Dear all,
Telling you about LITTERAE’s long record takes me several years back to Paris 1998, where I met this person conducting a program which mainly provided guidance to reading in French. I was then invited to join the group – for which I felt most honoured – and surprisingly enough, my literally from scratch French learning sped up considerably. Some years later in Vienna, I was introduced to this charming, dynamic group of women who ran an already established, well organised Book Club of Spanish Literature and met regularly once a month. Again, they kindly invited me to become a member. I truly left Vienna with regret, but strongly determined to continue the Book Club Project. I resolved to benefit this time from the use of Technical Innovations – Skype – which allowed us to contact writers and involve them in our sessions. “This is Luxury”- I thought. We could then not only meet but also interact with people like- among others- Maha Akhtar from her house in New York, listen to Javier Moro’s first-hand experienced stories in India, and host Domingo Villar for dinner as he kindly preferred this to Skype.
We had at this point, the book and its creator, and first-hand information on the making process, but what was the purpose of getting to know the long story lying behind each book – i.e. the creative process of “incubation” within the writer’s brain? Shall we just keep it to us, or shall we tell anyone else? Working on something which cannot be communicated might seem quite pointless, doesn’t it? Definitely, something else was missing.
I suddenly remembered a short conversation with Alexander, a friend’s husband, in a cocktail party held by the Spanish Embassy in Vienna. Basically, he posed two questions which made me think largely: “Why do women get together to discuss about books?-think of it, men would never do such thing”…and not yet happy, he – no hesitation – shot back again:”…see, what I don’t understand is why you guys stubbornly stick to senior writers. Why don’t you read books written by younger authors? it will only help you know what youngsters feel, and his way, what your children might think one day…Do not forget that in a few years, it will be them the ones in charge…” Thank you Alexander for making me think. Now I know that we need a reason to do things- i.e. motivation – and the best motivation in the world is providing the community with something useful. Either a product or a service must serve a purpose, and if this product/service/activity help youngsters get their aims….well then, it could not be any better. If only we could widely communicate what we were doing in many countries at the same time, everybody, absolutely everybody-the writer, the book, the publisher and the final reader would benefit from it. What we needed was a cyberspace-craft.
So that is when we met the PLANET-BMP team. PLANET- BPM covers, defuses and develops information on what is taking place in major European capital cities, in many of which I have lived. It quickly delivers tips and provides orientation on the grounds of cultural, business, educational, legal and professional life to young people living in Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Vienna and Zurich. By means of PLANET-BMP we can reach people web wide, and provide them with guidance on what to read, introduce them to new authors, get them closer to the human side of writers, provide on-line book purchasing, book analysis and discussions, orientation to Spanish Literature, book-related Events… and also, obtain their feedback. The Planet BPM partnership has proven to be simply strategic.
This is therefore an invitation to all of you to join LITTERAE and actively participate in it, and at the same time, a homage to all those who, one day and in one European city, strongly encouraged me to join their Reading Club. Thank you all. I sincerely hope you enjoy the experience and provide us with your thoughts and feedback.
Yours Sincerely,
Arantza Méndez-Aguirre
Martina Schmieder
