CMYK

CMYK

How and when did the Goa Writers group start? In 2005 Vic-tor Rangel-R i b e i r o con ducted a

two-day Creative Writing Work-shop at the Fundacao Oriente in Panjim. After it concluded a few of us participants decided to interact regularly online and in real life. That’s how Goa Writers came into existence. We started out with just fi ve of us and we are now about fi fty. Our fi rst meeting was in a small storage room attached to Broadway Book Store in Panjim.

What do you all do? We meet every month somewhere or the other. At a member’s resi-dence, or offi ce, or in a book shop, or at any convenient place. At a regular meet ing we take up a member’s work for critiquing. It is circulated online among the members previously and at the meet we meet, give criticism and suggestions.

What sort of work do members submit?Usually something that they plan to publish, or send to a publica-tion. For example if I have writ-ten a short story and plan to send it to a maga zine I might ask for it to be critiqued at a meeting so that I can improve it before I send it in. Submissions for critiquing have included stories, col umns, feature articles, essays, entire novel manuscripts, book ideas, movie screenplays, poems, play ideas, what-have-you.

So basically you just critique each other’s work?Well most of us also go drink-ing after the meeting. Ha! But on an average meeting, yes, it is basically critiquing. But we have special meetings where we get guest writers, editors and pub-lishers to address us. There are so many talented people from the fi eld passing through Goa and we try and interact with them, to learn more about the craft and the business of writing.

How has the group helped you?I am a founder member and a mod erator, along with Jose Lou-renco and Frederick Noronha. Being part of Goa Writers has helped me im mensely. Keep in mind that in ad dition to our monthly meetings we are inter-acting online every day on writ-ing and related matters. Often I have been stuck with a column and I have sent it to the group and got invaluable suggestions. I have met and interacted closely with so many interesting people, members and their guests, who I would never have met otherwise. And of course so many windows of opportunity have opened. When some group member gets a writing assignment that he cannot handle he asks someone from the group if they would be interested.

Can anybody join?We defi ne ourselves as ‘A group of writers with a strong Goa con-nection hoping to improve our writing skills through interac-tion, online and at regular meet-ings.’ So if you have a strong Goa connection and wish to improve your skills through interaction you are most welcome to join. The procedure is pretty simple. Find your self a sponsor- any existing member of the group who will vouch for you. Through the sponsor you send in a self-intro and some of your work to the group which then decides whether you can join.

How does a prospective member fi nd a sponsor? You don’t fi nd the Phantom. Phantom fi nds you - Old Jungle Saying. Just kidding. Ask around. Here are a few names of our members. Isabel Vas,

Damodar Mauzo, Fatima Gra-cias, Vivek Menezes, Prava Rai, Sucheta Potnis, Wendell Rodricks, Aniruddha Sen Gupta, Savia Viegas, Tony de Sa, Sheela Jaywant, Alito Sequeira, Rahul Srivastava, Sachin Chatte, Lu-cano Alvares, Venita Coelho, Kornelia Santoro… if you don’t know any of these people then you must be living in a cave. Goa is a small place. Everybody knows somebody.

That’s quite an interesting mix of people. But how many of them are full-time writers?Most of our members in fact don’t write full-time for a living

and so we have an eclectic mix of teachers, engineers, journal-ists, fl ower sellers, publishers, booksellers, cooks, shop keepers, housewives, tailors, what-have-you. Each member brings a cer-tain strength to the table.

Is there a membership fee? No. None at all. The word spon-sor here is used in its original meaning: One who vouches for the suitability of a candidate for admission

Has anybody been refused member ship?Well occasionally people with no permanent Goa connection want to join. Two years back there was a major Conference of Tech-nical Writ ers happening in Goa and suddenly we got a rash of applications. Turns out they just wanted people to hang out with during their short holiday in Goa. I mean it’s not that we don’t like hanging out with interesting people but Technical Writers. Bah! Also we don’t want people joining us purely for socialising purpose or for network ing. We want people who are serious about improving their writing. And we want active members

who will participate in discus-sions, and not voyeurs.

