Back in Book Week, the library
posed a question... what would happen if we, as a student body, tried to write
a novel, with no plan, on the hoof, in just 5 days?
The answer hits our shelves this
week in the form of our first self-published extended piece of fiction, a wild
and crazy ride entitled “The Surreal Adventures of Casper, Peppa, Batman,
Leonardo Di Caprio and Barack Obama”. It
won´t be winning the Booker Prize, but it´s actually a pretty good read!
It was written during breaktimes and lunchtimes over the course of Book
Week, with students dropping in during their spare
time and adding to an ongoing narrative.
In many ways
it was an experiment in collective writing, a way to develop the creativity and
English language skills of our students in a fun and casual way.
The result is a
totally abstract piece, covering every genre from crime to romance to horror to
thriller and even taking in aspects of graphic novel. At times it veered
into stream-of-consciousness; at others played with the constructs of reality
in a way that was refreshing and interesting and humorous.
Some teachers have
seen advanced copies and all have been impressed with the obvious talent and
enthusiasm on display in what has been described as a true piece of “gonzo”
fiction. This term, first coined in the
1970s by Hunter S Thompson, describes a crazy, eccentric and spontaneous form
of literature which favours style over accuracy, shunning the ‘polished’ edited
product for a more gritty approach, and making liberal use of sarcasm,
humour and exaggeration.
The novel is
available to be read in the library now, and contributors can collect their
very own copy to keep. Well done to all the
Swans School writers (and illustrator), and who knows what the future holds for
our artists’ collective?
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