Aulus-les-Bains (IV)

Most days so far: up at 9:00, go downstairs for a coffee and some breakfast (yoghurt, banana, a pain chocolat), back at my desk around 9:30. Then, about three hours of writing until lunch (hearty meals, cooked by the staff, always vegetarian). After lunch, two or three more hours of writing, before a bit of downtime (reading a book, watching YouTube, going for a walk or run; the writing always simmering in the back of my head).

Dinner is usually ready around 20:00, and after dinner I've mostly gotten back to work; not usually adding to the words for the essay I'm working on, but reading and taking notes in my notebook on what I feel is missing, and what I can improve. Last night we all got together in the main room to watch the latest Frankenstein, and afterwards I did a fair bit of coding while listening to music, well into the night.

This morning I accidentally slept in and woke up at 9:58. At 10:00 I was at my desk to participate in the online writing workshop by Short Pieces That Move, which was once again exhilarating. Hosted by Kate Briggs, and with about twenty people in attendance, she brought out poem titles by Wadih Sa'adeh for us to read (from A Horse at the Door), and we wrote our own following their structure. After that exercise we zeroed in on a full poem by Sa'adeh, titled A distant point. Reading it aloud, responding to it. Then, picking a favourite title created by yourself or anyone else, writing your own poem to mimic the shape of Sa'adeh's, and sharing it with the group.

These workshops are always incredibly energising—the writing exercises usually take 10 or 15 minutes, so there's no languishing—and when I closed the tab I felt recharged, excited to move my own writing forward.