Nethergate Writers                 Note of  Meeting  Wednesday 30 March 2022

Present: Roddie, Sandra, David C.     On Zoom: Richard

Apologies: Sue, Fraser, David F., Dele, Susan, Lynne

1. Work presented:

(a) A Throw of the Dice
                                               David said that this is the first part of a complete re-write of a story he had sent round some time ago.
It received a favourable reaction in terms of plot. Roddie reckoned there was scope for a number of directions in which it could go. The balance of show and tell was seen as positive, and the mise-en-scene was authentic. With mobility restricted, small things become large, just as the views from the window start to dictate how the character reacts to the world. (echoes of the Hitchcock film Rear Window).
Sandra saw the handling of the sexual aspect as a positive, and all said the back story was built up skilfully. At places it could be made clearer what was past action.

(b) Putin Tribute Songs
                                              Despite the grim nature of the contemporary references, we enjoyed these rants/ acerbic crits of Putin’s war. (Especially Roddie’s singing renditions).
In ‘Who do you think…’ the last lines of the two verses sum up the theme and the transition from Putin to Pukin is ingenious, and perhaps there’s wish fulfilment in the line’under the bus, Russia will throw your ugly pus’.
The rhyming scheme in Bogeyman is inventive, (‘wee and KGB‘, ‘thrall and sod all’) and there’s room for an impressive inventory of the villains of the state machine. 
Richard is clearly a student of the history of war, as he proved with his expert commentary - Putin is fighting a modern war as if it was 1939, and chooses the wrong season and the wrong tactics.

( c )  Imagine
                                             This is a powerful evocation of a volte-face, Dundee suffering a bombardment like a Ukrainian city. Linger on the first five lines, and relish the last two. We agreed that Roddie has found a very effective if counterintuitive homage to the John Lennon song.

(d) Lost Horizons, Redux
                                             This is a poem rich in image and emotion. The initial picture of the hills and horizons has a quiet reflective beauty, and the transition from the act of painting to a comparison with emotional states is quite magical.
There is contrast in language, from ‘soft haar’ to ‘life-consuming red blast’.
And a sudden but appropriate shift of perspective, from appreciation of the natural landscape to the inward turmoil of the poet.
Roddie has some inventive linguistic touches, for example ‘wave front’ and ‘thought span’.
The last verse is philosophical in content, Zen like, as  Richard observed.  It also brings the theme full cicle, imbuing ‘horizons’ with a different connotation from the first line.
We suggested some small changes, and we all thoroughly enjoyed and admired this piece.

2. Business.

Book sale. Collection of books will be on Sunday 10 April at western end of Tescos car park at Riverside, next to the recycling centre (appropriate!), between 2-3 pm
Sale prices. £2.00 per anthology, £I.00 other hardbacks, 50p paperbacks.
Venue for readings. Central Library Wellgate 2pm. Saturday 16 April. Contact Roddie to say if you’re ok to read.

Tay Memories. Roddie has sent them to Amy. Scope for them to be read by author or a professional actor.

Membership sub. Sue will send another reminder.

AOCB . writing skills class. Sandra will pass to Roddie details of a play exercise that might be included.

David C.   1 April 2022