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Lucia Wilkes Smith, W A M M
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Book clubs are all the rage. I participate in two. One of them is about 33-years old. I love to read and, of course, I’m wild about talking. I truly enjoy discussion of the literature and the related interests that emerge from the reading. If you’re at all like me, by the time you finish a book or article you have a number of opinions to share.
Most recently the groups I’m in have discussed The 9/11 Commission Report; The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini; Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi; 19 Varieties of Gazelle by Naomi Shihab Nye; Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts. Each book is “political” in its own way – whether topical nonfiction, a novel, a “comic-strip” memoir set in Iran, a collection of poems, or biographies of women connected to the American Revolution. It’s great fun to talk about the ideas that rise from the reading. Sometimes, I’d like to move on, beyond the reading and talking, to a next logical step. Action. In my mind, that would take the form of writing.
I propose the start of a new WAMM group where members could read a book, discuss, and – individually or collaboratively – write a book review to be printed in a local publication.
Or, we could read a short article of immediate interest, discuss, and then write letters to the editor directed to any number of potential publishers: the Star Tribune or Pioneer Press, Asian Pages, City Pages, Southside Pride, NY Times, Atlantic Monthly, Eden Prairie Sun, and a multitude of possibilities on the Internet.
I imagine this format:
• Read the book or article chosen ahead-of-time by the group.
• Gather at the WAMM office or someone’s home at 7:00 p.m.
• Go around the circle, one-by-one, so each person would have time to express a view. Open a free-for-all discussion to revisit or focus on especially stimulating, controversial or pertinent issues.
• At 8:00, decide on an appropriate venue for written responses.
• At 8:10, begin writing! Individually or in small groups, we would draft letters, reviews, or articles. If we’re using computers, we could immediately send off an e-mail letter to an editor. We could close by 9:00, committed to polishing and sending our incomplete written pieces on our own.
Or, we could do it differently. We could meet once each month if the group is reading full-length books and writing reviews. Or, a group reading short articles requiring immediate responses might meet weekly, bi-weekly, or on-call. If we are many, we can sub caucus. If we are few, we can meet in someone’s studio apartment or in a coffee shop. We can read, talk and write about Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace or about Aaron McGruder’s “Boondocks.” Together, we’ll be in charge of assigning ourselves the reading material.
We are living through hard times. The tradition of WAMM is to form groups of women and men who learn together and support one another in taking action. The result can be amusing, encouraging and occasionally inspiring. We can gather to connect with kindred minds then turn to reach out to a larger, unknown and untapped community.
Let’s meet to figure out a process. Come to the WAMM office on Monday, September 12, at 7:00 p.m. We’ll talk about a framework and plunge ahead from there. If you have questions, ideas and opinions, please bring them along.
Contact the WAMM office at 612-827-5364 or Lucia Wilkes Smith at 612-871-4823 or clydelucia@aol.com to say you can help with the incubation.
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© 2005 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.
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