Success in Smålit

Last time Mel was in Tranås, until this week, it was in the midsummer warmth and light of July 2017 for Tranås at the Fringe. We celebrated the launch of 10th Circle’s publication “The Unfinished Book” and did some more street chalking.

Mel returned in February 2018 for a combination of many things Young Writers Lab - promoting our success thus far, planning for the future, and delivering a session with a group of young people. Ullias Berglund is a member of the YWL group Words over Water. He and Mel went to Smålit’s event in Jönköping library to talk about the project. Ullias read his recent piece “Temporarily Closed Forever”, and the attentive audience were moved by the evocative poem. People were keen to learn about the poem and what Ullias gained from being part of YWL. Ullias then had the chance to chat with Sara Bergmark Elfgren, a writer he admires .

We held a meeting to plan the next phase of the project which has received funding from Kulturådet to expand to other communities in Jönköping region. Another feature of the project development is the inclusion of Swedish writers to partner with international writers. We are pleased to have Joke Guns and Elisabeth Westlund join us and we met over fika in Nässjö to share ideas on how we can connect young people in to the project.

The purpose of Young Writers Lab is to enthuse young people to enjoy writing imaginatively in a variety of ways. Mel spent some of her time in Tranås having a video chat session with her group Words over Water. Mel and the group shared their poems in response to the line “the ghosts of old shops”. They had a lively discussion on the role of detail and specific information in conveying atmosphere and evoking memory.