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In the time of coronavirus

A collection of stories submitted by the public on their experience of living through the time of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed our lives. Globally the scale of human suffering as a consequence of Covid-19 has been very great. Everywhere people are now reflecting on what this major and previously unimaginable global crisis means for us, as individuals, living in the 21st century. This forum offers a space for writers to reflect on their experience in Aotearoa and to consider questions such as: What might we need to remember and preserve? What has been my experience, my observations, how might my priorities have shifted, in a good way, as a result of the lockdowns? If you would like to contribute to the re-collective effort through any of the following life writing formats — journalling, nature writing, memoir, commentary, poetry, notes on work in progress during lockdown… — please make initial contact through my contact page. Next prepare a page of A4 writing, starting in the present moment and moving where you need to into the recent past and forwards from that point, with a title, brief bio, photo (optional) and your contribution will be added to the repository of important writings flowering in this space.

"We are here; we are human beings; this is how we lived. Let it be known, the earth passed before us. Our details are important."
Natalie Goldberg, Writing down the Bones (1986)

Zooming into Journal Writing by Elizabeth McRae

20/5/2020

1 Comment

 
​Elizabeth is an actor and a poet and finds the two not dissimilar.  A blank page is like a first rehearsal.
 
- dedicated to the “women in squares”
 
I want my journal to be personal but have the usual fears that it might be too trivial and boring. Who am I writing it for, anyway?   But then I do want to document the period of covid19, the lockdown in this weird and extraordinary time.   I want to thank my daughters, their partners and two of the granddaughters.  I have been living with them for two months.  I’m hugely grateful for the care, the meals and the loving atmosphere.  I anticipate living alone again with some trepidation.
 
On the other hand I do need my own things around me.
 
I have attempted keeping a journal before — during the celebrations for the centenary of women’s suffrage, documenting a rehearsal process for a play, surviving my first year in a new soap opera (this became too libellous to continue) and holidaying with a group of friends at Mimiwhangata.  I admit to finding these sorties into journal writing quite diverting and at times sobering to read through.
 
I would also like to document this process of growing old.  How is being eighty-three different from being sixty-three or twenty-three?  I have no answer to this.  It’s reassuring that when I write about the past memories rush into my head and it’s quite a job to marshall them into coherence.

When I go back home and other events crowd into my life, will I keep up with this journal?  I have enjoyed the weekly zoom and the company of the women on the course.  I treasure their personal disclosures and the laughs we’ve had together.   My heartfelt thanks to Deborah for guiding and shaping a coherent and interesting programme.
 
View from my Writing Table
 
this morning the sky was golden
“shepherds warning,” they say
my delight to see such light
over snow topped Kaikouras
and tiny island in the bay
bright foam on waves
breaking on sea-weeded rocks
wind shivers the cabbage tree
long grasses bend and wave
I breathe in the air
so clear in the crystal light
 
Elizabeth McRae April 2020
1 Comment
Fredrika van Elburg
26/5/2020 01:35:43 pm

HI Elizabeth,

your comparison between a blank page and a first rehearsal reminds me of a line by the American poet Ron Silliman. He wrote: 'I get vertigo at the top of a blank page'.
One of those lines that stick in your mind.

Reply



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Copyright © 2017 Deborah Shepard
  • Home
  • Books
    • The Writing Life >
      • Reviews & Interviews
    • Giving Yourself to Life
    • Her Life's Work
    • Translucence
    • Between The Lives
    • Reframing Women
    • Tributes
    • Personal Writings >
      • Lockdown Journal
      • Travel Journal
      • Elegy for a friend
      • Christchurch - Post Quakes
      • On a residency
      • Deborah’s Love Letter to the Women’s Bookshop
      • Deborah's Q & A With Unity Books
  • Writing Memoir
    • Defining Memoir
    • The Participatory Model
    • Tips on Writing and Posting a Story
    • The Value of a Writing Class
    • From writing course to book publication
    • Your Writing Space
    • Writing on a Theme >
      • Window
      • Surviving a Crisis
    • Reviews of Memoir
  • Writers' stories
    • Covid-19 Stories
    • Writing Guidelines
  • Events
  • About
    • Testimonials
    • Media
  • What People Say
  • Contact