Not everybody is open to con-structive criticism. How do you handle this at Goa Writers? Quite frankly if you cannot take constructive criticism you should not join the Goa Writ-ers. Many of our members have gained so much from the critiqu-ing that Goa Writers features in the Acknowledgement section of many books. We have had

dropouts along the way by a few people who thought their work was above criticism. Good luck to them. I would also like to take this opportunity to dispel a canard being spread by an ex-member. He claims he left be-cause we have a rule that every work by every member has to be submitted to the group before be-ing sent for publication. This is total nonsense. Even of each of us writes just a 1000 words every week that would mean works to-talling 50,000 words to be read and critiqued every week. Who has the time for this? There is no compulsion on members to send in their work.

Considering that you all are a very creative lot, why didn’t you all come up with a better name than Goa Writers group? It’s the Goa Writers group, or just Goa Writers. The word ‘group’ is not part of our name but is most often used in conjunction. If you can come up with a name that better describes us I would be glad to put it to the group for consideration.

Do you feel writing is for every-body? I’m not an established writer to an swer such a profound question but let’s just say one can never underes timate the value of good communica tion. I personally encourage every-one I know to write. There is so much to be said, so many stories to be told, I don’t see why everyone should not pen down their thoughts. In this day of Internet, blogs, webpages and Print-on-De-mand publishing, everyone can become a writer. The read-ing public will then sift the good from the bad.

Has there been any high mo-ment for the group in these past six years? There have been many but what comes to mind immedi-ately is Amitav Ghosh’s praise for our deliberations and his wholehearted immersion in our group activities when he is here in Goa.

Does the group have a website or blog to its name? As of now we don’t have a website or blog. We are rather low key, as you must have no-ticed, and make our presence felt in many ways but without shouting from the rooftops. In fact this is the fi rst interview I have ever given regarding Goa Writers and it is just to add to the publicity of our book ‘inside/out’.

What are the achievements of the group so far? I don’t know if they are achieve-ments, but let’s say we have

conducted a lot of activities for our members and guests. Many writing and editing workshops, a Literature Quiz, a Screen-writing Workshop and lots of great parties! Of course we also partnered the Goa Literature and Arts Festival last year and now we have a compilation book ‘inside/out’. But the underlying and non-glamorous achievement is that our writing has improved - hopefully.

12n Gomantak Times, Panjim, Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Velim-born and Margao-raised, BEN ANTAO believes that sex and money are drivers of human enterprise, themes that recur in his sto-

ries and novels, and in pursuit of which he escaped to Canada.

ISABEL DE SANTA RITA VAS tries to juggle many hats- the writer’s, the theatre-person’s, the teacher’s being some of them. She is con-

vinced she was born old and is growing younger- these things do hap-pen sometimes.

FREDERICK NORONHA’s constantly chang ing facial hair grew grey in cyberspace. He has named his three children Riza, Aren and Goa

1556, the last of which has published more than 20 books so far. He sits cross-legged in cyberia like a venerable sage, promoting intellec-tual and internetual freedom.

ANIRUDDHA SEN GUPTA likes to laugh and make people laugh, but when he starts writing, some other personality emerges and

takes over. He’s had a couple of books published and that’s gone to his head, so he’s going with the fl ow.

Everything is possible- German writer KORNELIA SANTORO chose this credo early on. After travelling through India on an Enfi eld Bul-

let, she settled in Goa with her Italian husband and son.

VIDYADHAR GADGIL is a hack who actu ally enjoys writing, but, be-ing a con trarian, he prefers editing what others write. He has lived

in Goa long enough to call it home, but, on the principle that home is sweetest when you are not in it, currently lives in Kathmandu.

As a journalist, PAMELA D’MELLO has been interpreting Goa for the national press, but now imagines she can ex pand her boundaries

and interpret life itself!

Since there are ‘undo’ or ‘delete’ but tons in life, SHEELA JAYWANT steps on plenty of ‘ouches’ and marches on regardless. She writes

because oth erwise words would burst out of her ears with all the things she’s dying to tell everyone about. Believes you only live once and if you live right, once is enough.

CECIL PINTO dabbles in many diverse activities to make a living, while re maining consistent in producing his unique brand of Goa-

centric humour writing. Cecil claims to be ‘world fa mous all over Goa’ and is not too keen on expanding these horizons, while sipping his be-loved Caju Feni and observing the ways of the world.

