printed word–is by no means the paramount element of their creations. They were writing performances; the written word was, in effect, the aftermath of their genius, not the genius itself.
I’ll be laying out these and other contentious and (hopefully) mind-expanding ideas from noon-1:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, August 25th by Zoom. Join me to listen, add your own thoughts and experiences, argue politely but passionately against mine, tell jokes, and so on.
The Writing Beyond Writing Book Club has, in every single instance, been the most fascinating and wide-ranging series of discussions I’ve ever been involved in, and I hope you’ll join me to continue that tradition.
Admission to the discussion is US $7:50, but that entitles you to a free copy of the digital edition of the book, which I will email you as soon as you register.
