Writing gains a lot of power and attraction from close association with a place. It’s hard to imagine what William Faulkner would have written if he hadn’t placed so much of his writing in Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi. Or Elena Ferrante without Naples, William Wordsworth without the Lake District, Katherine Mansfield without her exiled memories of New Zealand. With these writers, place is so much embedded in the writing that it almost becomes a character, more than just a scenic backdrop.
The example of my own writing is different as I’m more of a wanderer, finding inspiration in a variety of places. In the last couple of years I’ve written and had published a poem Berliners calling on the role of Berlin in 20th century history; a novel Painting Paris set in Paris and its artistic community of the early 1900s; and most recently Seville: Shadows & Light drawing on the Spanish city in Andalucia.
Each of these was a joy to write because I love the places. I had run workshops in Berlin, then found myself after publication of my poem taking a group of Dark Angels around the city, with readings en route. With Paris, it has always been a favourite city (I particularly enjoy cities because they’re full of people). And Seville…well, let me tell you more.
Since 2005 I had been flying to Seville to run Dark Angels workshops in nearby Aracena. As part of those annual visits I had forged a friendship with a local sculptor, Alberto German, who is a professor of fine arts at Seville University. When Alberto saw Berliners he invited me to Seville to explore it more deeply and respond to it with my own writing. An invitation I could not refuse.
I already knew Seville reasonably well. Not surprisingly I came to know and appreciate it better through the eyes of Alberto. There is something about experiencing a place differently when your purpose is to write about it. You become a flaneur with a mission.
It wasn’t that Alberto took me to places I wouldn’t otherwise have visited (though there was some of that). It was more that all your senses are opened to all aspects of the place – its sounds, scents, tastes. A meal gains an extra dimension; a ‘tourist’ location becomes so much more; the camera on your phone is used to record things seen, to write about later.
I had written some poems in preparation. Then I wandered the streets, gardens, buildings with notebook ready to jot down thoughts, lines, words. And when I returned home, the words about Seville seemed to flow out of me like water from one of Seville’s beautiful fountains.
I recommend doing this, wherever you go. Be a writer not just a tourist. You’ll find the words you write make the places visited much more memorable. The memories linger and you gain joy from the act of writing.
– John Simmons
If you’d like to buy a copy of John Simmons’ Seville: Shadows & Light, with watercolour illustrations by Alberto Germán, we’ve arranged for you to do so direct from the publisher Paekakariki Press https://paekakarikipress.com/?content=publications.php
If you’d like to hear more, John invites you to a free online event through Dark Angels. He’ll be in conversation with a couple of other writers at 6.30pm on Thursday 19th March, as well as reading some poems from the book. Email Susanne Wakefield to register for a place susanne@dark-angels.org.uk