As part of the commemoration of Shakespeare’s death 400 years ago this year, a film version of the play King Lear was shown on Wednesday 22 November in the library in Tavira. Produced in 2006 by Director João Garcia Miguel, this interpretation conveys an inner and outer turmoil that arguably reflects current global themes. While…
A peaceful protest to highlight the dangers of fracking and offshore drilling in the Algarve will take place on the island of Tavira this coming weekend 23 and 24 July 2016. It has been organised by Tavira in Transition – Tavira em Transicao. The two days will be filled with talks, opportunities to sign petitions,…
Neptune would probably not be happy with what is being planned 40 kilometres off the coast of Faro. Portuguese media are reporting that despite every Mayor in the Algarve being against offshore oil exploration, drilling for gas may start in October 2016. Antonio Costa Silva, president of the Executive Committee of the Partex Group, said there will…
It is the time of year when the wildflowers overtake the hill. Yellows, purples and green intermingle with red and orange. I have just been sitting among the flowers, thinking about this post. The theme is supposed to be fracking. It’s an unpleasant word with destructive consequences. I do not want to write about it,…
Most mornings I lie in bed thinking I should be writing. I feel guilty. This morning after making a fruity breakfast, I checked Facebook, and email, read the favoured online papers and avoided editing a story. I discovered another editing avoidance opportunity when I read about Blogging from A to Z. During April, participants write…
In the last writing workshop on February 1st, we talked about the role of dialogue as a technique to develop plot and move a story along. Regina Shrimpton created a couple of dialogue exercises and we worked through them to compress and improve. Some writers believe great dialogue should be a chain of poetic or comic gems, zingers…
Dialogue, I have been thinking about dialogue. Words spoken by imaginary characters have filled my head for two weeks. My cold and cough have blocked some of the voices, but today, the dialogue between two characters is a source of amusement. Josie Whistler, old hippy, owner of a festival food van has a lot to…
The “Writing in the Algarve” group held its first meeting of 2016 at Tavira Library. Monday’s (4th January) meeting looked at story, plot and theme. New members mingled with familiar faces. After introductions we went straight into the first writing exercise, a set scene, involving a psychiatric hospital, a windfall and an ill-tempered character. The task was to write for 5 minutes…
Starting on Monday, 4 January 2016, writing workshops will begin again at the library in Tavira. The theme for the first session will be Narrative, story, plot and content. Six, Monday afternoon sessions have been planned. We will meet every two weeks, so there will be plenty of time to digest information and to write.
Some excellent cultural activities, music, dance, theatre, related to the 125th Anniversary of Álvaro de Campos have continued in Tavira during October 2015. As part of the festival, local school students from the Biblioteca Esjac, Tavira, have produced artwork. They were tasked with creating images of Pessoa’s heteronym, Álvaro de Campos. Their creative efforts need to be acknowledged and…