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Guardian of the Jug

Words-Worth! is always a place for firsts. 

It was our first time running it under bing!’s new management. They left me to direct the layout of the floor arrangement in the morning. Although the boogie crew had no idea that an event was taking place that afternoon, they were wonderfully helpful and complying.

A friend responded to my “OMG! Do not have a sound system!” I owe him a favour now. ;-)

The new operations manager gave me a bunch of discount coupons to distribute to our attendees, which work great with my new “Sign the Guestbook!” addition to the event.

Speaking of which, a big thanks goes out to Ivan for his help. Since he’s a regular extension of the WW family, I asked if he could help with the sign-ups, guestbook, distribution of coupons and the various small errands that tend to pop up during times like these. Normally I would handle this, but I had a first-something of my own that day and knew I won’t be in the frame of mind to deal with it.

My first-something is that I hosted WW3! This may not be such a big deal unless you’ve known me for a while and know that I get massive stagefright whenever I have to stand in front of many people and say something. 

I didn’t die, so that’s a good thing. I made a list of relevant announcements like the MPH Share-A-Gift Project and their National Short Story Prize, talked a bit about Nanowrimo, and reminded people that bing! is opening a new outlet at Premier 101. Most of it didn’t come out the way I planned but since it’s my first time, I’ll forgive myself and work on doing it better next time.

Maggie was our first performer, and she read us an excerpt from a period romance she’s been working on. 

Rin continued to prove that she can come in unprepared and still craft together something entertaining. She talked about the strange names some people gave their children, and made flash cards to demonstrate how some parents try too hard to come up with an unusual spelling for normal-sounding names.

She also pulled another first that we’ll be keeping - making a sign that says “We’re having a lit event! Please come in!” to stick to the front window of bing! to inform people peering in.

Aaron goes down as the first among us to deliver a poem in the form of a song. I asked him to do it for WW2 but he was unable to secure a guitarist then. But I didn’t forget! Aaron and his guitarist Michael are part of a band called Passive Fire. They’ve played a number of gigs around town the last few months, and are worth a listen. Their singers can actually sing. That alone already gives them a huge advantage over most of our local indie bands. Aaron also read us a story which had a rather scandalous ending.

Robert Raymer might look like he’s about to throw a mug of Teh-O at someone, but he doesn’t always look this fierce. He is still the only one who can turn up and read from a book. He was also very pleased to show us the latest article written about him before he started reading what he picked for us that day. Guess which story!

And then you have me. I read a story I started for last year’s Nanowimo (and naturally didn’t finish). When I emailed reminding everyone about WW3, Robert replied saying “Read something new!” Since he didn’t specify, I picked something I’ve not read before. 

Jeremy accomplished another first - a faux pas of epic proportions. I thought he was reading a poem, but he decided to tell us a story that rambled on and on. He took the backlash of that with a lot more grace that I would be capable of and later apologised for sidetracking.

Our last performer was Natasha, who spent the entire afternoon look as nervous as I usually felt. It was another chapter from the fantasy world that we were introduced to the last time. She and her friend Cassandra were the first to go up in WW2, and in a weird twist, became the last this time around.

When I went over to talk to her and her family later, I realised that they also came for the very first Words-Worth! I love it that her entire family attends! I haven’t been able to get mine to show up.

We were missing Cassandra, Peter, Victor and Fariah that weekend. However, there were a good number of new faces - friends, colleagues and random strangers from the Internet.

Ciaklat wrote about it here. I haven’t seen any other posts, but will link when they come up.

(All photos are shot by Maggie Apau and Jerneh Hon. Thanks, girls! Only the first photo is by me.)

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Words-Worth! III

Date: 30 November 2008
Day: Sunday
Time: 2.30pm
Venue: bing! coffee

What? 
Words-Worth! was created to give local writers and poets a platform where they can read their work to an audience. We do stories, excerpts, poetry and any form of creative writing you’d like to try on us. English or Malay. Straight reading or a performance. You decide. You have 5-7 minutes.

Why?
Writing is lonely work. It’s always nice to meet people who are doing the same thing. Our event is a hotbed of inspiration, ideas, imagination and a kick in the pants. No contest, no prize, no judgment. Not unless you ask nicely.

Who?
We have people who’ve done it before. And people who’ve never showed their work to anyone else. We have people who think nothing of talking in front of a crowd and people who hide behind their pieces of paper. We have published authors, budding amateurs and everyone in-between. We’ll have you, my pretty, and your little dog too.

Where?
Bing! coffee, Jalan Padungan. Because caffeine and creativity do mix. 

When?
Nov 30, Sunday at 2.30pm.

How?
Just show up with your stuff and sign up. You can also email Georgette at tarlia[AT]gmail.com and let us know you are coming.

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Words-Worth! III is this Sunday!

See you there!

Related posts

• Words-Worth II
• Words Like Birds

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Remember Sunday!

I just want to mention that Words-Worth! II is happening the first Sunday of August, and if all my performers show up, it would be the biggest gathering of writers and poets since I started organising this kinda event.

Date: 3 Aug 2008, Sunday
Time: 3.30pm
Venue: bing! coffee company, Jalan Padungan

Go here for more information.

I haven’t figured out what I’ll be reading yet. Knowing me, I’ll wait till the last minute before cobbling something together.

Finding people to read for us is usually a pain in the ass. I’m grateful to our regulars, a great bunch of people who need no persuasion, but it’s nice to have new faces every now and then. There’s not enough writers/poets to have regular events, and fresh material isn’t that easy to come by for most of us! Besides, you’ll get tired if we have another event and oh, it’s them again.

Whatever your excuse is, at least one of the regulars can identify with.

So you don’t know if you can stand up in front of a crowd. Do what I do - keep your mouth near the microphone and your eyes on the page.

You don’t think your material is good enough? Every writer is their own worst critic. If anything, it’ll give you a reason to push yourself harder.

Besides, the networking is great. Nothing quite like another writer or poet’s feedback or support. Writing is lonely work.

See you there!

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Words-Worth! II