Volume 09, Chapter 07 | May 2022

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Image by Miikka Luotio

Dear writers, readers and friends,

Today we take flight with a new issue of Visual Verse and we take flight to a new home for Visual Verse. After almost a decade in Berlin, The Curved House is moving to Melbourne, Australia. We will continue to run Visual Verse as a global publication, with half the editorial team in Australia and half in Europe, and we will continue to publish diverse and innovative writers from all around the world.

As a farewell to Berlin, I wanted to find a way to honour the city that gave our unique publication life. In 2013, a chance introduction to Berlin-based designer Pete Lewis (https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mr-pete-lewis-51468049) led to the first designs for the Visual Verse website. Shortly after, Preti Taneja (https://www.preti-taneja.co.uk/) visited Berlin and manifested a whole editorial vision for the publication. She became the founding Commissioning Editor and we launched on 1st November, 2013. A few years in, Berlin gave us another gift in the form of Lucie Stevens. Lucie is now back in Sydney but continues as co-editor. Visual Verse is the kind of dream project that Berlin is renowned for and the city has continued to nurture it, and us, for almost 9 years.

In the spirit of seed-sowing and collaboration, I have chosen an image depicting a special little Berlin scene, by Miikka Luotio. Alongside the image are three writers whose work has had an impact on me, or Visual Verse, helping to shape and evolve us.

We open with Paul Scraton (https://twitter.com/underagreysky) , a writer and editor based in Berlin. Shortly after moving to Friedrichshain, a district in the east of Berlin, I picked up a copy of Paul’s book The Idea of a River, published by Readux. This unassuming little gem is a lesson in linking ourselves and our environment. After reading it I set out to walk the river Spree, through Treptower park, with a consciousness I hadn’t tapped into for a long time. I saw Berlin differently and I’m very grateful to this little book for opening my eyes wider. Paul is the author of a number of other books including the novel Built on Sand (Influx Press, 2019) and the recent novella of the forest, In the Pines (Influx Press, 2021). You can find him atwww.underagreysky.com (http://www.underagreysky.com/) .

Divya Ghelani (https://twitter.com/DivyaGhelani) came my way via Visual Verse patron Cathy Galvin who runs the UK’s leading literary salon, the Word Factory (https://thewordfactory.tv/) . Last year she co-curated the August issue (https://visualverse.org/images/veronica-lissandrini/) of Visual Verse, bringing fresh new voices to the fold, some of whom are Berlin-based. This was a moment when I was personally struggling to keep things moving amid the pressures of the pandemic and other commitments, and Divya came forth with her characteristic ease and grace to re-ignite things. Divya is a writer herself and holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia and an MPhil in Literary Studies from the University of Hong Kong. She has published widely, and is now working on a novel. Divya hosts a yearly New Fiction By Women & Non-Binary BIPOC Author Reading Series for The Reader Berlin and co-hosts a short story club for the Word Factory.

It is unusual that we would commission a lead writer twice, but I could not do a Berlin issue without the inimitable Victoria Gosling (https://www.instagram.com/victoriagosling) . Victoria is the founder of The Reader Berlin (https://www.thereaderberlin.com/) and The Berlin Writing Prize (https://www.thereaderberlin.com/2022-berlin-writing-prize/) . She has been the backbone of our Berlin literary life and a great champion of writers, readers and book businesses in Berlin. Some of my favourite memories of Berlin have been facilitated by Victoria – one year she took over an entire old Fort and hosted a magical weekend literary festival. Beyond this generosity, she is a hugely talented writer. Her brilliant debut novel Before the Ruins was published in 2021 by Serpent’s Tail (UK) and Henry Holt (US) revealing a gift for storytelling and masterful character development. I’m indebted to Victoria for her friendship, gentle influence and unending support.

What these three writers have in common is a willingness to create opportunities for others while also remaining dedicated to their own craft. That’s a lot of work, and perhaps what’s most beautiful about Berlin is that it gives people the time and space to give and grow.

The Berlin magic is forever in our DNA.