Desperate housewife MELINDA POWELL used to fl y the world’s skies. These days you are more likely to fi nd her in the comfort of

her garden chair, surrounded by her children and dogs, documenting life on the ground, one day at a time.

HELENE DERKIN MENEZES likes her humour like her martinis - very, very dry. When she isn’t pounding away at her keyboard in

the land of words, you will fi nd her sticking something in the oven or reading aloud to her children. She abhors people who litter and loves prawn curry, Goan style.

MARIO COELHO likes seeing people laugh and smile, free of mal-ice, hate and guile. He loves to dance, and act, and sing, he likes

just doing his very own thing. He loves children, and adults who are kids as well, there are so many tales he’d like to tell…

It is said that one can always see MAFALDA MIMOSO vividly in what she writes but she has always sought to hide herself behind her

words. Intellectual indiscretion is celebrated in her real and artistic life.

For his entire adult life, VIVEK MENEZES (b. 1968) has been threat-ening to write a book. It’s true that his essays and photographs are

widely published, but it’s not the same thing and he knows it.

AIMEE GINSBURG has been living in India for close to fourteen years (ten of them in Goa) with two sons and an ever growing pop-

ulation of lizards, snakes, scorpions and other delightful creatures. She serves as the India correspondent for ‘Yedioth Achronoth’, Israel’s most widely read newspaper, and other international publications.

SUCHETA PONTIS has been writing all her life, which is not to say that she has been published widely. In between, there have been

marriages, children, a career in travelling, moving from Bombay to Goa, spending time playing with dogs, eating, drinking, bird-watching and thus generally making the most of her life.

HIMANSHU BURTE has fi nally accepted that he will keep moving across homes, disciplinary and real. Having practised architecture

in an earlier life, he now writes full-time, obsessed with humans and the spaces they inhabit.

VEENA GOMES-PATWARDHAN once lived amidst test tubes and petri-dishes. Now whenever she can tear herself away from her

computer, and when she isn’t driving her grown-up sons nuts doling out unasked-for advice, she indulges in research and development in the kitchen.

AMITAV GHOSH is one of India’s best-known writers. He divides his time between Kolkata, Goa and Brooklyn.

Born, bred and living in the not-so-quiet seaside village of Majorda in South Goa, DAMODAR MAUZO was once termed by an anchor

on Delhi Doordarshan as an ‘honorary Catholic’ for his in-depth writings depicting the Catholic lifestyle of Goa. He is mainly a writer of short fi ction, though his novels ‘Karmelin’ and Tsunami Simon’ have also be-come widely popular.

When XAVIER COTA is not busy stirring his fellow villagers to pro-tect their coastal village of Betalbatim, he is engrossed in translat-

ing his friend Damodar Mauzo’s Konkani stories.

TONY DE SA has tinkered for decades in the positions of teacher, supervisor and headmaster at Sacred Heart, Parra, one of Goa’s

oldest English medium schools. He is now in his second childhood, fooling around with computers and Linux.

JOSE LOURENCO writes with his brain and his heart, using English for the former and Konkani for the latter. Since he doesn’t know

which is which, he is often guilty of bilingual intercourse.

Surrogate daughter of Henry Miller and Anais Nin, ROSALYN D’MELLO lives life like a lens, swallowing images, and recognis-

ing what makes them sublime before putting the lens over her readers’ eyes. Her words, like LSD, attempt to make reality seem fantastic.

WENDELL RODRICKS is a fashion designer by profession and environmental activist by accident. He lives in Colvale village and

writes occasionally on fashion, history and all things Goan.

FATIMA DA SILVA GRACIAS has written on health, hygiene and food from a historical perspective in Goa, and in this process has

also kaleidoscoped the role of women in this land that she loves much.

PRAVA RAI lives on a mysterious island that drifts in and out of the fog on the Mandovi River. She is familiar with the parmal of Goa,

and continues to seek Goa’s elusive fragrance, clearing the overgrowth of modernity to seek the fl owers that bloom unseen.

SAVIA VIEGAS has recently retired from dog-walking under doctor’s advice and now only writes, paints and runs a pre-primary school in

Carmona.

