Characters - Karl Blau and The Novelists' Sub-group, Herga Poets and Northwood Writers
Meeting Karl
Karl was fond of reminding me that when I met him I asked,
"Are you married?"
Karl replied, "I was. But I'm divorced."
I asked, "What was the reason for the divorce?"
Karl said, "I, and Barbara, thought that was a very singular thing to ask, particularly on first meeting somebody. Nobody else would have asked that question. Most people would not have asked so soon, and the majority would not have asked it ever."
I sighed,
Karl replied, laughing, "It still struck both of us as unusual."
Everybody has a style f speaking. Karl was very analytical. Humorous. Long sentences, expanded by sub-clauses, expanding on the theme, or giving the alternative point of view. We were both extraverts and would talk for hours.
Karl had lived in America, as I had, and he had many stories about his past. The tip of his finger was missing. Caused by an accident when he was working as a chemist.
The name Blau is German for blue.
Karl's Wife and Dog
Karl's Funeral
Karl's Novel
Karl's Christmas Parties
Karl had apples in the garden and either cooked apples or gave them to friends on the understanding that they would give him one or more of the apple pies or tarts.
He invited me or me and my husband Trevor to dinner to a foursome and the dessert was the home made apple dish.
He rented his house out to lodgers. At one time his son was staying with him.
He knew of a family in his road who were known burglars. Known to the police.
We read each other's short stories and novel chapters. He gave me a copy of the draft of his first novel. The plot was inspired by his experiences of the ups and downs of relationships after his divorce. The protagonist (chief character or actor) was a woman. I was not overly impressed.
The Novelists' Sub-group
Karl joined the novelists sub-group. I was not invited to join. I later discovered that the person who ran the group saw me as a poet and short story writer, not a novelist. That really surprised me. I had thought that I was boycotted, unpopular, unwanted. They thought I was not interested. besides, the lady who ran it was living in a place with a small lounge which comfortably seated only four or five people. When I revealed that I was an aspiring novel writer, and their numbers dropped, I was invited. But since the hostess and her male best friend were both heavy smokers and smoked during meetings - in a small room, I declined.
Unlike the larger Harrow Writers' circle where you had many members, ten, fifteen or twenty, who all wanted to read, and time and word length was limited, the smaller group could allow the writers to read a chapter or two. When nobody else had additional material to read since the last meeting, one writer, such as the hostess, could read the whole evening. The writer enjoyed detailed feedback from the other three or four fellow novelists who enjoyed having plenty of time to voice their opinions.
In addition to keeping me interested in the Harrow Writers' Circle, Karl introduced me to and encouraged me to attend two other groups.
The Herga Poets
Karl belonged to many groups. Through him I went to two meetings of Herga poets. The first was conveniently psychologically nearby.
The meeting was in the Belmont hall belonging to the church near the petrol garage (Americans would say gas station) just off Belmont Circle.
I went in and sat down at one of two empty chairs, beside a lady who was the President. She immediately asked me to vacate my seat and sit in the other chair. I assumed she was saving that seat. But nobody took it.
At the end of the evening she sent somebody else to tell me: "Rosemary says she enjoyed your poetry readings very much but please don't come again, unless you can guarantee not to wear perfume. She is allergic to perfume. The instruction not to wear perfume is very clear in our notes, which you should have read before you attended."
Rosemary was often reported in the news for winning contests. She was a very good poet.
A year or two later, Karl encouraged me to attend a meeting, and assured me that Rosemary would be away at that meeting. I was very impressed by their high standard.
Northwood Writers
More success for me in the long run came from another group in Northwood, where Karl lived. Northwood Writers were a contrast to the Harrow Writers' Circle, where those short of money were outspoken.
The lady who ran Northwood Writers entertained all of us around a huge table in an area off the huge lounge with picture windows. If I arrived early, I could sit admiring the carpets and the drapes. She had a study with everything from the writing groups she attended in different coloured box files for each group, in alphabetical order, with printed labels.
She had a no nonsense attitude to money. Unlike Harrow Writers, which ended with contests to come, she started with contests to come. We would sit and write our first draft for the next contest.
If you told her a long excuse about how you could not write because you were in your hospital, she would suggest:
You can write a letter to your local paper saying how good or bad the local hospital was. Use that as your inspiration and credibility for a letter to a magazine for doctors, or nurses, or health care professionals. from a patient's point of view. Ask the editor who else they want you to interview. then phone the doctor or hospital and ask if they can comment.
Once somebody reported sadly, "I phoned the doctor's surgery, but the secretary told me, 'the doctor is far too busy with patients to get involved in politics".
The writers President's reply would have been: "That's great. You write: 'Why don't doctors complain about the situation? One local receptionist told me, 'The doctor is far too busy with patients to get involved in politics'. Make sure you record the conversation next time."
Her enthusiastic comments went along these lines: "If a magazine can't or won't pay, we send our work elsewhere. Which contest pays the most? Start with that one. Nearest deadline? I will post entries for us all. I'll type it up for you and send it today. Just give me your share of the cost of the postage which will be ... Next week all bring a magazine. Age Concern, Cats, gardening, golf, business, women, whatever. if it ask for and pays for contributions, mark the page with a paper clip and highlight the conditions. Bring everything you have along, whether or not it asks for contributions. Somebody in our group might have a professional interest and can write to the editor with a suggestion. Make a list of all your hobbies and holidays in the past and future. We will get a plan for every person."
It told me about Writers' Holiday in Wales. The venue was the Welsh university's Caerleon campus, on the hillside overlooking the quaint Welsh village of Caerleon. Its history was not only Welsh but also Roman, with a large outdoor open, grassy Roman amphitheatre and indoors the Roman Museum.
I enjoyed Caerleon so much that I immediately signed up for another course a fortnight (two weeks) later, Writers' Summer School. Their venue was the The Hayes Conference Centre in Derbyshire.
A few years later I was at Writers' Summer School talking to a writer in the computer and printing room at Swanwick, and found that the girl I was talking to was the President of Watford Writers' Circle. Through her I was invited to speak about poetry to Watford Writers Circle, where i went with Indra Sikdar of Harrow Writers. Indra was well equipped with his own easel and display board, in case the Writer's circle had no easel or no access to the cupboard containing their property, or their easel was not the right size for the posters he had prepared showing the structure of various forms of poetry.
We as teachers had to fill two hours, with a break in between. We had an introduction to ourselves and our club and my books. Then Indra gave a quick summary of different styles of poetry. We confined ourselves to three short styles, haiku, of only three lines, limericks, of only five, and finally villanelles, three line verses. The villanelles, if not finished during the first half of the evening, could be finished in the break or whilst listening to others reading their attempts at villanelles in the second half of the meeting.
If the aspiring poets were too shy to read, Indra and I or volunteers from the audience could read. Then the audience offered encouraging and helpful comments on each poem. What was good. What we enjoyed the most.
If the poet asked for help with rhymes, or syllable count, structure and order of verses, we made suggestions.
The second half of the meeting consisted of the readings and feedback.
As you can imagine, Karl and I had hours of conversation about the different groups, different attitudes to writing, and different members.
Indra
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