So now it’s over to you, dear writers, to see where this image leads. Of course, there is no need for you to write about Berlin. The image is simply the starting point, the rest is up to you.

Enjoy and thank you for all of your support and continued participation in this magnificent project.

Kristen
and the VV team

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Volume 08, Chapter 07 | May 2021

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Image by Unknown Artist / Wellcome Trust

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Dear writers,

This month we have a special collaboration with the much-respected imprint, Serpent’s Tail (https://serpentstail.com/) , to celebrate the debut novel (https://uk.bookshop.org/books/before-the-ruins/9781788163798?aid=7452) of Victoria Gosling.

Let me tell you a little anecdote about Victoria Gosling (https://twitter.com/VictoriaReaderB?s=20) . Several years ago, I found myself an hour from Berlin, in a strange little Fort (replete with a moat) with cavernous rooms and an honesty bar. This was The Reader Berlin (https://www.thereaderberlin.com/) ’s Fort Gorgast Writer’s Festival and I was there to represent Visual Verse. I sat in on a workshop that Victoria ran, in which she took participants through a number of writing activities that were very much in the spirit of the surrealists, and in the spirit of Visual Verse. These were activities designed to tap the subconscious and remove mental barriers to one’s own creativity. I expected to be more of an observer than a participant but as Victoria unfurled her intriguing, thoughtful array of writing exercises I found myself deeply engaged. I have kept the work I did that day. And I have never forgotten the feeling of liberation as her prompts evoked words I never knew I had in me.
Victoria has a special kind of magic: she’s a gifted writer and also someone who can share that gift, conjuring other people’s talents with great empathy and sensitivity.

So without further ado, I present your May visual writing prompt, an intriguing artwork thought to be from around 1850, by an unknown artist, and courtesy of Wellcome Collection. It is an honour and pleasure to present Victoria’s response on page one. Her first full-length novel, Before the Ruins (https://uk.bookshop.org/books/before-the-ruins/9781788163798?aid=7452) , will be published on May 6th by Serpent’s Tail. It is a fabulous book, full of mystery, speculation, characters that oscillate between dark and light, a complex but accessible narrative, and a protagonist who keeps us at arms length while anchoring us to her plight. Put it on your summer reading list immediately.

On page two, we are thrilled to feature another new Serpent’s Tail writer, Alice Ash (https://twitter.com/aliceash_?s=20) , whose short story collection Paradise Block (https://uk.bookshop.org/books/paradise-block/9781788165549) was released in February. Alice is the current Writer in Residence at Open Book (https://openbookreading.com/) , a literary organisation working across Scotland; you can read Alice’s stories here (https://openbookreading.com/unbound/#lockdown) . She lives in Brighton with her boyfriend and 2,000 books.

And as you know we often invite regular contributors whose work has caught our eye month-to-month. On page three we are delighted to introduce you to Rachel Belward (https://twitter.com/RBel2?s=20) . Rachel grew up in northern Italy, and she now lives in London. She is a regular contributor to Visual Verse, and her short stories have been published by Dear Damsels. She works for a mental health charity, and is working on a novel about love, music and climate disaster. She loves to read, and her Instagram book reviews are my go-to for reading recommendations. Follow her on Instagram at @rach_is_reading (https://www.instagram.com/rach_is_reading/) .

Now it’s your turn, dear writers. The image is the starting point, the text is up to you.

Enjoy!

Kristen
with the VV team, Preti, Lucie, Isabel and Luke.

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Volume 05, Chapter 02 | December 2017

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Image by Samuel Zeller

Dear writers, readers and friends,

Welcome to our final issue for 2017. This month we are bringing it all back to where Visual Verse began: Berlin. It was here, in this magical city, where Visual Verse was born in 2013. A spark of an idea from Kristen was fuelled by a beautiful design by Pete Lewis (also a Berlin resident at the time) and is now a raging fireball of amazingness thanks to the editorial leadership of Preti Taneja, her guest editors Eley Williams and George Spender and our deputy editor Lucie Stevens.