VICTOR RANGEL-RIBEIRO began writing feverishly at a very early age. Eighty years later, geriatric specialists have confi rmed what he

has long suspected: the fever will never leave him. For this they spent years in medical college?

(Introduction to each of the 29 writers that appears in 'inside/out')

I FEATURES I

The vivacious and creative Goa Writers have come up with their very fi rst anthology ‘inside/out’. LISA MONTEIRO takes this opportunity to fi nd out who they are and what they do as she speaks to Cecil Pinto, humour columnist and moderator of the group.

Writers Unblocked

At 6 pm on March 23 at Literati Bookshop in Calangute, Amitav Ghosh will release Goa Writers’ fi rst compilation book - ‘inside/out: New Writing from Goa’. LISA MONTEIRO gets Cecil Pinto talking about the book.

How did this anthology come about? Over the years we have often toyed with the idea of com piling a book of our writ-

ings but nobody has ever taken the idea forward. Finally three years back Helene Derkin Menezes decided to take it on as a project and over many months managed to cajole and threaten and coax us to send in contributions. It was a long process as only ‘fresh’ writing was acceptable, and not some thing that had already been published. Af-ter this tedious exercise of getting in and compil-ing the contributions, Helene was joined by Jose Lawrence in the process of getting each piece edited and proof read. They were then joined by Annirudha Sen Gupta who did the formatting, typesetting and designing. Other members did help out but Helene, Jose and Annie are the core group who saw this effort through brilliantly.

It must have been a complex process working with 29 writers? Let’s say it has been a trying process for them three and a learning process for us all. Every decision had to be taken transparently and with consensus. Every option had to be explored; every opinion discussed. When you have fi fty creative writ-ers involved in a project you have fi fty different opinions -all equally valid. How do we name the book? What is the cover design going to be? Do we have illustrations? Photos? What font do we use? What about photos of contribu-tors? Do we need an Introduc tion? To each writer too? How big should the book be? What should we price it at? Each agonising decision taken over multiple discussions. And the process goes on… What sort of launch do we have? Where and when? Do we have a pre-launch press conference? Who all do we give review copies? Do we give credit to dis-tributors? What discount do we give to retailers?

What is the signifi cance of the title ‘inside/out’? Well at the time that we decided to do a compila-tion book, we decided there should be a unify-ing theme. We played with many concepts and then someone suggested inside/out which we all liked. The theme has been interpreted in so many different ways by different members.

It is rare to fi nd work of established writers alongside amateurs. Comment. It makes for a nice mix doesn’t it? But quite frankly I don’t see any of the pieces as amateur-ish. They might have been written by non-estab-lished writers but each piece has gone through a critiquing and editing process that has polished the piece into something very readable.

What is the aim of this book?Some of us who don’t have a book to our name wanted something to sign. Just kidding. There was no profound aim. We wanted to have some-thing to show for our exist ence as Goa Writers.

What audience are you targeting? Anyone who is interested in fresh writing from Goa.

How can you justify the articles contributed by foreign ers in the book? Aren’t there

enough Goan writers out there? Please understand that we are Goa

Writers and not Goan Writers. All these ‘foreigners’ are very much

ac tive members of our group and have a strong connection to Goa by domicile, marriage, work, ethnicity, whatever. Also

we don’t intend to be wholly representative of writ ing from

Goa. Sure there are many writers in Goa, and there are Goan writers

who are not members of our group. This book is from the Goa Writers group

and so it represents just us.

The topics are unconventional and light. Fred-erick writes of his romance with cyberspace, you of the few minutes before your wedding, Melinda about settling down in Goa and life in the village. The book is far from boring. It is fresh with many personal experiences in it. What prompted the group not to come up with the standard book on Goa and how did these myriad topics emerge?Thanks! That’s one great compliment and my fellow Goa Writers will be thrilled to read that. It just goes to show what a creative bunch we are. Everyone was just told to interpret the theme ‘inside/out’. No Goa, no nothing. Just inside/out. This is the result. I think by keeping the edito-rial strings very loose we were able to collate myriad interpretations. I read your question again and see how it could make a fantastic testimonial for our book.

Everybody’s reading ‘inside/out’

Who’s Who and What