As Visual Verse has evolved, so too has Berlin’s writing talent, and this December we bring the best of this talent to you. We showcase Berlin’s diversity: from rollerskating, hotpant-wearing, rrrriot girl art to gothic cyborg tales, imagination and worldclass talent really are in abundance here. This month’s image is a photograph taken in a Berlin shop window and comes to us from Samuel Zeller (https://www.samuelzeller.ch/) . As is customary with our images, we will not reveal further details or give any context, but one thing is for sure about this one: no one will be indifferent to it. Love it or hate it, we know this image will evoke strong reactions.

Our lead piece by Jane Flett (http://janeflett.com/) is a mighty start to our December issue. Jane is a resident of Berlin where she makes up stories, plays cello, and rollerskates down Tempelhof runway in hotpants. She’s been published in over 70 literary journals and translated into Polish, Croatian and Japanese. Jane features in the 2012 Best British Poetry anthology and was voted Berlin’s best English-language writer in 2015 by Indieberlin. Should you wish to tap Jane’s writerly wisdom she sometimes runs courses in creative writing with The Reader Berlin (http://thereaderberlin.com/) but be warned: they sell out fast.

Rollerskating writers? Well, our next piece is from Sharon Mertins (http://nomadicgraphomania.com) , who says she spends her time in Berlin floating around in her thoughts, playing with fire and linking strands of thought together to turn them into elaborate tales. Her work has been published in Leopardskin and Limes, The Wild Word, Jersey Devil Press and Café Irreal.

And on page 3 we have our very own Lucie Stevens (http://www.luciestevens.com/) who is not only deputy editor extraordinaire of Visual Verse but also a writer, editor and maker of small projects. Lucie was awarded an ASA Emerging Writer’s Mentorship and a NSW Writers’ Centre Varuna Fellowship for her first novel, and her work has been performed by the Australian National Youth Theatre Company. When she’s not writing stories about children in formidable circumstances, Lucie helps make books about space with Curved House Kids.

Up next is Dan Ayres (https://www.clippings.me/danayres) , another Berlin-based writer, this time with a penchant for writing fantasy and short stories about the freaky side of technology. He has been published in Open Pen and The Wild Word and he was longlisted for the annual competition at The Reader Berlin. When dancing, he is devoid of bones.

We are utterly delighted to bring you the work of Isha Ro on page 5, a Jamaican writer living in Berlin. Isha writes creepy stories and funny stories and both of these involve an inordinate amount of murder. You can read more of her work at The Prosateur (http://www.theprosateur.com) .

And finally we complete this issue with fresh new words by Olivia Parkes (http://www.oliviaparkes.com) , a British-American painter and writer currently based in Berlin. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Zyzzyva, The New Haven Review, Gone Lawn, Blue Five Notebook, and American Chordata, among others.

For those of you in Berlin, or looking to visit or move here, keep an eye on The Reader Berlin (http://thereaderberlin.com/) for English-language writing events and courses and also check out SAND Journal (http://sandjournal.com/) , Fiction Canteen (http://www.transfiction.eu/the-fiction-canteen/) , The Wild Word (https://thewildword.com/) and Dead Ladies Show (https://www.facebook.com/thedeadladiesshow/) . These are a few of our favourite Berlin things.

So writers, you know the score: the image is the starting point, the text is up to you. Go forth.

Kristen and Preti

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Volume 04, Chapter 12 | October 2017

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Image by Leio McLaren

Dear Readers,

October: the month of transition. Memories of summer will be lingering for some, while for others it is about to arrive. For us, October marks the twelfth and final issue in Volume 4 of Visual Verse, so we are both reflecting and looking forward at the same time. Thinking about this, we are pleased to bring you a brand new visual prompt from Leio McLaren, a photographer based in Sydney, Australia who has a beautiful way of capturing new horizons.

In response, we are thrilled to bring you the writing of Cynan Jones who was born in 1975 near Aberaeron, Wales where he now lives and works. He is the author of five short novels, The Long Dry (Parthian, 2006), Everything I Found on the Beach (Parthian, 2011), Bird, Blood, Snow (Seren, 2012), The Dig (Granta, 2014), and most recently Cove (Granta, 2016). He has been longlisted and shortlisted for numerous prizes and won a Society of Authors Betty Trask Award 2007, a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize 2014 and the Wales Book of the Year Fiction Prize 2015. He is shortlisted for the National Short Story Award, 2017 for his story, The Edge of the Shoal, which judges called a “lyrically, poetically written account, lit with poignancy.” You can
listen to it on the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05gy8f1 ) . The winner will be announced on Tuesday 3^rd October. Goodluck Cynan!

Next up is newcomer Gonzalo C. Garcia who was born in Santiago and spent his first years in Chile’s Colchagua Valley region, before moving to Switzerland and eventually to the University of Kent, where he studied for a PhD under Scarlett Thomas. His debut novel We Are The End, comes out October 19^th from Galley Beggar Press, and is nominated for this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival’s First Book Award, which is up for public vote (https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/first-book-award) here (https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/first-book-award) , should you wish to cast yours. He currently teaches creative writing at the University of Warwick.

Sending you off is Dolores Walshe a poet, playwright and fiction writer who comes to us garlanded in awards. Most recently, Dolores won the highly competitive
Berlin Writing Prize (http://thereaderberlin.com/home/competition/) which is organised by our friends at The Reader Berlin in partnership with the Circus Hotel and SAND Journal (http://sandjournal.com/) . Part of the prize is a one month writing residency in Berlin in Jan/Feb 2018. This year she was also shortlisted for the RTE Francis MacManus Short Story Award 2017 which she has won second place in twice (2015, 2009), and shortlisted and commended in the Anthony Cronin International Poetry Award 2017. Her stories have been broadcast by RTE Radio One (that’s in Ireland for our international readers) – and the list goes on – you can read more about her and her brilliant work, here (https://www.munsterlit.ie/Southword/Issues/29/walshe_dolores.html) .

So – whether you feel like the tide is rising or you’re feeling washed up, we are here to inspire you. Writing is survival. The image is the starting point, dear writers – the text is up to you.

Preti and Kristen

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Cynan Jones @cynan1975 (https://twitter.com/cynan1975)
Gonzalo C. Garcia @Gonzo_Garcia (https://twitter.com/mj_sprackland)

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Volume 03, Chapter 06 | April 2016

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Image by Michael Salu

Dear writers, readers and friends,

Two Sunday’s ago we ventured to Galander bar in Berlin’s Kreuzberg to join The Reader Berlin (https://www.facebook.com/The-Reader-Berlin-206584212747648/) for their monthly Sunday Salon. Hosted by our favourite Berlin literary goddess, Victoria Gosling, this salon featured a very special guest – particularly for those of us who indulge in the aesthetic of books. Former Creative Director at Granta, and now multi-disciplinary artist, Michael Salu (http://www.michaelsalu.com/) presented two original readings and this beautiful image that we feature for the April issue. Lost in the layers and torn from the inside, what will you make of it, dear writers?

In response to this image, we feature three winners of The Reader’s writing competition that took place that night. We lead with The Talk by Anna Geary-Meyer. Originally from Boston, Anna is an emerging writer of poetry and creative non-fiction who now lives in Berlin. She is interested in psychology, creativity, spirituality, and philosophy. Her impressive winning piece morphs the characteristics of poetry and prose so beautifully that we hardly notice we’re eavesdropping.

First runner-up Lucy Locket delivers a perfectly formed, rhythmic poem that, for us, feels like both an unveiling and a re-veiling. Lucy is a chef at Martha’s restaurant in Berlin and curates conceptual food events under the name MASTICATE, together with her partner, interior architect Jacinta Lawani.

And finally, it’s a numbers game for the mysterious Francesco Fano, who took us to 39 and then slipped back into the Berlin night.

These three pieces truly reflect the Visual Verse agenda: to encourage and celebrate writing from instinct. These were written in just 25 minutes, at 10pm at night, in a low-lit bar, probably under the influence of delicious cocktails and in response to a single, provocative image. Perhaps we should all put down our morning pages and go noctural. It’s getting late, what better time to start?

Awaiting your words: www.visualverse.org/submit

Preti and Kristen

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